Margaret Atwood says it's " a form of slavery to force women to have children they can't afford"
2017 06 05
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"Speaking at New York City's Book Con on Saturday, Atwood argued that when states obligate women into childbearing, they institute " a form of slavery," Insider reported. State-mandated reproduction has two outcomes, she said: That women die, and that orphanages fill up. [...] " if you're drafted into the army, the other situation in which the state seizes control of your body, at least you get three meals a day, clothing, and a place to sleep," she said. "So, if you're going to do that to women, pay up."
I took the situation into my own hands long ago; which most of you know. For those of you who don't, I had surgery - a lap-tubal - done to make sure I wouldn't get pregnant. I didn't want to have children, and I didn't want to parent. So, I made use of my choice; a choice all women should have - safely.
A couple of thoughts.
Not all women are maternal, most of the ones who aren't know that, but have few choices in dealing with it, not even the respect of knowing their own minds, and when they do deal with it, they get crapped on, vilified at times. I know women who were much older than I was, Americans, who weren't allowed to have the surgery I had - you'll regret it, you'll change your mind, you should want children, what if you meet someone who wants babies - none of these things are going to change the fact that a person isn't maternal, and shouldn't have children if they don't want them or find themselves incapable of parenting. One of those things recognises only a biological fact, and not the myriad human mind and nature, which makes every single person on this planet different. Some of us are born straight, just like some are not. Some know they want to be parents, just like some know they don't. The last, yet again, tells a woman she has no autonomy, that she exists only as her presence applies to the needs of a man.
I am completely on board with the idea that if the state mandates a course of action by law, then the state should assist in the means by which that law is carried out. If you force a woman to have children, then help her have them, and help her keep the children you forced her to have. When you draft someone into the army, as was pointed out, you train them, you feed and clothe them, you house them, you give them work. Even people in prison get fed. And yes, we are all responsible for each other. We're all on the same boat, riding in the same car, breathing the same air. If you make choices for other people, you increase your responsibility for them. Of course, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon, that people will become as globally minded as they need to be, in order for us not to crack this planet in two like an egg by the weight of our egos.
There are those who argue against abortion, saying that women use it as a method of birth control. I'm sure there are a few women out there who do, but the needs of the many outweigh the actions of a few. I can't imagine that most women who go for that procedure, do so with a light heart and spring in their step. They do so because they have to, not because they want to, and it's not a simple or easy choice to make. Making abortion legal and safe, is not going to cause hordes of women to flock to clinics to have it done, but providing planning choices before - like free or affordable birth control and the education on its proper use - might just end up with fewer unwanted children born, healthier mothers and infants later on, and less of a drain on the public coffers in general - if that's your worry, which it does seem to be with many most of the time.
But, it became very clear to me a long while since, that these people are not pro-life - they're pro-birth. They don't want to bother themselves with the quality of life after; they're just concerned with a morality that has nothing to do with modern needs. To quote the band Consolidated: " if you don't want an abortion, don't get one." But don't take away that choice from those who do. It's also clear that folks are looking for control, rather than caring about the actual needs of the populace.
Regret, by the way, is not a thing to avoid - it is a thing you choose the possibility of every single day of your life. It is a choice you make based on what your intellect and heart tell you that you need in the life you are leading, not one you may or may not lead later. And I have not once, by the way, ever regretted my choice to be childfree.