Funky Views

Pro Choice

I am pro choice.  Extremely pro choice.  When my eldest daughter, Katie, came to me to tell me that, at 16, she was pregnant, my pro choiceness was put to the absolute test.  Because allowing my daughter to examine all of her choices that were available to her and step back and let her make the choice that was best for her was the absolute litmus test of that belief of mine.

Now my being pro choice does not mean I encourage abortion.  I abhor abortion.  It's the absolutely worst choice of the three choices Katie wrangled with.  (abortion, adoption, teen parenthood)  Of the women I know who have had an abortion, there isn't one of them who doesn't regret that decision with every ounce of her being.

I also think that there should be limits on abortion,  such as not being legal after 20 weeks gestation.  And I think that every woman who is raped should take the morning after pill so the abortion issue doesn't even have to come up for her. 

I spend a lot of energy telling people of the miracle of adoption that I was privileged to participate in back in 2002.  No, that choice wasn't easy for Katie to make.  Continuing to attend high school while pregnant wasn't easy, either.  And for the pregnant teens in her support group who kept their babies managing to keep going to school and care for a baby and deal with the baby daddy or lack of baby daddy and all that isn't ever easy.

And abortion seems like such an easy way out.  Until you have one and have to live with that knowledge for the rest of your life.

But I never want my country to make abortion illegal.  Because that choice needs to be as safe and supported as possible.  So those who do make that choice survive their choice.

Rape Kit Story

When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, AK, rape victims were charged for their own rape kits.  That isn't under dispute by me or by anyone.

Did Mayor Palin institute this policy?  Nope. 

Was Wasilla, Alaska the only place in the United States who had this policy?  Again, nope.  Congress had to pass a law in 2005 a law requiring states to provide rape exams free of charge or reimburse victims for the costs according to a quote by Ilse Knecht of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Washington in USA Today. 

In the oft quoted newspaper article from the Frontiersman, it is the police chief who is having issues with paying for the kits out of his budget. 

In my humble opinion, victims of any crime should never have to pay one penny for any of the investigation tools or rehabilitation that they must go through as a result of that crime.  We also must remember that law enforcement agencies get frustrated when they are told again and again that they must do more with either the same amount of money or less money.  I'm not excusing that police chief for his statements.  I'm just trying to understand where they may have come from.

 

I'm white trash!

Palin backers "white trash".  Thank heavens that's been cleared up.  God bless the CBC!

A thought

This came to me via a strange and winding path and it sort of fits with my previous post.  So here's the thought for the day:

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why." -Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Prayer in high places

In a discussion with a co-worker about the election in general and Gov Sarah Palin in particular, he has many reservations about her.  One of his biggest reservations is that he's tired of our country being led by people who pray.  He wants a leader who uses sound reasoning for their decisions instead of listening to God.

That remark has been rattling around in my head for the past couple days and I have some thoughts on it.  First, what harm does praying about problems and issues do?  If there is no God around to help guide the petitioner's thought process, then it stands to reason that praying turns into a sort of meditation and the part of our mind that reasons things out will be able to work without much distraction, thereby finding a good and reasonable solution to whatever problem has been prayed/meditated about.

Meditation is simply the practice of focusing your attention on a particular object — generally something simple, like a word or phrase, a candle flame or geometrical figure, or the coming and going of your breath. In everyday life, your mind is constantly processing a barrage of sensations, visual impressions, emotions, and thoughts. When you meditate, you narrow your focus, limit the stimuli bombarding your nervous system — and calm your mind in the process. The reason meditation works so effectively is that it connects you with a spiritual dimension, which different commentators give different names, but many people simply call it "being."

Swiped from Meditation for Dummies, 2nd Edition

So if one's focus is on whatever the problem is and one's mind is calming, one generally can come up with new and innovative solutions to problems that seem insurmountable.

I'm all in favor of prayer/meditation/whatever to help whoever's in charge make better decisions.