Blogging for Choice - again and again and again

There has to be accessible information about reproduction. There has to discussions about the spectrum of sexually, sexual expression and the (non)-religious responsibilities of having sex or not having sex.

Then there needs to be a fair and open education about contraception options. You can start with Abstinence but I also want the pill, IUD, and all the other options as well. The pro and the con reasons for using each method. Most importantly, I do not want any religious faith to interfere with that instruction. They can contribute to the education with their perspective but not stop sex education as it has happened in the last 8 years.

To me, Abortion is not contraception. Contraception has happened. But withing a certain time frame, (for me) it is an acceptable choice. Because of education from Planned Parenthood & birth control pills I did not find myself facing that difficult choice.

I hope the next generation receives the information.

Gena - Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com )

I recently blogged about this subject,also. I am very conflicted about this issue. Somewhere deep inside of me, I still believe that there is something wrong with choosing to end the growing life that is completely dependent and innocent. I did have an abortion 20 years ago and it ended up being the worst decision I ever made. That being said, I do realize that not every woman's experience after abortion is negative. In my mind, abortion should be the last option, only after all others have been considered. I don't believe in abortion as a form of birth control. Yes, we are grown ups and we should be allowed to control our healthcare and our bodies, but when our bodies are giving life to another body, it becomes somewhat more complicated.

I will continue to be pro choice; however, because as I stated in my blog, it's not my decision to make for another.

AllThingsToNoOne ( http://www.youreeverwherethatimnot.blogspot.com )

Legislation is a weird thing. How can we all fit in one mould?
We make choices every day about everything and I personally are more concerned about exploring my own core beliefs that dictate what my choice is going to be than be forced to obey anybody else's.
I too find it difficult to not rant and rave about our right to make choices based on the core beliefs I have chosen, thank you.

I do like exploring conversations about core beliefs, I am wise enough to know that some of my core beliefs are invisible to me or have sneeked up on me and are not really based on choice; they are mine by default and deseerve a look into.

But there is freedom in my exploring and there is no right or wrong. How can that be, we are talking about beliefs.

However having certain core beliefs declared as 'right' is soooo emotionally hard to deal with, I have to call upon all my strenght NOT to do what they do, and shout back "You are wrong!".

That is the biggest trick for me, not to have me stoop to their level ahum, . . . and still stand up for my own choices whatever they may be.

I will blog until we have choices, in every thing. That is why I blog!!!! 

Wilma Ham

www.wilmasblog.com ( http://www.wilmasblog.com/ )

If you can't control the womenfolk - and the best way to control 'em is to give them no power over their own bodies when it comes to sexuality - who can you control? Even better, by stigmatizing abortion, anti-choice advocates create an environment which invalidate other people's religious beliefs and personal values and withholds vital information that would help women make informed decisions. I'm not religious myself, but I'm a huge supporter of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice ( http://www.rcrc.org/ ) because it is a reminder that people of faith and conscience represent a wide variety of opinions on the matter. Plus, I think it is important that women share their experiences with abortion. (If I were on top of things, I would have posted about women blogging about their abortions ( http://www.blogher.com/brave-bloggers-share-what-i... ) today instead of last Thursday, but so it goes. Thanks for your thoughtful post on the topic. (And thanks to the Bush administration for protecting that nurse's "right" to force her religious beliefs onto patients...)

Suzanne Reisman ( http://www.blogher.com/member/suzanne-reisman ), Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender ( http://blogher.org/topic/feminism-gender )
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants ( http://cussandotherrants.com/ )

But something has gotten very wrong about reproductive rights and responsibilities. We have gone beyond not being able to talk about it to so called professionals doing bodily harm.

If I have made a responsible and thoughtful decision I don't need a zealot to countermand it while I'm lying on the table.

Still mad at that woman!

Gena - Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com )

The right to choose includes choosing TO have children as well as NOT to have children.  I hear just as many criticisms of people who want children because they are too old, too young, don't make enough money, have too many children already, etc.  I don't just have the right to choose NOT to have children, I have the right TO choose to have children.  As far as I'm concerned, either choice is choice and to criticize/interfere with either choice is an equal violation.

This is why I do not like religion or belief systems mixed into my health care options. What that nurse did was violate not one but two different sets of ethics, the nursing code of ethics ( http://nursingworld.org/ethics/code/protected_nwco... ) particularly section 1.4 the right of a patient to self-determination. Not to mention multiple practitioner, doctor and medical codes of ethics that she trampled.

I don't care if you are pro/anti or whatever. If you are so called anti-abortion or pro-life then work in a facility that supports your faith and your choice.

If you choose to work outside of that environment then there is an expectation that you perform your duties to the code that you swore to upheld. Violating a woman because of your belief system was not and has never been a part of nursing training.

She'd be the one not to give the full depo shot. She would be the one to mis-write the dosage on the prescription for the pill. That dame would be the one to refuse to give a woman the morning after pill either covertly or overtly.

I am really mad about this. If your faith tells you to do this kind of "activism" then phfttt to your faith. It isn't faith at all. It is fear. Fear most foul!

Gena - Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com )