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Monday, June 25, 2007

Anti-Choice Group Wastes Money In Seattle

posted by on June 25 at 13:20 PM

This plane:

unknown.jpg

…is currently circling around downtown Seattle.

The number (360-480-9329) goes to Show the Truth Washington, a Centralia-based anti-abortion group that specializes in showing pictures of bloody fetuses (“because the media, (and others) continue to censor the reality of abortion from the abortion ‘debate’”!) Gee, and I thought abortion was like getting a nice massage. Good thing Show the Truth was there (with their plane! And its sign! With that awful-looking bloody thing!) to tell me THE! TRUTH! about ABORTION! Oh, God, won’t anyone think of the BAYBEEEEEEEES?

I tooled around a little bit on their web site, and found this testimonial letter from a woman named “Jazmin”:

Hi my name is Jazmin I am writing you this letter to thank you. I am 20 years old with a 3 year old & a 5 month old son. I am also pregnant again 3 months today. I was going to get an aboration but I’ve never seen the truth about it, I just knew that with the aboration my life would be a little bit easier (atleast I thought that) but when I saw the pictures of the links you have provided not only did it change my mind, it made me sick to my stomache. How can people do it? I don’t know how but I just have to say today you saved my baby. If it’s a boy or a girl, no matter what, you would be the cause of saving my baby. And when I have my baby I will send you pictures of the baby you saved. … THANK YOU & god bless you & your goals you may want to achieve. The truth needs to be shown!

P.S. You can make a big diffrence & you did to me.Thank you.

Frankly, if that isn’t a ringing endorsement for abortion (um, “aboration), I don’t know what is.

Thanks to Slog tipper Ryan.

RSS icon Comments

1

Oh Jazmin... your children are going to grow up and look like this. Too bad you didn't opt for the "aboration."

Posted by Carollani | June 25, 2007 1:22 PM
2

"Jazmin" sounds like a whore's name. Or at least a stripper or a porn actress.

Posted by elswinger | June 25, 2007 1:23 PM
3

Jazmin sounds like the name of someone who should have been aborted or needs a retroactive abortion. lower class people really do themselves a disservice by choosing alternative phonetic spellings for names.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 25, 2007 1:25 PM
4

Hmmm... apparently the Face of Pro-Choice is the Master Control Program from Tron.

"I cahn't let you do that, Flynn."

Posted by Original Andrew | June 25, 2007 1:29 PM
5

The messiest abortion cannot possibly be as horrifying as Jazmin's parenting.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 1:30 PM
6

Maybe they mean arboration?

We could sure use more trees here, since they're being chopped down for new condos and townhouses.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 25, 2007 1:30 PM
7

A 20 year old with two kids and a third on the way (conceived when the second kid was only two months)... "I just knew that with the aboration my life would be a little bit easier".

Wow, that is really, tragically sad. I hope this group provides counseling? Adoption resources? Or does something else to make the lives of women like this easier besides scare them into not having abortions?

Posted by Julie | June 25, 2007 1:37 PM
8

If abortion is murder and the fetuses humans then who gave consent for their body to be put on a fucking banner and flown about the sky. At the very least they should blot out the face. Whats next, fly a plane about with the face of an abused kid or a rape victim. This whole thing strikes me as an invasion of privacy and of a 'crime' victim no less.

Posted by Giffy | June 25, 2007 1:37 PM
9

Re: No. 3: "A 20 year old with two kids and a third on the way (conceived when the second kid was only two months)" was more what I was referring to. Multiple kids at that age, combined with what appears to be a poor education, is hardly a recipe for success in life.

Posted by ECB | June 25, 2007 1:45 PM
10


Jazmin (if that's even a real person) sounds seriously misguided, but no matter how many babies she has or how much sex she's had, she's not a whore.

Posted by wow | June 25, 2007 1:46 PM
11

@7

Whatever they do, she needs help. She wouldn't have to feel so bad about maybe killing her babies if she would just close her fucking twat. I don't feel bad for her at all. She obviously doesn't use condoms, birth control, or common sense. I feel bad for the kids she keeps deciding to keep.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 1:46 PM
12

I'm pro-choice, and obviously there is an argument to be made here against this anti-choice website and it's methods, yet I feel compelled to say that the preceding comments are so hateful, and it seems to be directed at the woman, not the group.

Posted by yikes | June 25, 2007 1:48 PM
13

Mr. Poe: You sound like a first-rate asshole.

Posted by ECB | June 25, 2007 1:53 PM
14

While the scepticism about her likely future parenting success seems justified, why is it necessary to go to such an extreme of ridicule that you feel it is even necessary to make fun of her name and it's spelling?

This women had her first child when she was 15 and has been doing parenting since. She can't have had much time to learn much beyond her narrow view since. It's a terrible tragedy. You make me sick that you put your energy into your feelings of superiority over the young mother rather than anger at the circumstances and people that led her to that state.

Not unusual here: more sympathy for a rich gay college Republican being outed than for a young women stuck in a cycle of ignorance and confusion.

Posted by mirror | June 25, 2007 1:55 PM
15

This illustrates why the religious right and anti-abortion groups pander to women: Poor, stupid white women make great tools, and so do their children. More kids, more constituents, more servants.

Posted by Gomez | June 25, 2007 1:56 PM
16

Abortions tickle!

Posted by JC | June 25, 2007 1:59 PM
17

Kick in the scary "Mysogyny on Parade" animated video, I'm having some bad DTs today.

Posted by mirror | June 25, 2007 2:00 PM
18

@13: I'd say he's more of a third-rate bargain bin kind of an asshole.

Posted by Sean | June 25, 2007 2:01 PM
19

@13

Why's that, ECB?

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 2:04 PM
20

Apparently racism and internalized homophobia are not the only ills Slog readers like to proliferate anonymously. Let's add to that some good, old fashioned classism.

We're all so superior, typing away on our laptops and judging some poor 20-year old kid for her choices, her sexuality, and even the spelling of her name (which in all likelihood she had nothing at all to do with).

Yes, it's appalling that she was a victim of that group's fear tactics and will likely fall deeper into poverty because they worked on her, but I agree with 12: how is that her fault? I'm sure she'd feel compelled to reconsider by the classist pro-choicers here on this comment thread.

Bottom line: the pro-lifers have learned to speak to her, and we have not. Again, how is that her fault?

Posted by bitch on heels | June 25, 2007 2:11 PM
21

Well, yes, "aboration" is just a tad messy, not to say "terminal" - but think of it this way.

You bear a child for which you are ill-prepared, ill-educated and ill-financed to cope; and then at four months or so, the 19-year-old mother &/or her irritable boy friend become less than enchanted with this small bundle of flesh that cries all night, so they bind him in a strait jacket of sorts and tape a pacifier into his mouth and go nighty-night. The next morning, of course, baby is dead dead dead. [ref: last week's P-I]

Is there a legitimate term for "abortion" committed after the fact, or is it just murder? And let's not even think about all the non-aborted children who have been tortured as sexual play things, locked up in airless closets, marooned in boiling hot cars in shopping malls or intentionally underfed.

I fail to understand that if you are legally commanded by the State to have a license in order to hook a small-mouth bass in its face, to adopt a ferret, or to manhandle hot dogs in a restaurant, why you are not required to obtain a license to reproduce; a license which you would obtain only AFTER you are able to prove to be actually qualified as a parent in every respect.

Posted by KENTUCKY KERNEL OF TRUTH | June 25, 2007 2:14 PM
22

@ #12: WORD.

Posted by genevieve | June 25, 2007 2:18 PM
23

@20

She's an adult, bitch. Her choice to not have an abortion is fine, whatever. But her voice in the matter is pathetic. She is criticizing everyone who chooses to have an abortion, because she feels so high-and-mighty for not having one. They're evil to her, now.

Meanwhile, she's a poor girl with obvious problems that happens to have 3 lives under her hand now. Can she support them? Can she support the fourth baby, which is probably due in a little over a year? How is she supporting these children? What in her goddamn mind is stopping her from using birth control? Is that technically abortion to her as well?

Fuck it. Do what you want. You're a woman. I'm out of line to question how you live your life. I can't wait to see Jazmin's kids here on Slog in 15 years, shooting up their High School. It still won't be Jazmin's fault. We'll blame the media at that point.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 2:23 PM
24

@ 20 - I can't judge someone for having their 3rd kid at age 20? Get OFF it already. There are stupid f-cking people in this world and Jazmin is one of them. At least i am giving her responsibility for making her own decisions. According to you she is a helpless, mindless zombie with no free will. That's sooooo compassionate of you. Sorry, but this jerk totally reserves the right to judge people on the decisions they make. The fact that this obvious train wreck of a human being is the ringing endorsement these people put on their website is HEEElarious and says all anyone with half a brain (that excludes JAZmin) would need to know about them. Kid # 1 and MAYBE kid # 2 can be chalked up to ignorence, but kid #3... get a clue already!

Posted by longball | June 25, 2007 2:27 PM
25

@ 20:

"Yes, it's appalling that she was a victim of that group's fear tactics and will likely fall deeper into poverty because they worked on her, but I agree with 12: how is that her fault?"

its her "fault" only in this way: the only person who can save Jazmin is Jazmin. the sooner she does, the sooner she can concentrate on raising her 3 children NOT to have 3 children of their own by age 20. if she doesn't, imagine: Jazmin could be a grandmother of 9 by the time she's 40!

hey Jazmin: birth control ain't murder! try it sometime.

Posted by maxsolomon | June 25, 2007 2:28 PM
26


Maybe the only people who have ever been nice to Jazmin are at the anti-abortion clinic and that why she's listening to them.

Also, isn't it her sex partner's responsibility to use birth control? Where's the man in this scenario and why is he incapable of using a condom? Condoms are cheap and easy to use, don't require a prescription or a doctor or a clinic and prevent disease to boot. Men who complain that they don't use condoms because they just don't want to are fully responsible for these unplanned pregnancies.

By the way, adults of all ages and classes have unplanned pregnancies, not just those who have phonetic name-spellings.

Posted by maybe | June 25, 2007 2:39 PM
27

Maybe the only people who have ever been nice to Jazmin are at the anti-abortion clinic and that why she's listening to them.

Also, isn't it her sex partner's responsibility to use birth control? Where's the man in this scenario and why is he incapable of using a condom?

By the way, adults of all ages and classes have unplanned pregnancies, not just those who have phonetic name-spellings.

Posted by maybe | June 25, 2007 2:41 PM
28

If this group were truly successful in getting images of abortions made commonplace in media, I think things would backfire on them pretty quickly. When disturbing imagery is repeatedly shown, people become desensitized to it. If your average person can walk past a poster of a pile of aborted fetuses and still drink their coffee, they're not gonna think twice about calling Planned Parenthood when they have an unwanted pregnancy.

Posted by Gitai | June 25, 2007 2:43 PM
29

I doubt "Show the Truth Washington" is going to take care of Jazmin's kids while goes out and gets a job that will support her and her kids. Instead she and her family will be on welfare for at least the next 15-20 years, which is another thing the right is anti, along with birth control and abortion.

Posted by elswinger | June 25, 2007 2:46 PM
30

Wow. Hit a nerve, huh?

Blah, blah, blah, classism, classism, classism. Nothing you've said refutes my basic point.

By judging her and her choices, without understanding her situation or having any empathy for it, much less doing something to help people in her situation, you are not changing her reality at all. You're making it worse.

I never said Jazmin was "a helpless, mindless zombie with no free will," nor did I call her stupid like you did, 24. What I said was that she was a woman in crisis with a choice to make. She sought out guidance to make that choice. Who reached out and spoke to her? Not any of you. Why would you? She's just a low class idiot with a misspelled name who can't close her legs.

And ya, I think 20 is young enough to qualify as "kid." Thank the God of Centralia that I didn't make any irrevocable choices at that age.

Posted by bitch on heels | June 25, 2007 2:47 PM
31

@26

Nice argument. Why wasn't he wearing a condom? I don't know. Maybe Jazmin should have asked that question before she let him pound her with his naked dick. Maybe she should have told him to pull it out and spray it on her tits. Maybe she should have said let's wait until you have a condom, since it's not my responsibility to be on birth control, because I'm a woman and I have enough responsibility as it is with my two kids, and I don't want a third.

Maybe.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 2:49 PM
32

It might be both parties responsibility to use BC but the ultimate consequences pretty much fall on the women. Yah it sucks, but biology's a bitch. You can blame society, her partner, whoever the hell you want but at the end of the day the choice to abort is hers and more likely then not the task of raising the kids will fall to her as well.

We need to work to educate women and empower them to take control of their sexuality. That means telling young women its ok to tell a guy to fuck off (no pun intended) if he won't wear a condom and its rape if he doesn't. It also means telling people to exercise some discretion in who they fuck. Sure she can sleep with whoever she wants and bare all the children her uterus can kick out, but something tells me the life of a single mother with three kids at 20 is not to happy. Lets not prove the fundies right in their arguement that young people can't handle sex.

Look as a guy if I screw up and get a girl pregnant at most I'm out a little under half my monthly income and thats at most, more likely its going to be less. That gives women a much greater incentive to take control of their reproduction then it does for guys to wear a condom.

Posted by Giffy | June 25, 2007 3:16 PM
33

It looks like an alien hugging a quarter.

Posted by Rev. Griddler | June 25, 2007 3:16 PM
34

It might be both parties responsibility to use BC but the ultimate consequences pretty much fall on the women. Yah it sucks, but biology's a bitch. You can blame society, her partner, whoever the hell you want but at the end of the day the choice to abort is hers and more likely then not the task of raising the kids will fall to her as well.

We need to work to educate women and empower them to take control of their sexuality. That means telling young women its ok to tell a guy to fuck off (no pun intended) if he won't wear a condom and its rape if he doesn't. It also means telling people to exercise some discretion in who they fuck. Sure she can sleep with whoever she wants and bare all the children her uterus can kick out, but something tells me the life of a single mother with three kids at 20 is not to happy. Lets not prove the fundies right in their arguement that young people can't handle sex.

Look as a guy if I screw up and get a girl pregnant at most I'm out a little under half my monthly income and thats at most, more likely its going to be less. That gives women a much greater incentive to take control of their reproduction then it does for guys to wear a condom.

Posted by Giffy | June 25, 2007 3:17 PM
35

It might be both parties responsibility to use BC but the ultimate consequences pretty much fall on the women. Yah it sucks, but biology's a bitch. You can blame society, her partner, whoever the hell you want but at the end of the day the choice to abort is hers and more likely then not the task of raising the kids will fall to her as well.

We need to work to educate women and empower them to take control of their sexuality. That means telling young women its ok to tell a guy to fuck off (no pun intended) if he won't wear a condom and its rape if he doesn't. It also means telling people to exercise some discretion in who they fuck. Sure she can sleep with whoever she wants and bare all the children her uterus can kick out, but something tells me the life of a single mother with three kids at 20 is not to happy. Lets not prove the fundies right in their argument that young people can't handle sex.

Look as a guy if I screw up and get a girl pregnant at most I'm out a little under half my monthly income and thats at most, more likely its going to be less. That gives women a much greater incentive to take control of their reproduction then it does for guys to wear a condom.

Posted by Giffy | June 25, 2007 3:19 PM
36

Wow sorry about the triple post, not really sure what happened there are my internet went down and I could not even see the page.

Posted by Giffy | June 25, 2007 3:27 PM
37

Do you think she deliberately spelled it "aboration" to invoke "aberration"? Because I think that'd be pretty damn clever.

If you consider 20-year-olds to be children, you are severely underestimating the intellectual capacity of many young 'uns out there. Yeah, many more of us are huge retards, but why should this mean they should be expected to be that way? We let them drink (here), we let them drive, we let them vote, we send them to war. Kinda time for them to figure out unprotected sex = babies.

Posted by Gloria | June 25, 2007 3:54 PM
38

No, I think it was spelled aboration so it would upset Mr. Poe and make him flame out.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 25, 2007 3:59 PM
39

@21,

That license should have an age requirement: no one under the age of 30 is allowed to have children. In fact, I would be satisfied with just that requirement.

Posted by keshmeshi | June 25, 2007 4:00 PM
40

@39

Not like you would want me to agree with you, but I completely do.

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 25, 2007 4:13 PM
41

Classim isnt such a bad thing. I feel that discriminating against people based on the decisions they make is a good thing, such as thinking the opinions of a 20 year old mother of 3 being worthless.

I also think thats why racism is bad, sexual orientation and gender discrimination is bad. you dont have control over those things. You do have choice over what class you belong to and what you dont belong to based on what you do in life.

That said, I most likely make the least amount of money of anyone posting on slog that works full time. I am "lower class" in some regards, but Im not harming society or 2 other beings by bringing a third into the picture.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 25, 2007 4:35 PM
42

Also, im willing to bet that if shes had 2 kids at 20, she doesnt care about protection nor does the guys she slept with. Saying that her partner should also take charge is true, but no more helpful than saying that shes stupid.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 25, 2007 4:41 PM
43

If you haven't seen the movie Idiocracy, you should. I think it's probably the best prediction of what our future world will be like ... A world inhabited by complete morons.

Posted by todd | June 25, 2007 4:59 PM
44

The idea that we can choose what class we belong to is the central myth of American life.

Posted by ECB | June 25, 2007 5:03 PM
45

Abort the stupid! Wow, what argument for choice.

The attacks Jazmin are right out of testimony from the Nurenburg trials.

Posted by mirror | June 25, 2007 5:11 PM
46

ECB you can choose not to perpetuate the mistakes that wound your parents into the class to begin with. unless you believe in the myth of class determinism (and id sure love to see you lecture lower class people on how they wont ever have a choice out of their situations.)

mirror, Its hard to have empathy for someone who rejects common sense, our beliefs, and the the wellbeing of her other two children.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 25, 2007 5:27 PM
47

If these people think that the citizens of Seattle will look up and go "oh my! I've been wrong!", they are sorely mistaken. The 'aborted fetus guys' used to picket our high school, and it certainly didn't change minds... just made us notice that the most vociferous people regarding this were always middle-aged, portly white guys. In other words, people who looked like our parents and thus were to be ignored.

And the whole Jazmin thing: phonetic spelling and general misspelling aside, she's why I completely agree with #39. I'm 26-- god knows I haven't gotten the stupid out yet, and I'm not willing to let the stupid affect a child. Too bad she didn't feel the same way.

Posted by Jessica | June 25, 2007 5:35 PM
48

ECB @ 44 - I managed to. 'Nuff said.

Posted by Dono | June 25, 2007 5:53 PM
49

Maybe she got pregnant at the anti-abortion clinic?

Posted by tarminian | June 25, 2007 6:12 PM
50

So no one has made a comment yet on how stupid an idea it is to fly a picture of an aborted fetus in the sky when it will just look like a giant melted Strawberry Short Kook Otter Pop instead?

Posted by matthew fisher wilder | June 25, 2007 7:59 PM
51

i think this posting is as judging as all those wild pro-choice people. abortion or no abortion, lots of stupid people will be born. until then, let those who choose abortion choose. Let those who wish to keep their babies, keep their babies. No need to badger them for their decision. No need for stupid airplane signs. I don't see why people are always trying to force everyone else. If you believe in God, we are all accountable for our OWN actions...so let time play itself out. Let people do whatever they want. Something will probably come to resolve at some point. People are going to disagree for now. I say we all just shut our mouths and do whatever we want and see what happens.

Posted by Ryan | June 25, 2007 8:54 PM
52

Ryan, can I shut your mouth with my fist?

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 25, 2007 9:18 PM
53

Real quick heads up: I'm the Ryan who submitted this. The "Ryan" above is an entirely different entity.

-LT L

Posted by LT L | June 25, 2007 10:19 PM
54

@46 "ECB you can choose not to perpetuate the mistakes that wound your parents into the class to begin with."

Oh batcrap. That is exactly part of the central myth that she's referring to.

Sure there's always exceptions like Dono claims to be, but most people aren't just born into poverty as an economic situation. They are also born into poverty as a cultural condition.

The reason jokes about being ghetto or white trash or whatever work is because they actually do describe a socioeconomic reality fairly well.

Many folks are too ignorant to even realize there's a situation to escape from (and I use ignorant here to refer to folks who are uneducated/uninformed, not as a proxy for dumb, stupid, or retarded).

Sure it's easy to laugh folks like Jazmin or advocate for licenses (or forced sterilization?), but until we address the situations that create fools like her, we're stuck with them.

Posted by gnossos | June 25, 2007 11:28 PM
55

#48: That seems awfully flip.

Posted by please | June 25, 2007 11:32 PM
56

(1) Mirror @14, while I somewhat agree with your sentiment, I must point out that you can't add. How do you get that she had her first kid at 15? The letter says she's 20, and has a 3 year old. That makes her 17 when the oldest baby was born, not 15.

(2) If someone hadn't explained that the banner was supposed to be an aborted fetus, I was going to guess that it looked like a strawberry next to a quarter.

(3) Jazmin might be a bit ignorant and/or irresponsible, and clearly needs some lessons in self esteem and birth control, but some of you people are just mean, not to mention misogynistic morons. Having 3 kids by the age of 20 does not make her a "whore". It makes her ignorant of birth control. She does not need to "close her twat". She needs to get on the pill or tell her man (men?) to use a condom. If she learns to take some precaution against unwanted pregnancy, I see no reason why she shouldn't enjoy a healthy sex life, just like anyone else. I certainly wouldn't want all of you telling me when or with whom I should be allowed to have sex.

Posted by SDA in SEA | June 25, 2007 11:57 PM
57

@48
Congratulations. Someone get this man a cookie.

@41
If I recall correctly, your first insult to Jazmin was the spelling of her name--which she didn't have control over, so shouldn't phonetic spelling fall into the same blameless category as people of color, homos, and women do, by your argument?

Do people with poor parents deserve to be "lower class"? Do people who come from neighborhoods where the schools suck and don't teach them to spell deserve it? Do people who aren't indoctrinated into the habits of the middle or upper classes (speech, confidence, dress, mannerisms, cultural references, ambitions, ideologies--to name a few) deserve it? Is there really a level playing field from which anyone with enough tenacity and drive can succeed, and rise to the level of anyone else? Or are we all just people with a set of genes and a set of circumstances, usuing our available resources and paradigms to try to make things work out for ourselves?

I dare you to say you've had unprotected sex fewer than three times. I dare you to say you've never made a life-altering mistake. I dare you to say you've always known what to do in a time of crisis.

The same people taking away these kids' condoms are the ones cradling them in one arm and holding a picture of an aborted fetus in the other. It's a complicated, fucked up situation, and no, that kid doesn't sound like she has a clue how to navigate it. It's too bad someone manipulated and used her and her family as some kind of passport to his own salvation.

Posted by bitch on heels | June 26, 2007 12:22 AM
58

@ 57 "The same people taking away these kids' condoms are the ones cradling them in one arm and holding a picture of an aborted fetus in the other."

Bing-fucking-ingo.

Posted by gnossos | June 26, 2007 1:11 AM
59

ECB's got it covered- there actually have been studies done about class in America. You aren't shuffled into one class or another just because you decided you didn't like English class.

And Mr. Poe- if you're wondering about the opposition, the lexicon you're using makes you seem like you hate women.

Posted by stiletto | June 26, 2007 2:01 AM
60

SDA in SEA:

Thanks for pointing out my error on the age.

I was such a mess at 17 and totally couldn't seem to get going in any different direction. Things just got worse over next two years. If I had been pregnant it would have been insane. I can't imagine myself making well-considered well-informed decisions under the circumstances of my life at that time.

Posted by mirror | June 26, 2007 7:37 AM
61

Ive made one life altering mistake that only affected me personally...and surprisingly it involved unprotected sex.

The problem with calling class mobility a myth is then you're essentially saying that you believe in class determinism. Someone named Jazmin is likely lower class, and as such they are likely to have more babies. You say that she didnt have a choice in this because she is lower class and is making the best out of her genes and resources.

I say that someone like Jazmin should try to rise above the conditions of her upbringing and she has the ability to do so. It's insulting to lower class people to write them off as not having the ability or talent to do so.

I also made note of her name simply because it is one of those names that indicates lower class parents. I dont believe in class determinism but I am not shocked by her name and her situation.


Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 26, 2007 8:49 AM
62

Hey Bellevue Ave, great way to solve problems...with your fist. Sounds like someone is a strong proponent of the Bush Administration. I was just saying let people do what they need to do...we can't be going around changing people like Jazmin to be smarter. Just let people do what they want and hopefully they will run across some good insight as to the proper decision for THEM (not YOU)...while they are trying to make decisions you will just be swinging your fists, creating more problems.

Posted by Ryan | June 26, 2007 9:51 AM
63

I cannot believe the lack of compassion in many of these posts. I read the comment section expecting to hear shock at the horror of these tactics MARKETING anti-abortion rhetoric. Instead I find comment after comment demonizing this woman on the basis of the spelling of her name?

I'm certain you have all lived your lives absolutely unerringly--righteously even! I might not agree with the logic behind the pro-life movement, but I could stand behind ideas borne of faith far more easily than I could ideas borne of elitism. Go ahead and sit there, writing your sanctimonious comments about this woman, all the while missing the fucking point of the original post. You have no idea what might have contributed to her decisions--who the fuck are you to judge her for them?

The post wasn't intended to point fingers at a woman who has made questionable decisions (likely as a result of fundamental SYSTEMIC shortfalls) but to point out the disgusting tactics of the group who preyed on this woman's weaknesses.

Certainly, there exists the potential to overcome the class disadvantage, but that potential is not realized solely through the effort of the individual. It takes contributions from the community, from the system, and from personal support systems to champion against the overwhelming odds when it comes to poverty, lack of education and the scores of other social factors that may have contributed to Jazmin's obviously unfortunate situation.

As for Jazmin's parenting skills, Dr. Poe, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the capacity to parent well is not contingent upon one's financial situation, one's level of education, and certainly, one's social status. Yes, these things are greatly beneficial in facilitating healthy parenting, but they are by no means necessary. Money, education and power certainly didn't help Kathy Hilton raise valuable contributions to society.

And for what it's worth (probably very little, considering the audience) middle class white people with educations make shitty decisions too--all the time. In fact, it is far more often middle class white people who raise children who, how did you put it so eloquently--shoot up the schools. Check the stats.

And for anybody who might be inclined to consider Jazmin's situation and what might be done to change these heartbreaking realities, I recommend reading "In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio" I know, I know--it means taking a close look at the real issues in America as opposed sitting at your laptop and passing judgment--but it might actually mean that there are less people facing Jazmin's difficult situation in the future.

Posted by Jaime-Leigh | June 26, 2007 9:53 AM
64

Back to the original topic of this post for just a moment... I live in Chicago and every so often there is a church group that lines the downtown street that I work on with enormous blown up pictures of aborted fetuses, with one person standing holding each picture (they also, oddly, hand out donuts). Every time I spend the rest of the morning being irritated, thinking, fine, be pro-life based on your religious beliefs, but fucking do something intelligent about it. Provide adoption counseling/support or financial support for women who choose to keep their babies. Or, god forbid, promote responsible birth control so women don't have to bee put in the situation of making that choice. Don't waste your time/resources holding up stupid signs.

Oh, and last time they did this, there was a 13 year old girl holding up one of the signs. I think I was depressed the rest of the day.

Posted by Julie | June 26, 2007 10:31 AM
65

Since this monologue has continued in my head… I will add another comment. If I were pro-life and wanted to do something about abortion, I would open up a counseling center. Pregnant women would first get counseling about making the choice between adoption and keeping the baby. If they choose adoption, they would be supported in the process, both logistically and with additional counseling. If they choose to keep the baby, there would be an intensive parenting class that they could go through. The women who make it through the class get access to childcare assistance (perhaps the center would have a low-cost daycare facility) and help with things like diapers, formula, etc.

This may already exist, but thought I would suggest something that would actually add to society, whereas, say, holding up pictures of aborted fetuses does not.

Posted by Julie | June 26, 2007 11:00 AM
66

Ryan, do you label everyone who disagrees with you as a bush fan? because thats a pretty poor tactic taken from pretty deplorable people in history.

as for letting people do what they want, if i so wanted to punch you in the mouth i think you should let me, and not get in my way. right?

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 26, 2007 12:54 PM

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