I wish they were truly pro-life

McCain/Palin have brought abortion back into presidential politics. Okay- I guess single-minded conservatives never let it go away. I mean, it's not like women in this country can get too comfortable with any control over their own lives.

The entrance of Palin's pregnant daughter, however, reveals the numerous ways that so-called "pro-lifer" (or, better put, anti-choice) wingnuts (yes, you are) are a bunch of hypocrits. I've long thought about my position on abortion, and how exactly I would explain it. And now, the very "choice" of which Palin and her daughter so proudly tout- the same choice she would deny to every other woman in this country- needs to be articulated for the hypocrisy it is.

First, if they chose life, if they were so dedicated to choosing it, then it should never have been a "choice." Perhaps this was just their choice of words, but it reveals that at some point, it was something they thought about- whether or not Sarah should keep Trig to full term, or if Bristol should become one of millions of teen mothers. In other words, they deployed the very "choice" that so many women and feminists have been working hard to maintain for the last thirty years and that Palin proclaims she wants to take away. What I'm saying is, why was it ever a thought if either woman should keep it, if this is an issue they believe so deeply in?

Next, I have a real problem with right-wingers who will exert control over my life and my body while pregnant, but if a woman's poor or, God forbid, got brown skin, she's left to fend for herself, postpartum. So-called pro-lifers want to control pregnancy, but not human life; they want to say when and how a woman can get pregnant, and by whom, but don't want to do anything for that child once he or she is born. Republicans are the first to cut social services for those very people who need it most, and yet espouse the position that a woman should carry a child to term, no matter what. To make it clear: "little government" conservatives want as little government intervention as possible in just about everything and they don't want to be told what to do with their money- but they do want to tell me what I can do with my body. Tell me how that makes sense?

So, I truly do wish it was about life. Instead, abortion in this country is about control- controlling women's bodies, their choices, their ability to procreate or not. So what do I propose? Namely, a few changes:

1. We need education. Not only do girls need to know EARLY how pregnancy happens, but so do boys. They need to know that girls do get pregnant on the first time, and that "blue balls" or whatever does not exist. Girls are not the only ones responsible for getting pregnant- and both parties need to be educated (by the way: sex ed usually includes abstinence ed in addition to everything else; why not have all our bases covered?)

2. Pregnant women and mothers need support from across society. Pregnancy is not some easy walk in the park. It's dangerous. Women die regularly from being pregnant- the U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world; we're right up there with developing countries. And that has to do with lack of access to prenatal care to catch the things that kill pregnant women, like high blood pressure (had that myself) and gestational diabetes (almost had that, too). To be pro-life, in my eyes, is to be nurturing of life in general- not just some narrow view defined for political gain.

And so mothers deserve paid maternity leave, and an invigoration of female support networks- at the least. For a country that is so "pro-life" and "pro-family," we have some of the most regressive family leave policies in the developed world. Not to mention- how hard is it to install freakin' diaper changers in every public restroom? And modern medicine and public discourse belittles and circumscribes access for women to the female networks- and the support of other community networks in general- that ease the transition postpartum- not to mention, help women work together and give each other advice on breastfeeding. Parenting with two parents is difficult enough- I can't even imagine how single parents do it. The lack of family leave policies that allow lengthy maternity and paternity leave, however, render even dual-parent households "single parented" in the sense that the father (or partner) leaves all day while the mother (or other parent) spends all day by themselves.

3. We need to end misogyny. We need to change the culture that does not respect women to make choices for their own lives. By saying that women cannot make their own decisions about their own bodies, we remain the property of others- we remain objects in society, not equals.

But perhaps, that's how Palin views herself. Perhaps she truly sees herself as her husband's property. You know what, though? I don't. And my daughter will not grow up in a world that teaches her she belongs to any one besides herself. And that is only one of the things anti-choice nutcases espouse. Maybe that's fine in your household- maybe. But not mine. And that's what being pro-choice is all about.