Abort!

I am no fan of abortion. It sounds horrible for the mother and it sounds like the foetus goes through a horrific ending in many cases too. I am just glad I have never had to be in the place where I needed to make that choice. However, I an not against abortion. I do not believe a rape victim should be forced to give birth to a child who has the genetic makeup of a rapist for a lot of reasons. I do not believe that a mother whose life is at risk from a pregnancy gone wrong should be forced to risk it. I do not believe that parents who could not cope with a severely disabled child should be forced to continue that pregnancy…

…and cue the outrage.

Look, I know, you can be born disabled and still lead a good and happy life. I had a narrow escape myself. My mother was pregnant with me in 1959, she had morning sickness, she was offered Thalidomide. Thank all the Gods anyone has ever worshipped, she refused it.

Consider parents at an ultrasound scan who are told their baby will be born severely handicapped. Some will say ‘We’ll deal with it’ and that is a noble and brave decision. I’d like to think I’d make that decision but honestly, I can’t be sure. I was never faced with it. Some will not have the family support or financial ability to deal with it even if they want to. Some will be utterly repulsed by the deformed child and that child will soon learn that it is hated and resented by its own parents. Would you want to be the latter child?

I wouldn’t. But maybe you would. Still my opinion is that abortion should be available for parents in that situation who could not cope. I believe that forcing them to go ahead will just result in three miserable lives.

On the other hand, I do not believe that abortion is a valid form of birth control – except in instances where birth control failed, as it sometimes does. Certainly not as a routine way of getting rid of mistakes.

I’m unkind, that’s how I’ve got to be. (competition – which band, which song, which album is this line from? To win decisively include the name of the singer and the year and the record company. I have it on vinyl here ;)) But I have to feel that idiot couples who get pregnant when there are so many birth control options available – in the UK most can be had for free – are not people we want to encourage to reproduce.

Also, I believe there must be a limit. A time limit set where the woman can no longer be unaware of her pregnancy but not to the point where the foetus has a chance of living on its own.

In America, some Democrat places have decided to allow abortion up to the point of birth. This is absolutely horrifying to me – premature babies can survive, if you’ve had that child in you for nine months how can you change your mind at the end? You’re not clearing out a clump of cells at this stage, you are killing a baby. There is a big difference, to me at least. Once they get this in, the death penalty becomes ‘retrospective abortion’ and then, well…

Sure. ‘a woman’s right to choose what happens to her own body’ and all that but for fuck’s sake. Make your bloody mind up a lot sooner than the day the contractions start. I know women are famed for taking ages to decide on things but nine months is just taking the piss.

At that point you could just give the baby up for adoption. Why kill it? Well, there are reasons… and I have a Halloween story in mind. It will, of course, be fiction.

Republican states have reacted to this Democrat baby pogrom. They have not done the British response of ‘Hey, hang on a minute, that’s a bit off’. They have done the American thing of going to the other extreme. Sometimes, America, it might have been better if you had stayed British.

Some states have now made abortion so illegal that a woman can be jailed for a miscarriage. Miscarriages happen. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. It is neither parents’ fault. It just happens.

Rapists can expect their deadly genes to be carried on with full State support. If a ten year old is impregnated by Stepdad Filthy, she has to have the baby even though it could kill her.

That is going way too far the other way. Republicans could have had a sensible response to Democrat baby-killing but there is no sense at all in their over-reaction.

Look at this –

Sweet home Alabama, eh? Not if you start an argument, get shot and your baby dies. It’s all your fault and the baby’s death is manslaughter and even though you were the one shot, you’re the one getting charged.

This is because the anti-abortion laws mean tthat the woman is responsible for the death of her baby even if it’s a perfectly natural miscarriage, if she gets pushed down a flight of stairs, or if someone shoots her baby in her womb.

There are people protesting Sharia law. This is far, far worse and it’s coming from American lawmakers!

Republican lawmakers. Trump, you fat orange fucker, do something about this. Stop those Alabama banjo players for a start, and if you said ‘Alabama law is what you get when cousins marry’ you’d likely get a round of applause.

It’s become ridiculous but it’s not funny. In Democrat places, killing a viable baby is okay. In Republican places, any loss of a baby for any reason sends the mother to jail. There is no sensible middle ground any more.

We are reaching peak polarisation. This is just one example. There are so many others.

No middle ground. No compromise. One extreme or the other.

There’s only one way this is going. Pick a side. There are currently about a hundred to choose from.