Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Soapbox

This is a soapbox post.  I apologize...

While driving my son's pumped breast milk to daycare today, I heard a story on NPR (which is always on the radio in my car if Peppa Pig or Super Why isn't:) that made my anger boil.  I had to write a post about it because currently, in Texas, the government is slowly chipping away at a woman's right to choose and it is beyond frustrating.  Below is a short little snip-it of the article/news cast that made me the most upset.

      "Texas Gov. Elect Greg Abbott has defended the abortion law as the state's attorney general. He's been clear that he opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.

     "I'm Catholic, and I want to promote a culture of life that supports both the health and safety of both the mother and child, both before and after birth," Abbott said in a campaign debate last fall."


This is NOT ok.  Why is your right to choice (of religion and beliefs) more important that those of others, specifically woman and their families?!  Religion should play NO part in politics.  While I may not agree with someone's beliefs, they 100% have every right to have them and I respect their opinions.  However, a persons beliefs should not be forced onto anyone or impact the choices they are allowed to make, specifically with regards to their OWN BODIES.  If you are Catholic (or put in any other belief system) and if you don't believe in abortion, then don't have one, but PLEASE do not make that decision for others.

If you want to support women and children, then how about we provide access to healthcare, access to reproductive health services (including abortion), support for working women, improvement in education (including sex-ed), and fighting to end poverty....just to name a few.  I am a midwife, and everyday I support women, children, future children, and families....and I am PRO-CHOICE.

A few abortion facts via http://www.guttmacher.org
     >At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45. 
     >58% of women having abortions are in their 20s
     >61% have one or more children
     >85% are unmarried
     >69% are economically disadvantaged
     >73% report a religious affiliation
     >No racial or ethnic group makes up a majority: 36% of women obtaining abortions are white
           non-Hispanic, 30% are black non-Hispanic, 25% are Hispanic and 9% are of other racial
           backgrounds

For the fully NPR article:
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/07/375396952/u-s-court-weighs-texas-laws-burden-on-women-seeking-abortions


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