Slog News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

« Joe the Plumber! | Wait a Minute... »

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The “Health” of the Mother

posted by on October 16 at 7:35 AM

McCain used air/scare quotes when he tried to throw “health” of the mother back in Obama’s face—because, hey, who gives a flying fuck about the “health” of the mother, right?

Oh, and speaking of the “health” of the mothers…

Anti-choice activists insist, per McCain, that “health” of the mother has been stretched to mean “almost anything,” and blandly assert that abortion shouldn’t be a choice available to women unless their lives are in peril. Unless a woman’s life is in danger—imminent danger—she shouldn’t be able to choose to terminate a pregnancy. I don’t know how making that clear helps McCain, as a majority of Americans are pro-choice, period, not just pro-choice when a mother’s life is in danger. Radical anti-choicers like McCain’s running mate don’t support an exception for rape or incest in their proposed abortion bans because, hey, the girl in the ad above could have her rapist’s baby, get a little counseling, and be just fine.

Right?

RSS icon Comments

1

Not to mention each time the mother looks into the childs eyes she sees the man who raped her. And when the child asks about his father what is she going to say? That he was created violently, without love or respect? Awesome Palin, fucking awesome. Keeping children first.

Posted by thecatnextdoor | October 16, 2008 8:02 AM
2

All sex is violence. What's the difference?

N00b.

Posted by Matthew | October 16, 2008 8:07 AM
3

I thought it was a little stupid that McCain didn't actually talk about why he thought the health of the mother exception was BS. I mean, if that's your position, defend it, don't just briefly mention it and move on. From a strictly "debate performance" perspective, that was a loss for him...

Posted by Julie in Chicago | October 16, 2008 8:19 AM
4

Let's not forget that Sarah and Todd thought about it a lot before decided to go ahead and have Trig AND was also proud of Bristol for making the CHOICE to keep her baby.

PS by the way, shouldn't Bristol be showing?

Posted by monkey | October 16, 2008 8:29 AM
6

"All sex is violence. What's the difference?"

Hmm, let's see...consent?

Posted by joygrenade | October 16, 2008 8:48 AM
7

#4, she is.

Posted by w7ngman | October 16, 2008 9:16 AM
8

Yeah, he did the same scare quotes thing when talking about how kooky Obama thinks nuclear power should be "safe." What a nut!

Posted by Levislade | October 16, 2008 9:19 AM
9

This was the most infuriating moment of any of the last 49 debates. The "HEALTH" of the mother?? WTF??

That is outrageous.

Posted by Travis | October 16, 2008 9:33 AM
10

With those nasty air quotes, McCain demonstrated that he is not qualified to be President of the United States. We already know that Palin is not qualified to be VP.

Posted by V | October 16, 2008 9:55 AM
11

I'm sorry, but is this 1960? Are we seriously still talking about abortion like there is any way to stop it? This ship has sailed, people, let it go. Women will continue to have abortions when they feel it is the right CHOICE for them. Legal or not.

So now, we can make it medically safe for them to do so, or we can let them die in a back room in an alley somewhere.

Posted by Charm | October 16, 2008 10:40 AM
12

While it is of course important to ensure rape victims can have abortions, is it really helping us to focus on those cases? I'm really rather tired of the rape double standard as an ok for abortion. It just proves that abortions aren't really about the baby's right to life at all, what people are really interested in is punishing those who have consensual sex.

Posted by Karey | October 16, 2008 10:56 AM
13

An exception for rape and incest seems inconsistent to me.

If you believe that aborting a fetus is murder and should be outlawed, then saying "but it's okay to kill them if it was rape" doesn't make sense.

Really, the normal anti-choice position is strange, since it's based on "abortion is murder" but supports exceptions and doesn't want to penalize people who get abortions illegally.

Posted by David | October 16, 2008 11:51 AM
14

People who defend the legality of abortion should be called anti-criminalization, not pro-choice, or pro-abortion. As has been said, legal or not, abortions will take place. Making them illegal will make having one a criminal act.

If we put the rights of the fetus (who is basically a parasite in it's mother's body) above the rights of the woman whose womb that fetus is occupying, what comes next? Do we make it a criminal act if a pregnant woman takes drugs, or doesn't eat properly? What do we do then? Do we imprison them so we can force them to stay clean and eat nutritional meals?

Posted by Barbara | October 16, 2008 1:00 PM
15

When McCain did this, I wanted to reach through the TV and punch him. My first pregnancy was very complicated and in trouble, and to avoid prolonging the inevitable - a later miscarriage or stillbirth - I had the pregnancy terminated. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do, but I will go to my grave knowing I made the best decision. There was a chance that I could have lost my uterus with this pregnancy. If that had happened, I would not have had a second pregnancy and my beautiful son would not be here.
My blood boils when politicians think they know medicine, women's bodies, and what is "best" for the mother. Take that and "shove" that up your "rear end", McCain!

Posted by Madashell | October 16, 2008 1:05 PM
16

@16, I second that emotion. I've been practicing obstetrics for 20 years and the "life and health of the mother" issue is NOT trivial. I've seen more than one mom with an overwhelming uterine infection have to terminate her pregnancy or face death from sepsis. I've had more than one woman get a cancer diagnosis in early pregnancy and face the tricky algebra of making decisions when all choices are miserable, all outcomes uncertain. I've seen a mom die from a treatable cancer because her beliefs would not allow her to terminate her pregnancy or take fetotoxic chemotherapy. No one, but no one, has the right to tell these women how to make their choices. Right to privacy? Hell, doesn't the Emancipation Proclamation hold sway here? Are we slaves to our uteruses and to the wise and wonderful fundamentalists who want to make our decisions for us?

Posted by Beentheredonethat | October 16, 2008 1:23 PM
17

(oops! I meant "@15" of course)

Posted by beentheredonethat | October 16, 2008 2:34 PM
18

i get really pissed when the criminalize abortion crowd starts their states' rights shit. why does no one ever ask them:

in what way are all 50 state governments more capable of making this decision FOR a woman than the federal government?

the states' rights thing is a giant fucking lie, and they need to be publicly cornered on it, a lot more often than they are.

Posted by cranky | October 16, 2008 5:54 PM
19

By "just fine" do you mean "drowns her unwanted baby in the tub and commits suicide"?

Posted by redwulf25 | October 17, 2008 12:36 AM

Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this post.