Found a good comic today. Especially the last panel. It reminds me of a talk I never got around to having with a friend at the CT: it's not that I think there are no problems with the left, I just think there are more problems with the right. Admit that, and maybe we can get somewhere.
And in the more offensive vein, we have this. What the judge is doing doesn't bother me too much, partly because as far as I can tell I agree with him and partly because he has to give both sides a hearing. But what the bloody fuck is wrong with the Florida Department of Children & Families? Are they really making a 13-year-old foster child carry a pregnancy to term against her will? Does this mean that abortions are legal for 27-year-olds who just don't feel like having a kid, but they aren't legal for 13-year-olds who have no means of support at all and are three times more likely to be hurt by a pregnancy than by an abortion?
And I see why it's needed because we are talking about a 13-year-old here, but at first glance I thought the requirement for a psychological evaluation was ridiculous too. Let's be clear on something here. The desire to have an abortion is not the result of a mental disorder, a psychosis, or brain damage. It is the result of two factors combined: an unwillingness to bring a pregnancy to term, and a belief that a potential life does not have the same rights and privileges as an actual life. The first is entirely subjective; the second, even though it's still debated a lot, is widely accepted, to judge by how we think about fetuses and embryos anywhere other than in an abortion clinic.
Admit that the pro-choice side, by and large, is not saying "murder is OK sometimes." They're saying "abortion isn't murder sometimes." Admit that, and maybe a rational discussion is possible. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised - I checked that paper's story about this girl from the day before, and Jeb Bush might have got involved.
Whew. Sorry. I know that most people who read this do it because they're my friends and this is a good way of finding out what's going on in my life, and here I am, writing three posts out of four on political issues. There is interesting stuff going on in my life and I was going to write about some of it, but I need to get going pretty soon, so I can't do it now.
2 comments:
The psychological evaluation is to determine competence, not look for a mental disorder. Thirteen year olds are not generally considered competent to make their own medical decisions.
What's wrong with the Florida Dept. of Children and so forth? Several things, but not this. How often do you think they're faced with teens who want abortions? If this is such news, it probably hasn't happened before. If they don't have anything in their rules about a specific case, odds are they'll take it to court just so they can't be sued.
Try thinking about the rational arguments for the other side before having a knee-jerk reaction and saying people are doing stupid things, just because you disagree with them.
Link fixed. Sorry about that.
Posting before I think isn't a new problem, obviously. I've worried before about being too partisan. Someone once said "Opinions are like assholes: everyone has one, but that doesn't mean you want to see it," or something like that.
But for better or for worse, I think I'll try to put off deep thoughts on the subject until after I have all my grades in, if not quite a bit later. It's my own fault for posting in the first place, but now is not the time for emotionally-charged debate and self-evaluation.
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