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We are a society that flaunts sex and conveys a message that without love you are not whole. Sometimes in the midst of the love-sex cycle young teens and women come face to face with unintended consequences that create a sad dilemma, pregnancy. Thousands of women today are profoundly grateful for Roe v. Wade.
Whether we are in favor of or against termination of pregnancy, women's lives have been saved through safe medical procedures. Now in the wake of Republican politics targeting contraception, abortion has been tossed into the mix and Garry B. Trudeau has taken a stand for women in Texas through Doonesbury. His cartoons are so controversial that there are newspapers refusing to run the series.
Some editors think he went too far. But are politicians going too far when they try legislating morals?
Abortion and adoption
In their zeal to protect the rights of the unborn, how many legislators would be willing to adopt and love an unwanted child if the mother could be convinced to carry the baby to term?
The Washington Post pointed out that "amid heated debate about pre-termination ultrasound laws, Trudeau has decided to take on the abortion debate head-on for the first time in 'Doonesbury's' four decades."
"To ignore it," Trudeau tells Comic Riffs, "would have been comedy malpractice." "DOONESBURY": Next week's abortion-law strips pulled by at least several papers
Trudeau's biting satire builds up in a daily series:
Slated for Tuesday, a young woman visits the center where she is asked: "Do your parents know you're a slut?"
By Thursday Doonesbury is highlighting the "shaming rod," a hard 10 inch rod being used for transvaginal examination (sonogram) in Texas prior to an abortion.
[It does not appear that there will be "shaming classes" for men who failed to use condoms.}
With regard to the shaming rod, according to Jim Romenesko, who was previously with the Poynter Institute:
- In the stirrups, she is telling a nurse that she doesn't want a transvaginal exam. Doctor says "Sorry miss, you're first trimester. The male Republicans who run Texas require that all abortion seekers be examined with a 10″ shaming wand."
- She asks "Will it hurt?"
- Nurse says, "Well, it's not comfortable, honey. But Texas feels you should have thought of that." Some newspapers won't be running next week's "Doonesbury" strips ...
For the mothers who request an abortion - may they have supportive arms to hold them when the let down grips them. What happened before Rov v. Wade? Voices of Choice -- Dr. Mildred Hanson on Pre-Roe Abortions
Who are having abortions and in what states?
In 2010 a total of 827,609 abortions were reported to CDC for 2007. Not all states report but of the 45 reporting areas providing data every year during 1998-2007 women aged 20--29 years accounted for 56.9% for the majority of abortions during the entire period of analysis. Adolescents aged 15--19 years accounted for 16.5% of all abortions in 2007 and had an abortion rate of 14.5 abortions per 1,000 adolescents aged 15--19 years. Abortion Surveillance --- United States, 2007.
The top states for abortions with approximate numbers include New York with125,000 of which 87,000 took place in New York City. Texas, 79,000 and Illinois, 42,000, Pennsylvania, 37,000, Georgia, 34,000, and approximately 25,000 in Massachusetts, Michigan, Virginia and Washington. The remainder are reporting fewer than 11,000 abortions. There were no figures for Alaska, California and New Hampshire.*
Compassion, counseling, and education:
Trudeau has courage. While many of us wished we could have been "barefood and pregnant" for most of our lives, it is not always the choice for women.
But when you hear the words of Dr. Hanson - who considered herself responsible for one woman's suicide - it is clear that we are dealing with a public health issue for women that begs for education, compassion, understanding, and counseling. Voices of Choice - Dr. Mildred Hanson's Regret - YouTube.
NB: I have viewed all of the strips for the coming week.
*Statistics from a guest column that I did for the New Haven Register, October 21, 2008.
Copyright 2012 Rita Watson/ All Rights Reserved
Follow me @ LoveColumnist
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