Sunday, July 6, 2008

Sunday Night, Random Thoughts

It's late, I'm tired, but since I probably won't have a chance to post anything tomorrow, here are a few thoughts:
1) My hair looks like Joan of Arc's, and not in a good way.
2) I have to be at a meeting tomorrow morning and I have to look nice but not too dressy for it, and I don't really have anything to wear. I've ordered a skirt and top and the outfit would be appropriate, especially with my cute new red shoes, but it hasn't arrived.
3) I read the July 4th post on BitchPhD about Obama and late term abortion and it really bothered me. Not because Obama has reservations about late term abortion but because BitchPhD seems to think anyone who does must disrespect women and isn't it awful she has to vote for him. I don't know, to me that attitude seems reductive and annoying. Can't someone have qualms about unlimited access to late term abortions (an exceedingly rare procedure anyway) and still respect women? I actually wrote a long post about this, but I think it might be quite muddled and I've said all I have to say on this. For now.
4) Did I mention my hair?
5) I just googled my best friend from high school with whom I haven't spoken in 10 years. I do this periodically. I was hoping for a picture, but I didn't find one. I did find some posts on a foodie web site, though, and that made me feel, maybe weird, but kind of good. I called her about a year ago and she didn't call back. This (combined with a few other things) made me worry about her, and seeing these posts made me think maybe things were better for her. I hope they are. Googling people you used to know is very, very weird.
6) My husband made an excellent salad for dinner into which he put everything but the kitchen sink and now we have very little food left in the house except for, and this is important, one unopened box of 365 brand Peanut Butter Pows. Shazam!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Robin!

I'd be really interested in hearing your "muddled" thoughts on late term abortion.

I consider myself to be an advocate for women and for reproductive rights, but since having two babies, I actually think late term abortion is pretty bone chilling. I am torn about the legalities of it, who should have it, who shouldn't and how and when.

I can't imagine having to abort a baby in the 3rd trimester. It gives me chills.

Anyway, muddle away, my dear. This is not a black and white issue as they seem to believe on BitchPhD. It deserves complex analysis and thoughtfulness.

I'm so enjoying reading you!

Kim

Robin Aronson said...

Hi there! Good to hear from you Kim and thanks for the props and coming by! I was so green about that Clambake!

My reservations about late term abortion are like yours. After carrying a pregnancy to term, I can't just say, "sometimes you can't have a baby" when it comes to carrying a fetus to 6 months or more. If the fetus is found to have a terminal condition or a gross abnormality that would result in not only its death soon after birth but an extremely compromised and painful life, then I think the procedure should be allowed. If the mother is found to have a life-threatening condition or the risk of birth is, from a medical perspective, profound for some specific health-related reason, again, I could see it. I realize from a medical perspective neither situation is black or white, but they present some guidelines. I think the muddled part comes in here -- when does society, and by extension government, get to say this life yes, that life no? With capital punishment, with the approval and distribution of prescription medication, with war and with certain medical procedures. As a society we have to decide when we draw the line between life and death, and late term abortion is just one of those times. A black-and-white pro-choice person would say that a woman should make that decision for herself, but I'm not so sure. Part of society's work is to protect the weakest among us. Within the first trimester, I have no reservations about a woman's right to choose, but by the third, it's getting dicey and someone has to decide and for better or worse that's what government is for. Just one problem is the birth itself.

I heard an account on the radio of a 16-yr-old rape victim who became pregnant and had a 6th or 7th month abortion. Maybe she couldn't stand the thought of giving birth. Maybe she couldn't imagine going through that trauma for a child she would not raise. It's asking a woman -- a child-woman-- to pay a terrible price to give birth in that situation. But is it actually asking too much? I have no idea.