Mix: Live fetus talking – When men are ‘allowed’ to opine on abortion – Momhood not greatest accomplishment/role?

Probably the best thing to come out of attending CPAC for me was my being re-energized on the issue of abortion – as you can probably tell, especially if you follow my Twitter stream. ;) Now more than ever I am committed to not only continuing to try and help save the lives of the unborn with strong, fact-based arguments, but also to keeping up the good fight when it comes to exposing so-called “feminists” and their various rationales on a number of “women’s issues” – especially abortion. In other words, you’ll be hearing a lot more from me in the future on “womens issues.”

If you’re a pro-life male and you’re reading this, how often have you encountered the “feminist” argument that you should “stay out of the debate” when it comes to pregnancy because you can’t have a baby? My guess is you’ve either heard it a lot or read it a lot. It’s an offensive argument on its face, not only because it’s yet another shameless tactic used by pro-aborts to try and shut down legitimate discussion of a very serious moral issue, but also because it’s selective; pro-aborts don’t mind bringing men into the argument when they slam them for “getting a woman pregnant” (in spite of the fact that it takes, you know, two to tango …). They also don’t mind bringing men into the picture when talking about how men supposedly primarily “use pregnancy” as a form of “control” over women.

As reaffirmed just today, the male opinion on abortion actually IS relevant … but only if you’re a male who supports the “reproductive rights” of women. From a pro-abort post at The Sisterhood blog at the Jewish Daily:

But one of the coolest things about the rally was the strong showing of male allies on stage and on the ground in Manhattan’s Foley Square. On stage, a group of Jewish male New York politicians made a series of completely impassioned, fiery speeches that shocked me with their urgent tone. Congressmen Eliot Engel, Jerrold Nadler, Anthony Weiner and Senator Charles Schumer were four of a number of wonderful speakers.

Many of these guys invoked their daughters with emotion in their voices β€” echoing studies that show male legislators with daughters tend to vote with more empathetic attitudes on women’s issues. Others called out the Republican opposition by name β€” specifically Mike Pence, who sponsored the bill gutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood β€” for wanting to, and I paraphrase, β€œstand in hospital rooms making decisions for patients. Schumer assured us that Pence’s bill would be β€œdead on arrival” in the Senate. But the fact that the bill has gotten as far as it has remains shocking, and House Speaker John Boehner is out publicly blasting Planned Parenthood.

As the fight continues, we’re going to need every ally we have β€” female, male, young, old, from every walk of life β€” to keep standing up and speaking up for women’s health, and realizing that this attack out of DC is a universal affront, not a niche women’s issue.

Heh. Doesn’t this make you feel good, guys? Your voice is vital to the debate!!!!! As long as you support a woman’s “right” to terminate her pregnancy.

Well, ok – this it not exactly new news, but nevertheless it’s still worth pointing out in black and white again and again the two-faced nature of the pro-abortion “movement” when it comes to deciding whose opinions are worth including in the debate and whose aren’t. Are you a man who supports abortion “rights”? Your opinion is worthwhile and relevant. Oppose it? Here is what you’ll hear (from a multi-faceted liberal rally held this past weekend in DC):

RT @alwaysonoffense: They are chanting “pro-life men have got to go. When you’re pregnant let us know.” http://twitpic.com/441eem

Here’s what you’ll see (via the NOW National Facebook page):

Photo courtesy of NOW National's Facebook page
Photo courtesy of NOW National's Facebook page

And speaking of opinions, the pro-aborts are up in arms over news that an two unborn babies will soon “testify” to the Ohio legislature. How so? Via ultrasound. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two fetuses will be presented as witnesses before an Ohio legislative committee that is hearing a bill to outlaw abortions after the first heartbeat can be detected inside a woman’s womb.

The fetuses will appear live and in color before the committee on a video screen projecting ultrasound images taken from their pregnant mothers’ bodies. Janet Folger Porter, head of Faith2Action, an anti-abortion group, said the fetuses will be the youngest witnesses to ever testify when they come in front of the House Health and Aging Committee Wednesday morning.

“Lawmakers are going to be able to see as well as hear the babies’ heartbeats,” said Porter. “We think this is going to do a lot to keep other babies’ heartbeats going in Ohio.” She said two Ohio women — one nine weeks and the other 11 weeks pregnant — have agreed to be scanned with ultrasound machines for the hearing.

Abortion rights supporters said they are dismayed by what they see as a spectacle dreamed up for media attention.

“I think it’s a stunt that trivializes women’s health,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio. “It’s obvious this committee is a lot more interested in making headlines than in giving women better access to health care or doing something to bring jobs to this state or trying to fix the state’s budget mess.”

Truth be told, what the NARAL gang is really concerned about are minds changing on the issue as a result of people hearing the heartbeat of an unborn child in the early stages of development. It’s pretty powerful stuff, as exemplified in the below video of an ultrasound done at 6 weeks and 5 days:

That is probably one of the most precious sounds you’ll ever hear. Ever. That little baby’s opinion is also one worth listening to, but of course pro-aborts will have none of it because, well, I’m sure they’re aware that if unborn babies could express their opinions in words they’d be gurgling, “I won’t mind eating Ramen Noodles.”

Martha Kempner, writing at the pro-abortion RH Reality Check blog, is outraged that the proposed Ohio bill makes no exceptions for abortions in cases of fetal “anomalies”:

[…] This latest legislative tug at our heart strings, however, is anything but cute. It’s a ploy for fetal personhood and a direct attack on the protection set up by Roe v. Wade. This proposed law would push the date at which abortion is no longer legal back pretty much to the date the stick turns pink. A heartbeat can be detected as early as five weeks gestational age (and remember the first two of those weeks are counted even though they occurred before ovulation).

What may be most important to remember, however, is that while the detection of a heartbeat is a good sign of a viable pregnancy it is by no means a final indication that the pregnancy will end in the live birth of a healthy baby. The ultrasound that the Committee on Health is about to witness is the first of many that most women have during pregnancy. There’s one at 11 weeks that checks for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 18 among other possible chromosomal anomalies. Another at 20 weeks looks at the fetal anatomy checking the development of each organ, including the heart, to make sure there are no structural problems that will lead to birth defects.

Unfortunately, for the women of Ohio (and whatever other states are targeted by this group next), this bill makes no exceptions for any anomalies that may be found later in the pregnancy, the only exception is if the pregnancy is life-threatening to the mother. A heartbeat at 9 weeks is no guarantee of a healthy heart or a healthy baby. There are a myriad of conditions and disorders that could cause pain and suffering after birth. It seems paradoxical to me that the authors of this bill would be so focused on the personification of an unborn child that they complete ignore what might happen later. To force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term knowing that her child will face a lifetime of pain seems like the ultimate definition of heartlessness to me.

The real reality not revealed by that blog post is the fact that even if the bill provided exceptions for fetal defects found later on in the pregnancy, NARAL/NOW types still wouldn’t be happy with such a compromise. Remember: The goal of radical feminist groups is to keep abortion legal without limitations. This is a fact. Never lose sight of that. Pro-aborts are even against partial birth abortion bills because they view such bills as a “backdoor way” for pro-lifers to restrict abortions earlier on in a woman’s pregnancy. This is also why NOW, NARAL, etc also routinely oppose any state/national level attempts at classifying the killing of an unborn baby by a predator or other type of deranged criminal as murder. “Pro-family”? I don’t think so.

Not only that, but – as I talked about on Twitter just a little bit ago – it’s a common, dishonest tactic of pro-aborts to utilize and emphasize the “health of the baby” argument when discussing what types of abortion should be allowed and what shouldn’t, because by the way they talk about it, the primary reasons women get abortions are ‘urgent’ reasons: rape, health of the mother/baby issues, or incest. It’s an emotion-based argument that ignores the facts. The reality – oops, there’s that word again – is that the vast majority of abortions in this country are performed for convenience purposes, not due to health of the baby or mother, rape, nor incest.

Facts are inconvenient little critters, aren’t they? Especially to the militant “feminist” crowd.

Last but certainly not least, did you catch this mean-spirited rant about motherhood from Salon yesterday? Mary Elizabeth Williams slings (bolded emphasis added by me):

Late Sunday night, when many of us at home were praying for the sweet release of a Celine Dion-serenaded death, anything to escape our long international nightmare of the Oscars, a glowingly pregnant Natalie Portman finally took the stage to accept the Academy Award as best actress. She was as lovely and slightly awkward as she has been every time she’s hauled home another prize for her devastatingly creepy turn in “Black Swan,” thanking her fellow nominees, her parents, the directors who’ve guided her career, and then at last “my beautiful love,” dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, for giving her “the most important role of my life.” That’d be when he impregnated her, I’d wager.

At the time, the comment jarred me, as it does every time anyone refers to motherhood as the most important thing a woman can possibly do. But the reason why didn’t hit me until I saw the ever razor sharp Lizzie Skurnick comment on Twitter today that, “Like, my garbageman could give you your greatest role in life, too, lady.”

When you’re pregnant, especially for the first time, there are a lot of amazed and awed moments in between the heartburn and insomnia. But is motherhood really a greater role than being secretary of state or a justice on the Supreme Court? Is reproduction automatically the greatest thing Natalie Portman will do with her life?

And as Portman looked out into the audience at her main competition this year, mother of four Annette Bening, I wonder if she saw an actress who has admitted freely she’s limited her career for her children, who says, “I have all these conditions on which I can work,” but who also cops freely that work “is very important.” “Women aren’t supposed to acknowledge that,” she said in an interview last year, “and pretend that it’s all just fabulous and we love every moment and it’s just a wonder … It is a wonder, but it’s also tiring and really, really hard work and a lot of the time your life is not about you, it’s about what everyone else wants. There’s that selflessness you need to find, and on the other hand, you hire a babysitter and you go out and you do your work.”

Wow. Shame on Benning for happily accepting the “limitations” motherhood brings and for finding that perfect balance between being a mom and having a career! Is this what “pro-choice” is supposed to mean? Ooops …

Piling on in agreement with the Salon piece was KJ Dell’Antonia at Slate’s XX Factor blog:

But I find myself wanting to cut Natalie some slack. She’s pregnant, after all. It was an Oscar speech. It was a cute way to slide her fiance and baby-father into her list of those being thanked, and if a few grinch-y celebrity watchers doubt the permanency of the star’s commitment to her choreographer, well, they’re just a bunch of meanies, that’s all. As for impending motherhood, the “greatest role” of her life? Let her have her babymoon. Soon enough, she’ll be frantically trying to figure out exactly what “putting your kids first” really means in the context of a career, just like thousands of women before her (only, of course, as HuffPo pointed out in including “Movie Star” on its tongue-in-cheek list of the 100 Best Jobs for Moms, with a trainer and a crack team of nannies at her call). Maybe she’ll always feel like motherhood is her greatest role. But it probably won’t be her last.

Motherhood. What a drag!

Time for another reality check. Jenny Erikson puts it succinctly:

Being a mom is the most significant thing a woman can do. Without babies, our species becomes extinct. #justsayin

Can’t make it any plainer than that – nor this classic quote from the Gipper:

“I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.”

‘Nuff said.

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