Reading Meg's post over at BuzzFlash (Don't Kid Yourself; the Murder of Dr. George Tiller is Part of the War Against Women) brought me back to the choir loft at Our Lady of Fatima Church. I was no more than 16 and Father Weber (the one who replaced our pedophile) was talking about the "sin" of abortion.
From somewhere I drew the strength to ask, "Even if it is known that the mother will die, maybe even leaving other children behind, abortion is wrong?" Of course, he answered, "yes". And that's when I knew, in no uncertain terms, that - Mary aside - the church was anti-woman.
Random related thoughts:
- Many of the anti-choice groups are also staunchly anti-birth control.
- Unrestricted access to birth control is the main reason why women are able to plan families and build careers.
- Anti-choice legislation is a wedge for the Catholic (and other) churchs') anti-birth control agendas. This is why the anti-choice author who joined with a pro-choice author to write a book on the common ground of reducing unwanted pregnancy was vilified by anti-choice groups. Wish I could remember the title and the authors names. I heard them interviewed on NPR a while ago.
- 90% of counties in America have no safe place for a woman to have an abortion.
- I heard someone say recently, we're not in a way of Christians against Muslims, we're in a war of moderates against fundamentalists/extremists. My observation is that the one thing all fundamentalists/extremists have in common is the degradation of women's position in society.
- Without a permanent majority of feminist men and women in positions of legislative power we are, at any given time, only one law away from equal rights.
- Anti-choice violence is absolutely terrorism.
I hope there is a generation of young women and men who are willing to do battle again for all I fought for 40 years ago.
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