On Oct 1, 2007, at 9:45 AM, authfriend wrote:
And this after he's already handed the antichoice
side a huge win by *accepting* the role that the
guilt imposed by the antichoice folks plays for
many women in making the decision to abort so
difficult, as I pointed out in another post that
Barry conveniently ignored.
Um, Judy, maybe I missed something, but nowhere in Barry's post that I
could see did he mention guilt, and nowhere did he say he thought they
felt guilty about it. Here is the part I think you were referring to:
Mainstream, have you ever been the guy
helping a woman to get through an abortion?
From the way you speak, I have to imagine
that you have not. I have, several times. And
none of the fetuses in question had the slight-
est DNA link to my own. I tried to help the
women through a painful experience because
they were in pain and I wanted to help, in
any way I could.
One of the only ways in which I found that I
*could* be helpful was just not to judge.
I'm sorry, but there is just one enormous load
of judgment in your statement above. It's in
the second and third words of the sentence.
"'Wanton disregard' of the fetus?"
How about wanton disregard of the carrier of
the fetus?
It is *not* as if abortion is an easy decision.
You're trying to make it sound as if it is one.
I'm sorry, but if you had been the shoulder to
cry on for as many women who have made the
decision to have an abortion as I have, I don't
think you'd talk the way you did above.
I don't see guilt there--do you?
What he says, and what I would agree with, is that the experience is
painful, and that the decision is "not easy." I would disagree with
the latter and say that in many cases the decision probably is easier
than one might think, but that's just my surmise--I wasn't there with
the women Barry was lending his support to.
But the entire experience no doubt is frequently painful, having little
to do with the actual decision, which presumably had been made days or
weeks before. Why did Barry need to be there at all, for one thing?
Where were the fathers? Presumably not there with the women,
supporting them. And maybe not helping to pay for it either. IOW,
AWOL. That alone could make it a very painful experience, all other
things aside.
And then there could be physical aftermaths as well. Maybe "painful"
is too loaded a word, but all sorts of things could make it a
not-so-wonderful experience. One thing is near-certain in most cases,
and that it is not a walk in the park, as you would like everyone to
believe so you can once again dump on someone.
Sal
