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October 03, 2007
What Happened To Personal Responsibility?
This article I was reading, about a Planned Parenthood opening up in Aurora, Illinois, presents two women's stories about their experiences or feelings about abortion, I suppose to give an example to readers about the sort of opposing viewpoints people bring to the abortion debate. This Waycaster woman's story kind of irked me, though.
To quote, "Waycaster said her mother had an abortion about four years before she was born and regretted it almost immediately. Her mother often attends protests and prayer vigils, she said, and is open about telling people her story. 'She was too young, and she didn't believe what she believes now,' Waycaster said. 'It's affected her whole entire life. She knows that she could have had a much different life - she doesn't know if it would have been better or worse, but she knows that she would have rather found out.'"
Waycaster’s stance on abortion is clearly included as the “pro-life” position. So, to read Waycaster’s mother’s reaction to a regretted abortion as outlined in the article, I don't see how a woman making a bad decision means we should shut down Planned Parenthoods or outlaw abortion. When are we going to remember that we have responsibility for our actions and we can't foist our mistakes off on our parents, corporations, or deities all the time? People are cautioned about making a good choice when getting a tattoo, but I haven’t heard much about tattoo parlors getting picketed because a few people make the mistake of getting Tweety Bird tattooed on their necks for life. Sometimes you have to make a decision, and sometimes when the deal is done you realize you didn't make the right call.
I just checked the website of a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood and you are counseled on your options before the procedure, no matter whether your abortion is medical or surgical. I don’t know if Waycaster’s mother went to Planned Parenthood for her abortion, but it sounds to me like they are doing their best to help women make the best decisions for themselves, unlike a lot of “pregnancy crisis centers” that act pro-choice and then try to talk you into putting the kid up for adoption.
I’ve begun to notice that a lot of growing up is simply about coming to terms with who you were when you were younger and accepting that you did some stupid things, thought some ignorant ways, but you’ve changed, for better or for worse. So the mother’s argument that her beliefs changed comes off to me entirely as “I made a decision I regret, but I wouldn’t regret it if I hadn’t changed as a person over the course of 20 years.” I fail to see how that is Planned Parenthood, or any abortion/contraception clinic's problem.
| By Spike | 06:18 PM
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