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Things I Don't Want To Talk About
I imposed a moratorium on talking about this kind of stuff on my journal but this is too extraordinary to pass up.
A group of conservative activists is pressuring the governor of Virginia to cut off all funding for Planned Parenthood (for my foreign readers, Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides gynecological services, including birth control and abortion,usually to lower-income or poor women Corrected: See ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
july_july_july's comment below). Among those activists is an elected Republican official, Delegate Bob Marshall, who had this to say about his rationale:
I suggest you take a moment and let that sink in. If you're a human being and not a conservative borg, your first reaction is probably to say that's despicable. And it is, but it's so much more than that.
Let's ponder the sheer insanity of this statement.
First: "The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically." Okay, I'd like Bob Marshall to produce some hard data on this. I want to see CDC/NIH statistics that women who have abortions, especially of a first conception, go on to have handicapped children.
Second: Note the blurring between pseudo-science ("nature takes its vengeance") and the Biblical malarkey that follows. Which one is it? Is this fictitious increase in handicapped children a biological side-effect of abortion or is it the wrath of God? Or does Marshall believe those are one in the same?
Third: How would Marshall explain the handicapped and seriously ill children born to women who have never had abortions? How would he explain the perfectly healthy children born to women who have had them? I'm sure if pressed on this, Marshall would stammer something about how he just meant that women who have abortions are playing Russian roulette with their future children. Okay, that argument might work if there were any scientific proof that abortion causes future birth defects, because biology is sometimes a guessing game. After all, some people can smoke for fifty years and still not get cancer. But since Marshall goes on to yammer about "special punishments," is he implying that the very terrible wrath of God is itself selective about these things? And if so, why?
Fourth: Based on Marshall's reasoning, as long as you bring that first conception to term, you're in the clear, because only the first-born is special in the eyes of God. So then can you go on to have as many abortions as you want? That's quite liberal of Bob Marshall.
Five: It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: What kind of sick fucking bastard goes around saying that handicapped children are a punishment from God?
There are so many reasons to get outraged about this kind of shit but not the least is because, outside of blogs and more liberal news outlets like MSNBC, this sort of thing doesn't get coverage. The anti-choice religious maniacs in this country operate under the very positive-sounding label of "pro-life" and are usually depicted as people who just happen to have opinions and values guided by their Christian faith. This is baloney. They are not pro any life except the kind that they can exploit, namely fetuses and occasionally, people in irreversible comas. And as for their values? Their values are perfectly illustrated by Bob Marshall's statement: sick, backward, medieval perversions of both Christianity and any sort of natural human decency. THIS is how these people should be depicted. As the sick, twisted fucks that they are.
It should also be noted that according to Rachel Maddow, Planned Parenthood currently receives the whopping sum of about $36,000 in funding from the state of Virginia, primarily in Medicaid payments that are no doubt covering services other than abortion.
I really need to leave. The country.
A group of conservative activists is pressuring the governor of Virginia to cut off all funding for Planned Parenthood (for my foreign readers, Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides gynecological services, including birth control and abortion,
july_july_july's comment below). Among those activists is an elected Republican official, Delegate Bob Marshall, who had this to say about his rationale:“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.
“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”
I suggest you take a moment and let that sink in. If you're a human being and not a conservative borg, your first reaction is probably to say that's despicable. And it is, but it's so much more than that.
Let's ponder the sheer insanity of this statement.
First: "The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically." Okay, I'd like Bob Marshall to produce some hard data on this. I want to see CDC/NIH statistics that women who have abortions, especially of a first conception, go on to have handicapped children.
Second: Note the blurring between pseudo-science ("nature takes its vengeance") and the Biblical malarkey that follows. Which one is it? Is this fictitious increase in handicapped children a biological side-effect of abortion or is it the wrath of God? Or does Marshall believe those are one in the same?
Third: How would Marshall explain the handicapped and seriously ill children born to women who have never had abortions? How would he explain the perfectly healthy children born to women who have had them? I'm sure if pressed on this, Marshall would stammer something about how he just meant that women who have abortions are playing Russian roulette with their future children. Okay, that argument might work if there were any scientific proof that abortion causes future birth defects, because biology is sometimes a guessing game. After all, some people can smoke for fifty years and still not get cancer. But since Marshall goes on to yammer about "special punishments," is he implying that the very terrible wrath of God is itself selective about these things? And if so, why?
Fourth: Based on Marshall's reasoning, as long as you bring that first conception to term, you're in the clear, because only the first-born is special in the eyes of God. So then can you go on to have as many abortions as you want? That's quite liberal of Bob Marshall.
Five: It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: What kind of sick fucking bastard goes around saying that handicapped children are a punishment from God?
There are so many reasons to get outraged about this kind of shit but not the least is because, outside of blogs and more liberal news outlets like MSNBC, this sort of thing doesn't get coverage. The anti-choice religious maniacs in this country operate under the very positive-sounding label of "pro-life" and are usually depicted as people who just happen to have opinions and values guided by their Christian faith. This is baloney. They are not pro any life except the kind that they can exploit, namely fetuses and occasionally, people in irreversible comas. And as for their values? Their values are perfectly illustrated by Bob Marshall's statement: sick, backward, medieval perversions of both Christianity and any sort of natural human decency. THIS is how these people should be depicted. As the sick, twisted fucks that they are.
It should also be noted that according to Rachel Maddow, Planned Parenthood currently receives the whopping sum of about $36,000 in funding from the state of Virginia, primarily in Medicaid payments that are no doubt covering services other than abortion.
I really need to leave. The country.
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And what's worse is PEOPLE VOTED FOR THIS JACKASS!!!!
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
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PP serves a wide range of tax brackets. Many middle to upper class women use PP because of their commitment to privacy and their top flight staff. In many places in America, regardless of what your bank account looks like, Planned Parenthood is the only way to get safe, accurate reproductive care. PP also serves a lot of men, caring for their sexual health too.
I'm an escort and this misconception is kind of a pet peeve of mine.
More than a pet peeve, the misconception that Bob Marshall believes he can interpret both the Old Testament AND God's will. Sticking feathers up your butt does NOT make you a chicken, sir.
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The $36,000 that PP was getting from Virginia was primarily made up of Medicaid reimbursements, not any direct "funding."
*sigh* It's pretty common that conservatives' quest against the evils of reproductive care often get in the way of, you know, reproductive care. *beats head against desk* I wonder if they know that PP also provides neonatal care? And obstetricians? And that treating STD's early in both sexes preserves fertility? Or that birth control and Plan B and sex education prevent abortions? But noooo. It's all about them evil abortion doctors with their evil plans to help women in their hour of need.
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The pro-life movement is entirely based on two things: using religion to control women's sexuality and advancing conservative politics via irrational emotional appeals. Period.
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Sometimes I want to march all these Bible-quoting, right-wing arseholes to the edge of a very large volcanic crater -- quick! which ones are most active? -- and shove them in. And thrown rocks on top of them. Sarah Palin would be the first to go, followed by Dubya, Lindsay Graham and the rest of the vile ultra conservative Republicans from my state (SC).
But then Dick Cheney has "chest pains" and I SMILE. Like a crocodile. Does this make me a bad person? *blinkblink*
And, is the Virginia gov the one who gave the rebuttal to the SotU address? And hasn't he only be gov for like a month?
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I too would be smiling over Dick Cheney's chest pains, but only if he were penniless and had no insurance and had to get all his healthcare from one of those famously efficient emergency rooms that the Republicans blithely claim provide free healthcare to all Americans.
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This shouldn't ever surprise me. And yet it does. Over and over again.
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You'll love this: in Utah, a bill is going up before the governor that could make a miscarriage a criminal offense, if it can be proven that the miscarriage was caused by some direct action or even what's judged to be "negligence." It makes me wonder why we're fighting the Taliban when our "values" are so in line with theirs.
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They same type of people who say natural disasters are God's punishment for sinfulness. In other words, idiots.
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I think the thing that always staggers me - as a non-Christian, but one raised as a Christian and who knows the teachings pretty well - is how these deep-fried fruitcakes seem to miss the central tenet of Christ's teachings. Not the Old Testament, no, they're all across that Bronze Age nomadic law - it's Christ's thoughts about love, and compassion, and finding god in each other that seems to have flown right past this lot. These are ostensible followers of a man who argued for gentleness and peace, and there they are, outside Heath Ledger's funeral, screaming at his family about how he's going to Hell. And they're shoving photos in the faces of young, desperate women as they walk into abortion clinics, not for a second thinking of offering love and compassion. Do they honestly imagine that JC would be beside them, yelling, "Murderer!" and throwing bloody rags at these frightened children?
I hate the way a message of peace has been co-opted into a fanatical straitjacket in a bid to keep women in check.
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I seem to recall that Jesus spent an awful lot of time talking about taking care of the less fortunate and no time preaching about sex. And yet America's Christian conservatives are obsessed with sex and full of scorn for the less fortunate. I have no idea how they've managed such a complete reversal of Jesus Christ's ministry, but then, they are very good at making shit up and claiming it's true.
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Is it hot in here? I think it's hot in here.
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Second, thank God for Planned Parenthood. When I was temping and flat broke with no insurance I was able to go to them for birth control and checkups. It's a disgrace how little funding they get from VA, but again, does not surprise me. And you should see the PP building in Richmond. It's tucked away into the smallest corner possible, and you practically need a GPS to find it when you're standing 10 ft. away. Every single person working there was awesome. :)
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