Search Results for 'nG'

[datamuse]

You know, I just read the study that is the source of some of the statistics beachdrivegirl cited in her post. (Citation of the study: Finer LB et al., Reasons U.S. women have abortions: quantitative and qualitative perspectives, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):110–118.)

Here are a couple of quotes from that study that didn’t make it onto contracept.org:

“Financial difficulties included the absence of

support from the father of either the current pregnancy or the woman’s other children, anticipating not being able to continue working or to find work while pregnant or caring for a newborn, not having the resources to support a child whose conception was not planned and lacking health insurance. Respondents who gave financial reasons for having an abortion frequently reported feeling stressed and strained to the limit of their current resources.” (p. 115)

(N.B. Lacking health insurance may be key to why some of these women aren’t using contraception, though this study doesn’t go into that.)

“More than half of the women in the qualitative sample cited concerns about their relationship or single motherhood as a reason to end the pregnancy. Relationship problems included the partner’s drinking, physical abuse, unfaithfulness, unreliability, immaturity and absence (often due to incarceration or responsibilities to his other children).

Many of these women were disappointed because their partner had reacted to the pregnancy by denying paternity, breaking off communication with them or saying that they did not want a child.” (p. 116)

“t is notable that the women in our survey emphasized their conscious examination of the moral aspects of their decisions. Although some described abortion as sinful and wrong, many of those same women, and others, described the indiscriminate bearing of children as a sin, and their abortion as “the right thing” and “a responsible choice.” Respondents often acknowledged the complexity of the decision, and described an intense and difficult process of

deciding to have an abortion, which took into account the moral weight of their responsibilities to their families, themselves and children they might have in the future.” (p. 118)

beachdrivegirl, I understand that you don’t consider financial hardship or being a single parent justifiable reasons for having an abortion. I mention them because they are part of the study quoted on the site you linked to, and something I always teach my students about data is to be aware of the context in which that data is gathered and published.

I don’t consider this a binary issue that can be decided solely by looking at statistics. These are women, not statistics, and reducing them to numbers leads to the kinds of judgments I’m seeing here.

My thinking is: women are going to have abortions whether they’re legal or not, and the poorer you are (which is germane because most of the women who have abortions are lower income), the less likely you’ll be able to have one safely.

[miws]

Thanks TR! I totally spaced out on which day it was! Gives me a day to recoup from my “physical therapy” this morning of making three trips down and back to the laundry room. Four flights of about seven steps each between landings, the final trip managing a bag of clean laundry and the (collapsed) walker. I could have asked for help, but am trying to do whatever I can for myself, as long as it doesn’t put me in danger of fall or overdoing it considering my current status.

I also appreciated the heads up (again, missed that it is on Sunday) on the main Blog. I figured I’d still be in rehab at Riverton until after the show, and had put it out of my mind.

See you there!

We now return you to the actual topic. ;)

Mike

[JimmyG]

New Resident I defend your statement about irresponsibility by reminding you that there is no law against being irresponsible.

There is no law that forces me to use birth control.

And abortion is a legal medical procedure that just like any other medical procedure, I can choose to have or not.

[rawgene]

My daughter started taking the bus on Wednesday Sept 17th, she attends WSHS. Her stop is 35th and Morgan. The first bus at 7:20 passed her because it was too full. The second bus at 7:58 stopped and she arrived at school at 8:20. Thursday the 7:00 bus let her on. Today the 7:00 bus was too full. The 7:20 bus picked her up. On Wed I called Metro and filed a complaint. The response was “oh yeah. That route has a lot of complaints.” Yesterday I e-mailed vice-prinicials Jenni M and Anitra J. No response. Today I e-mailed them plus Bruce. I’m told to continue to complain to Metro. Bruce responded back and told me that he was working downtown with Thomas Bishop (Transportation Manager) and Ammon McWashington (Director of Student Support Services) I called Ammon and left a message but missed his return call. I did contact Thomas Bishop who blew me off. He is aware of the 128 situation and says maybe I need to get my daughter to the bus stop earlier. So I break it down by bus times now he has to go because he is in a meeting. So….here is the deal…There are enough of us that I think that we need to unite. The WSHS PTSA meeting is scheduled Wednesday September 24th at 7:00. I will be there but if any of you and other parents also having difficulty could show up it would make a better statement that we want this situation fixed NOW. I would like to push yellow bus service in place of Metro for 128 riders. What do the rest of you think about that?

[RS]

NR, I’m not sure if you’re trying to make a point in your last sentence or if you genuinely want to know more about constitutional law.

Roe v. Wade is based on the concept of a right to privacy. That right is not explicitly granted in the constitution but rather is extrapolated from rights guaranteed in amendments, which is how much constitutional case law has developed.

In the case of Roe, and other cases like Griswold v. Connecticut (right to buy contraception), Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage), Lawrence v. Texas (sodomy), the court has determined a right to privacy emanating from other constitutional protections, mostly the due process clauses of the 14th amendment as well as the basic protections of the first amendment.

I find constitutional law fascinating (can ya tell?) and highly recommend reading up on it if you are interested.

[Anonymous]

That is a judgment, but it is a judgment, or conclusion, based on statistics.

Most women today DO use abortion as birth control. How would you argue that using abortion as your sole method of birth control is not selfish or irresponsible?

The argument of faulty contraception and rape/incest is far too weak an argument as supported by the statistics, so I feel the root problem is irresponsibility and I am curious how one would defend that.

And the comment of “keeping your knees together” as one’s only form of birth control is irrelevant. No one is suggesting that here. The point is that there is birth control available (in so many new and advanced forms now), that to use abortion as birth control should be completely unacceptable in today’s day and age.

[beachdrivegirl]

I believe that women should give there baby up for adoption if they feel that they can not care for their child. However, I am also an advicate for low income housing and poverty stricken families as well. So that they can feel comfortable that they can afford to have a child and not be forced into abortion.

I find it interesting also that 31% of women who have had an abortion state that they would have done it differently if they had it to do all over again. Furthermore, studies have shown that 60% of women whom have had abortions (in this same study) show emotional distress after an abortion. in addition 70% of this 60% stated that they would NEVER have an abortion again.

It is very interesting to me that these statistics arent spoken about more.

And Jimmy G. you cant be pro-life either… so where does that put people like me???

[JoB]

somehow, i didn’t think so.

[JoB]

New resident..

abortion isn’t in the constitution… and i am quite sure i never implied it was..

the right of government to interfere in reproductive rights.. which by the way included sterilization as well as abortion… is what Roe Vs Wade was all about… and is in our body of law.

And there are many reasons women get pregnant and choose to end the pregnancy than having willing sex with an uncommitted partner.

but.. none of those reasons quite stirs up indignation the way the one reason you focus on does..

and moral indignation is the real point here.. isn’t it.

your moral indignation Vs their lifetime responsibility for a child they give birth to…

[JimmyG]

IMO you can’t be pro-choice and then put limits on the how, when, and why a woman can exercise that choice.

I am vehemently, rabidly pro-choice.

On demand, at any time in a pregnancy, for any reason.

It is no one’s business except my health provider and me the choice I make regarding having an abortion or not.

[JoB]

Whew.. that is a lot of judgments in a row…

some selfish, irresponsible woman?

so women who choose abortions are selfish irresponsible women?

perhaps they are women whose birth control failed.. all birth control methods have failure rates..

but if keeping your knees together is your only form of birth control.. pregnancy is a sure indication that it failed…

i would propose that women who choose to go through with pregnancy and give birth to children that they can’t support financially or emotionally are behaving irresponsibly.

And i would also suggest that the time for us to force women to produce children for other people to adopt is when our own foster system is empty of children…

and that will be a long long time from now.

People choose to adopt internationally because they want a perfect little baby.. or because they don’t qualify to adopt under US standards… not because they want children and there are no children to adopt.

***

and.. i am informed there is an abortion clinic in West Seattle..

[Anonymous]

JoB – To answer your above question, yes.

Please explain why it should be ok for a person to end the life of an innocent baby (that, otherwise, would have become a child), because they choose to have unprotected sex with people that they never intend to build a life with?

Btw, where exactly does it say anything in the constitution about abortion?

[RS]

This is what I posted in JoB’s thread. It was specifically about protesting. I have no desire to rehash all the other elements of the debate.

There is a clinic here. Down near the Safeway. As someone who used to work at a similar clinic, I definitely don’t think it is appropriate for people to protest outside of a clinic, but as a believer in free speech, I support their right to do so, within the limits of the law. Anyone know if WA has a buffer zone law? We had one in Mass, but we’d also been targeted by some homicidal crazies…

[JanS]

I’m also one of those who will be in the heckling section…that, and having a few beers, and fries cooked in the egg roll oil – yummmmm…

My Sunday’s are mostly free in October :)

[Anonymous]

Why should a woman who “becomes” (which I love that description, btw. It couldn’t possibly be that this same woman made destructive, selfish decisions that put her in that predicament) give her child up to a family that WILL care for that baby?

Do you realize how difficult it is to adopt a child here in America? The wait lists? American citizens that want, more than anything, to raise children have to wait years for a child to become available. This is part of why so many American’s adopt from other countries.

Why is the only resort for that same, selfish, irresponsible woman to terminate the life of her own baby? It’s not.

[JoB]

this was my post on another thread in response to a query from Dave as to whether we would join him this weekend in protesting at an unnamed abortion clinic this weekend since we were opposed to causing children pain and he asserts that the fetus is caused pain in an abortion..

as a side not.. i did ask if there are abortion clinics in west seattle… and have received one reply to the negative..

what i said..

“i will ask you the same questions that i ask every person i encounter who talks to me about opposing the right of choice for women.

what are you personally doing to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and what are you personally doing to help improve the living conditions for children who are not lucky enough to be born to financially stable committed parents?

I have earned the right to ask by living what i believe…

i try to help young women.. even those who don’t belong to my family… to learn how to make positive choices for themselves that include not having children they can’t support financially or emotionally.

I try to do whatever i can to encourage and support young mothers who have children in less than ideal circumstances to make better choices for themselves and to teach their children to make better choices.

I give money to local agencies that help women and children to the slim chance at bettering themselves.

I quietly help financially support individuals through crisis when i can.

I speak up for providing adequate nutrition, education and resources for all children.. not just those who are privileged.

And.. i made the hard personal choice to have a child and give it up.. and have lived the consequences of that choice.. paying a price that far exceeds nine months of gestation.

Unless your commitment to living children is a strong as your commitment to the unborn…

it is a bit hypocritical to protest abortion on the basis of the possible pain a fetus incurs.

If your real opposition is religious..

i would remind you that you enjoy the right to choose your own religion and to practice your beliefs … a right guaranteed by the constitution.

but the same constitution guarantees the right of all citizens to pursue their own individual religious beliefs and/or moral beliefs which may or may not agree with yours.

As long as no law is broken, each of us has the right to make our own decisions.. and that includes the right of women to make their own individual decisions about the possible child they will be held personally responsible for without the interference of the state… and that right is protected by law.

I ask why your right to promote your personal beliefs is more important than that woman’s right to make decisions about what is best for her and her family.

If you are not willing to take personal responsibility for all children who are born… wanted or unwanted … if you do not advocate and vote to pay for collective responsibility for those children whose mothers may not be able to adequately provide for them…

then what gives you the right to demand that someone else carry that burden for you?

The right to life does not begin in the womb and end at birth.. neither should concern for the children who result from that philosophy. “

i have to go do other things now…

[WSB]

Mike, alert – the car show is Sunday.

Hope you can make it then! We’re one of the co-sponsors. Gonna be a blast – TR

[JoB]

New Resident…

Do you really believe that if a woman becomes pregnant and is not in a position to raise her child in a responsible way that she is shirking her responsibility by choosing not to have the child?

[JoB]

sorry.. i must have been typing when you posted…

[JoB]

Dave posted about a protest he wanted us to be aware of against a local abortion clinic this weekend on another thread.

since the integrity of that thread is important to me and the issue it illuminates time sensitive, i decided to step up and provide an appropriate place for the conversation.

I would ask both Dave and New Resident and anyone else who really wants to talk on this subject to cross post their remarks here.. so we can all follow the entire conversation.. i will go back and copy and paste my own…

but before i do.. just to get things rolling..

is there an abortion clinic in west seattle?

a simple yes or no will do..

if there isn’t, do you think there should be one?

If there is, do you think it is appropriate to protest abortion outside an abortion clinic during operating hours?

Do you believe it is ok to insult or otherwise demean women who enter the abortion clinic or attempt to prevent women from entering the clinic?

Would you allow an underage daughter to get an abortion?

Would you force an underage daughter to get an abortion?

Would you prevent an underage daughter from getting an abortion and insist she have the child?

if so, would you raise it or would you insist she give it up?

Dave wants a discussion..

i doubt this is where he would start it.. but i started the thread…

[JeffSavoie]

“I’m thinking that it is my fence because on the other side of the yard my neighbor has a chainlink fence up against the wood fence…”

Mellaw6565,

There, you’ve just answered your own question.

The chain link fence, in my opinion, constitutes the “surrender” previously mentioned.

My rule of thumb for determining who built the fence, is to turn the corner… and follow the design around a given property. If you have three different fences closing you in, you can begin to assume they’re not yours.

To the subject of nice side in or out. That will vary by individual owners, but when I’ve built fences the front yard generally has the nice side out (so it looks nice on the drive up), and the back yard has the nice side facing in, improving the “garden room” effect of a back yard.

Beyond that, the side the skin is on is the more impenetrable, and then the choice comes to whether it’s more important to keep things in, or keep things out. Back yards often “contain” kids and pets, so they are finished skin in.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

BDG – Thank you for that post. I think you made your point extremely well.

I, too, am a woman and I am proud to support regulated abortions. I feel that it has gotten extremely out of hand, as your statistics indicate.

I also have a problem with the argument of sex education being the root of this problem. How many teenagers or young women do you know that do NOT understand that unprotected sex leads to pregnancy?

I feel that abortions are far too often used as a “way out”. A way to dodge responsibility. That disgusts me too.

[cjboffoli]

I went in for a badly needed haircut this morning at Classic Barbershop in the Junction. I had been going here for about a year and only had good experiences. Julie Dodson, who I think is the shop’s owner, always did a good job with my hair and the shop’s mascot bulldog ‘Nemo’ was always friendly. But after today I won’t be going back.

.

I walked in around 11:30 and the place reeked of cigarette smoke. Someone had clearly just been smoking cigarettes in there. I said something to Julie as I sat in the chair and her tepid response was “Oh really? Well maybe someone was smoking outside.” But the door was closed. No one was smoking outside and the amount of smoke in the shop was strong. As she was cutting my hair I could clearly smell smoke on Julie. When I left my clothes stank of cigarette smoke.

.

I’ve always been a good tipper but Julie didn’t get a tip today and I will not be going back. I’m really disappointed that she’d disregard the health of her customers and would lie on top of it.

.

I honestly don’t care if people choose to smoke. But I don’t want to breathe smoke. I’ve lost two grandparents to lung cancer from smoking (and they died young) and the health effects of being exposed to second-hand smoke are well documented.

.

So I suppose this is a warning to folks who care about their health to stay away from this place. And to those who don’t care and who miss that authentic 1970’s vibe of ubiquitous cigarette smoke, Classic Barbershop is the place for all of your haircut needs. As this shop will be going away when that whole corner of the Junction is torn down for the large condo project that is apparently coming sometime soon, I suggest you act quickly.

[Anonymous]

JoB – I do not agree with spanking an infant. That is for sure.

However, you will not see me tonight because I have not read this person’s books and do not feel I should protest something that I’m not 100% sure what the exact message is.

I commend those of you who DID find the time to read those books and are standing up for what you believe in.

[beachdrivegirl]

I had actually heard of it as LCA (life cycle assesment). LCA is currently being used by some people at the EPA. One interesting piece I have found in the current article I am reading on it suggests that like my idea to tax diapers or urge people to use cloth diapers it is worse off for the environment. For example a disposable diaper uses half as much energy, one quarter the amount of water, and produces half as much pollution as cloth diapers. i cant wait until my 175 page study gets to plastic vs reusable vs paper bags. Sure is interesting. and I will have to try to do more research on this cradle to grave information.