Okay. Before I go way out on a limb in this blogpost with comments about the current furor over reproductive rights, lets start with some fun, interesting facts.
Do you know the origin of the Love Seat? I didn’t until I read this short article at Interesting Facts.com : “The two-seater upholstered benches we associate with cozy couples were initially crafted with another duo in mind: a woman and her dress. Fashionable attire in 18th-century Europe had reached voluminous proportions — panniers (a type of hooped undergarment) were all the rage, creating a wide-hipped silhouette that occasionally required wearers to pass through doors sideways.”
BTW, go to the site at your peril. You can get lost there for hours. I did. Sigh…
More from the Interesting facts website about loveseats: “The small computers and phones we carry in our bags and pockets are descendants of the monstrously large supercomputers of the ’60s and ’70s — some of which provided their own seating. Originally designed to process data and crunch numbers at super-fast speeds, supercomputers were known for dominating floor space and budgets. One standout — the Cray-1A — debuted in 1976 and was quickly nicknamed the “world’s most expensive love seat” thanks to its 39-square-foot column shape with surrounding bench seating.”
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And now…
Ever since the leak of the potential supreme Court ruling that will probably overturn Roe V Wade, news outlets and social media have been abuzz with reactions and commentary. Some of the buzz has been informative and helpful, while other reactions have been disturbing and disruptive. Since I’ve never let an important social issue pass by without comment, I’m offering my humble opinion.
To be clear, I’m not an advocate of abortion. I’ve always taken a neutral stance on the controversial topic, although I did think the Roe decision was the right one from a judicial standpoint. A woman should have the right to choose for herself.
After the leak was reported by Politico, The Daily Podcast from the New York Times aired a two-part series about what could possibly be the result of Roe being overturned. The first offered reactions and thoughts from pro-life activists, and the other contained information from the pro-choice side. In that episode, Abortion providers shared their stories of why they chose that path and why they believe that it is crucial for all women to continue to have a choice.
In the first podcast, people from organizations supporting the pro-life movement said they will increase services for the child, the woman, the family when abortion is abolished and more babies are being born. That support would include help with paying for food, housing, day-care, and pre-k education, as well as better health care. The fact that none of that is in place already leaves me wondering if enough will ever be done to assist a single mother who is already struggling to feed and care for three children, and who simply cannot afford to have another child.
Sanctity of life should include all children, not just the unborn.
One male OB/GYN doctor on the second podcast said (I’m paraphrasing) it’s time for women to be able to stand next to men with the same equal rights. Men should not be making decisions about women’s health care. Until our society offers full support to the children born to women who can’t afford to feed them and care for them properly, that society has no right to make women bring that child into the world.
As a woman who considered an abortion at one point, before it became legal, I can attest to the fact that women don’t make a decision like that easily or lightly. It’s a tough, tough choice, and one most often made because a woman is in some dire circumstance. Beyond rape and incest, the other three major reasons are lack of financial preparedness (56%), partner-related (55%), and interference with future opportunities (54%). More stats and detailed reasoning at Very Well Health.
In a Facebook post, author Diana Hurwitz wrote about how our current government is being controlled by conservative religious beliefs, and she gave me permission to quote part of her commentary: “Our founders did not want to be controlled by Rome. That is why they insisted upon the separation of church and state. That line is slowly eroding in favor of an ugly form of extreme Christianity. If you can even define it as such. The thing is, they are not even trying to hide it. They have an ignorant, angry base cheering them on. I don’t get it. I really don’t. It’s like watching the Reich reassemble in multiple hot spots and just shrugging our collective shoulders. In the end, it will be our inertia that ruins us. Now we know exactly how that atrocity happened while the world looked on, impotent.”
Scary times, folks. Scary times.