I just don't think that many people think abortion is funny. Even if someone thinks that it's okay in theory, they don't want to think about it when they're enjoying an evening of television. How about we just talk about abortion more, period?

Anat, this is great! thanks for connecting the dots of immense cultural significance with what otherwise could be dismissed as bygone Hollywood cheese. look forward to more of your writing!

You have to admit that the new wording of defining the personhood of human beings as "the beginning of the biological development of said human beings" is clever in it's ambiguity. Unlike in Colorado, where pro-choicers could challenge the fertilization criteria, any challenge now has to answer the question "When is the beginning of the biological development of a human being?" I suspect the most comforting answer to pro-choicers would be birth, but that begs the question, "If birth is the beginning of the biological development of a human being, then what has that little sucker been doing for the previous nine months in the uterus?!" I'm sure most pro-choicers will retreat to bodily autonomy arguments and then the game is over (or played on a new field).

It was quite interesting reading about several of the sensitive issues surrounding teen pregnancies you touch on and how this has impacted the Latina population in specific. An interesting point you discuss is the fact that one reason teens are encouraged to wait to get pregnant is so they have a better chance of achieving the American Dream, but that methodology might not work for most Latina teens because their reality can be drastically different than the average American teenager. You stated that, Latina teen mothers have about “the same socioeconomic circumstances at age 30 as those Latinas who delay childbirth.” So this shows that having such broad prevention methods might not reach out to all populations. It is important to look at specific populations to target for prevention efforts. Even within the Latina population there are differences. Implementing prevention programs that employ different prevention methods would be an excellent beginning to facilitate a better educated, more aware, teenage population. But a question I am considering is how will this fit into the new health care reform of President Barack Obama, or how should, if at all, the government’s involvement be determined to help fund or run these programs? Rather than letting this issue be kept as a low priority, it should be made aware to the entire population. And instead of scorning these teen mothers, we should have resources to aid them in this life altering stage of their lives as well as provide services for teen pregnancy prevention. Like you have argued, we should not stigmatize teen mothers, but instead “empower teens to live healthy lives.” If parents are more prepared to raise their children, which is less likely the case for teen parents, we can improve quality of life. So if we increase access and education, we will benefit our society to ensure a better and brighter future for our children.

Thank you,

Daniela Rodriguez 

It's not so much my analysis, Paul, re women being cast as devils/evil for having abortions (for killing the demi-god fetus), it is what we are accused of being. One thing you might know about me, since you ask, is that I was screamed and abused and yelled at on my way into a clinic some 20 years ago. I suppose it does color one's perspective ever so slightly of the people wanting to help fetuses. Re the fetus worship, I'm just observing this, and wondering about it. I haven't really engaged in any serious analysis of the language, philosophy etc. behind this aspect of the anti-abortion movement, which is why I asked if anyone knew of any good analyses. I appreciate, by the way, the measured and respectful posts you write. As Emma writes, one frequently has a sense of the fetus as being seen as some kind of demi-god. I noticed this just the other day when reading about a campaign by a right to life group to have, as part of mandatory counseling, women be told that when they have an abortion the procedure (and I quote) "Will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." This particular group has made much of the separateness of the fetus from the woman, and I think that plays into what I see as this "demi-god" (to again use Emma's terminology) aspect. Of course I'm not saying it's the whole story, I don't think any of the commenters who see there's something like this going on think it's the whole story. And, Paul, I know very well it's complicated. Though I actually don't think it should be, because I do focus ("too much" you suggest) on it being a woman's choice.
Also, like Emma, I'm pretty uncomfortable with the statement about abortion not being all about women's "neglect of motherhood". Well, I guess I rather like Emma's entire post, so no need to restate it, probably badly.

i've complained for many years about the cost of tampons/pads/panty liners. sure, many women may not consider them expensive - but when you grew up as poor as i did & had an adult life that's hovered around the poverty level, believe me, that extra spending each month that you absolutely can not avoid - it hurts. and i've always maintained that if the male gender menstruated, those products would either be free or freakishly cheap. i recently had a financially devastating situation where i lost all of my savings & am penniless & unemployed. i came within days of homelessness(until a kind acquaintance offered me his couch). i went 10 days with only 1 meal. a family member wired me a very small amount of money for food for myself & my dogs. my period was going to be starting soon. you have no idea how it killed me to have to spend the equivalent of TWO MEALS in order to buy tampons & panty liners. BUT, let the idiots at fox pretend they give a crap about what women pay for tampons/pads/liners. those "morans" will come up with ANYTHING in an attempt to continue riling up their mindless followers. because, even though i can't afford tampons at all right now, i'd still be fine with chipping in some extra tax on them if it meant i, and everyone, could have healthcare - which i don't have & haven't had in years. and i have the e.r. visits debt to show for it, too.truth?  is truth unchanging law?  we both have truths, are mine the same as yours?

this sounds like something a 7 year old with fundie parents would think up to impress them. geez, these people ("people" meaning far-right, lunatic, religious nuts) & their sickness/fear/paranoia/desire to control women/etc. will never, ever fail to amaze and disgust me.truth?  is truth unchanging law?  we both have truths, are mine the same as yours?

I've said this on a lot of other threads, but I truly believe that men's neglect of fatherhood causes more abortions than women's neglect of motherhood.

I'm extremely uncomfortable with that statement. It suggests that women are awfully pliable, passive, subject to male influence and unable to make our own decisions. It sounds as if you're assuming that, absent of external influences, all or most women would choose to continue all pregnancies. This would seem to imply that all women have some essential mother-woman nature, which is essentialist, sexist, and frankly, rubbish. We do actually have thoughts and emotions and opinions that aren't contingent upon you or other men. It's not all about you. Not all women want kids, be it at a particular time or at all. Even with a supportive partner, financial stability and all of that, there are going to be women who do. not. want. kids. Women who do not want to be pregnant.

And please spare me all this stuff about xyz external factors make such women unable to see the value of zygotic life and their essential mother-self essence or some such, because I find it insulting. Biology isn't destiny. Not all women want to be mothers. This is not a result of poor social conditioning or fundamentally flawed beliefs; it is just as natural as wanting to be a mother. Terminating a pregnancy is morally equal to continuing it.

You're choosing to deny the fact that it's about women's choices, but you're incorrect. Pregnancy is an active endeavour. Continuing a pregnancy is just as active a decision as terminating it. As long as women get pregnant, women will be making choices about whether they want to be pregnant. This is unavoidable. As long as women's bodies are required to sustain pregnancies, there are going to be women who choose not to do so. Your idea that at some point in the future, all women are going to believe zygotes are people and are going to choose to continue every pregnancy is a fantasy, and it's a fantasy based on some creepy essentialist beliefs about women.

I'm also uncomfortable with this stuff about your 'participat[ing] in a pregnancy'. You may have supplied some sperm and helped your partner out during her pregnancy, but the bottom line is that it was her pregnancy, not yours. It was her body that sustained the pregnancy, not yours. I can't quite figure out how to word this, but it feels like you're trying to...appropriate the experience, I guess. You're trying to make it much more about you than it actually is.

I value my cat's life over and above the life of a single-celled human organism. I do not see why a microscopic organism is of such huge cosmic significance just because it has human DNA. You say you're exceedingly partial to humans and find them awe-inspiring, but that doesn't really tell me why human life is of more value than non-human life. Honestly, I look at my cat sometimes and am just amazed at her - she's survived life-threatening illness and a massive knee injury, but she's lived and adapted and it's quite incredible, really. Of course she's not the only being or event or thing I find awe-inspiring. Sometimes I find humans awe-inspiring, too, but I'm not sure how that translates into obsessing over human zygotes because of their DNA.

I really do feel there's a degree of foetus-worship going on with the anti-abortion people; this sense of foetuses as demi-gods. Foetolatry, if you like. A disturbing loss of perspective, at the very least. I would prefer not to partake in that.

Wow what kind of sex are you having?? Sounds to me like your daughter isn't the only one in need of sexual education.

So I think that these folks need to do some research. If they refuse to cover maternity care, because it's a choice, and everyone chooses not to reproduce, they WILL HAVE NO CUSTOMERS IN A FEW YEARS.

Mr Insuranceman, meet bankruptcy.

(honestly, their idiocy knows no bounds.)