With the Kermit Gosnell case justifiably back in the news, there are a lot of people trying to claim that this is somehow an example of what happens when there is not enough abortion access. I covered this in my previous posts on Gosnell, but now that I'm not hanging out with people who make me breathlessly angry, I'm going to take another run at it. Because apparently this needs saying again.

( More Access Will Not Help And Would Most Likely Lead To More Gosnells )

Also at Jill Stanek's blog.

I may come back and add more to this after church, but for now I'll just put up a short note.

Yesterday, President Obama released the following statement for the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women's health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.

I am committed to protecting this constitutional right. I also remain committed to policies, initiatives, and programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant women and mothers, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption.

And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.

Okay, feministy rant to be added later. For now, I will let John Piper do the ranting. This video is a year old, and unfortunately, it still applies.



EDIT: All right, now that I'm back from church and can get to the feminist ranting and give it the attention it deserves. Because Obama's little statement there is stupendously anti-feminist. Did you catch it?

"...On this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams."

*suppresses urge to throw things*

Women. Do. Not. Need. Abortion. To. Be. Equal. With. Men!

Women are equal, as they are, with no additions, subtractions, or modifications required to make them that way. In fact, the very idea of changing women in order to make the culture in which they live view them more positively is, by its very nature, antithetical to feminism. It is the opposite of feminism. It is anathema to feminism. If a culture views women wrongly, or views anything of which women are capable--including pregnancy and motherhood--wrongly, the solution is not to change women, it is to change the culture. The suggestion that women are, by their nature, inferior to men simply because we can become pregnant is insulting, offensive, degrading, and pig-headed.

President Obama, as a woman, I am offended by that statement.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but I had a feeling that this would happen. Of course, I'd hoped it would take a little longer, but even that is not surprising really. Just disappointing.

Two days ago Kermit Gosnell, the abortionist, was arrested on eight counts of murder. One of a grown woman, and seven for children he had delivered alive and then stabbed to death. Predictably the abortion apologists--desperate not to be required to admit that this man is actually doing something they support just doing it the wrong way--are quick to blame the pro-life movement, claiming that it was "limited access" that caused this situation.

The Grand Jury report does not bear this out.

The first line of defense was the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The department’s job is to audit hospitals and outpatient medical facilities, like Gosnell’s, to make sure that they follow the rules and provide safe care. The department had contact with the Women’s Medical Society dating back to 1979, when it first issued approval to open an abortion clinic. It did not conduct another site review until 1989, ten years later. Numerous violations were already apparent, but Gosnell got a pass when he promised to fix them. Site reviews in 1992 and 1993 also noted various violations, but again failed to ensure they were corrected.

But at least the department had been doing something up to that point, however ineffectual. After 1993, even that pro forma effort came to an end. Not because of administrative ennui, although there had been plenty. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor Casey to Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be “putting a barrier up to women” seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay.

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I've been toying with the idea of making a blog dedicated to pro-life thoughts and observations and commentary for a while now. My original blog, on LJ, has no focus whatsoever, so mixed in with the pro-life commentaries are fandom ones, and personal ones, and quizzes and memes... Not an ideally focused blog, really. Two things make today an ideal day to start.

First, tomorrow is the annual "Blog for Choice" day which, as usual, the abortion apologists are expecting to set the blogosphere humming with since Saturday is the anniversary of Roe. This is usually a shameless celebration of death that tries to dress abortion up as if it weren't a bad, disgusting thing, and so, in response, a number of pro-life bloggers decided to get together and create the "Ask Them What they Mean by 'Choice' Blog Day."

The idea is simple. Any time any of us reads pro-aborts spouting their obscure “choice” rhetoric on a blog, website, Facebook, or Twitter, we call them out on it. We ask them to explain what the “choice” is.

Is it to eat carrots rather than broccoli? To wear red instead of blue? No, of course “choice” is code for killing babies. What’s their problem with the A-word?

While I'm not quite sure yet what direction I want this blog to take, this will open up a number of directions in which to go.

Second, yesterday, abortionist Kermit Gosnell was arrested on eight counts of murder. Seven of those for children he delivered, then stabbed to death with scissors. Since that time, the abortion apologists have been trying, as they always do whenever this happens, to blame pro-lifers for his actions.

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