Umberto Boccioni - Three Women
I have always been pretty politically passionate-I was a child of the Nixon hearings. Mine was the family that watch the 1974 televised hearings of the House Judiciary Committee on our summer beach trip. The committee made up of 21 Democrats, & 17 Republicans -was there to consider the question of the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.
I love blogging and always want people to come to little augury for something different, maybe not what they expect-or even want, to provoke thought on occasion. I see things within my center that matter to me. I continue to think it is important that equal rights for gay men and women be fought for. No- I am not gay.
I continue to think poverty is something everyone should be ashamed of. No- I am not poor. I continue to think a young woman's reproductive rights should be her own- No- I have not faced the decision to have an abortion.
I continue to provoke this blog to look beyond what is light, pretty or of the moment. Why?
& then- I get a comment like this:
ANONYMOUS-
Apparently you think people are too irresponsible to take care of their own reproductive rights. A condescending attitude that far surpasses racism.
I am not surprised that one of your ilk would post such a disgusting, vile photo in a lame attempt to make your point. Perhaps you can articulate why the taxpayer should provide irresponsible people with health services when the average taxpayer can barely make ends meet? I'll wait.
about this:
how can you help stop HR3?
go here
Planned Parenthood of America here
and then I remember- Why-
It is because there are people that feel like ANON does-about-
Art
The Poor
Women-
.
are women-so responsible for their own reproductive health or too irresponsible? or too young, too poor, too frightened- I don't pretend to know that answer---
ReplyDeleteNether do I, but I'm glad you asked, and I am glad you posted this thought provoking, nonsafe issue. I can always depend on Little Augury to keep me thinking and enlightened. So don't stop, we need you.
ReplyDeleteThe bigots and the trolls are out there, but so are we. Lovers of humanity in all shapes and sizes, of free thinkers no matter what your creed, and people of the world determined to no longer tolerate the intolerable. Suzanne of Sydney, Australia
ReplyDeleteI don't think the bill will pass the senate. Anon doesn't deserve a voice; the pot is calling the kettle...I worked at Reproductive Services for several years in Houston and all the reasons you pose come into play. I've seen 11 year olds come in for an abortion as well as grandmothers who'd thought they had gone through menopause. No man has the right to tell a woman what she has to do with her body/life and if one doesn't like abortion, then don't have one.
ReplyDeleteWell, I enjoy reading your input but rarely am prompted, or feel I have the time, to post a comment to anything I read on the Internet. However, I am unable to let this one go by. I am a little old lady in my 60's, neither poor, gay, nor have ever had an abortion, but most certainly support the need for every American to have access to basic health care. A woman's right to a legal abortion if she decides to do this is essentially a separate issue, and while I completely support this, I fail to see how this has become intwined with the current issue of basic health care for every American.
ReplyDeleteFurther, if your anonymous correspondant feels he or she is paying too much tax, perhaps reducing income is the solution. My husband and I live in France; he works in the United Kingdom and I work in France. He pays tax on his income earned in the UK to the British government at the rate of 42%, I pay to the French government at 55%, and because we are proud to be American citizens we also are taxed by the US government at the rate of about 22% on whatever we have left over. It's my humble opinion that the "average American taxpayer" quoted above has no clue where income tax is concerned. Thanks for the chance to expound a bit. I am not anonymous! Margaret Stephenson
I enjoy your blog so much and am sick to see the anon comment.
ReplyDeleteToo sorry to put name with comment. Small and petty. Doesn't believe the pie gets bigger when you give away a slice. I am so sorry for these little. . .what do you call them? Can't think of a word good enough.
What ever happened to the belief in the greatest good for the greatest number?
ReplyDeleteThank you for provoking our thinking - no one can afford complacency and we should be aware of how government action affects people. Having just read Madeleine Albright's book about her brooches, Read My Pins', I will use her phrase to say what always worries me about posts, letters and statements from Anonymous, they do not have the cojones to sign their name to their statements.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the things I most love in the world I live in is our right to state views, to discuss ideas and events and policies - I guess I am talking about freedom of expression. I do not think we can ever assume that what a person draws our opinions to is always the same as what they believe and even if it is, why not put it out there to make others at least pay some attention.
Many Australians love to play devil's advocate in arguments and having grown up in such a family, I would not make assumptions about the person putting up a viewpoint. I do not need to make any judgement calls on others. Like you I do not pretend to have the answers, but believe wholeheartedly that we should be able to discuss an issue robustly.
I have probably said too much already but to finish off, I cannot remember who said it first but bad things happen when good people sit by and do nothing.
As far as I am concerned, the question of abortion is a private matter. If a second or third person is involved it should be the woman's doctor and her partner. The health of the woman is paramount.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to see that you got such an angry comment. Right to choices, education and happiness for all beings should be something we strive for. Have a good Sunday!
ReplyDeleteI am unable to let this post pass, read but not commented on, as is my usual. It is those who admit to not "pretend(ing) to know that answer" who are able to look to "the greatest good for the greatest number". Those, like Anon, who see everything as black and white will always be unable to allow anything to anyone for fear it will, somehow, detract from them. Thank you for this post, and for taking a stand. Signed and signed.
ReplyDeleteI want to support you in standing up for what you believe. It doesn't hurt that I am on the same page with you ! I love your blog , the visuals, the comments , all of it. Talking passionately about what you believe and going out on a limb only makes it that much more compelling . I was shocked by the picture, but it got my attention and helped me to feel the depth of what you were trying to express.
ReplyDeleteAs an adoptive mom, I'm thankful for all those who are brave enough to not abort. Our life would have been so altered and bereft without our precious now 20-year old. There are so many couples out there who cannot conceive and turn to adoption. The waiting list is often long with many hoops to jump through. Our birth-mother, luckily for us, decided against abortion and supported herself, asking only that we pay the hospital bill. She unselfishly gave us the gift of our child.
ReplyDeleteallyson-I applaud your birth mother for making that choice and I think that supports the idea of a women's right to make such choices. You know there is still a stigma for the unwed mother-this maybe part of the dialog that is missing from our society.
ReplyDeleteThere is a stigma to the unwed mother for very good reasons. The impact on society is detrimental, at best. Children of single mothers have a higher rate of violent crimes, suicide and teen pregnancies. If one were concerned with the "greater good" as is the popular sentiment here, one would promote responsible behavior rather than recklessness. It's worth a try to eradicate some of the aforementioned suffering, no?
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, on the topic at hand...this is not an anti-abortion bill, PEOPLE! This is an "America is in deep debt and we are cutting funding wherever we can so we don't end up like Greece" bill.
Plannned Parenthood has been operating with a surplus...a BIG surplus, for a long, long time. They made 85 BILLION in profits in 2007! They aren't going anywhere! Further, they don't even provide abortions.
Abortion wil remain legal but you just might have to (GASP!) pay for it, or a portion thereof, yourself.
Planned Parenthood is not-for-profit, so I do not know where you get your "profit" figure you cite above. If these various federal bills were about curbing deficits, there would be far more cutting of defense spending, and we are not seeing this. It is easier to pick on women's health. Just to remind, contraception is legal, and is a genuinely crucial aspect of overall public health, ie, the public good. It should not be a football in a fake game of curbing deficits. Little Augury, I love your blog!
Delete(linda s) said ---I think this is very cool, especially for someone who spent most of the week talking about lavender! Not that I didn't find that diverting, but you know what I mean! It's always interesting to hear what "artistic" people think about political issues. Some people believe that art and politics should be kept as strictly separate as meat and milk in a kosher kitchen (No, I am not Jewish.) I actually think they bring a fresh perspective to politics- one that is often objectively grounded in beliefs that last and matter. For instance, I voted for George Bush the first time he ran. Then I watched him steal the election, and I watched people help him do it. I have never been able to find another person who voted for him who was willing to admit that there was wrong-doing and that the American political process was trashed, and that something more important than which candidate won the election was lost, torn up and thrown away, right in front of us, with school children watching. And there are Democrats who would never admit that Joe Kennedy stole the 1960 election for his son. When I was in college, you could not get a legal abortion in this country. I knew of someone who flew to England to get one. And I knew of someone who bled to death in a dormitory shower.
ReplyDeleteWow--I love your blog, Patricia. However, I do not read it for any ideology statement. The New York Times recently reported the "chilling" statistics of 2/5 pregnancies ending in abortion. The article was much more involved, and worth reading. There was criticism of Planned Parenthood for this--and the implied (inferred) idea, was "what ARE they doing with all these FED dollars?" The article DID NOT state the fact that many men put pressure on the women during the "act" to allow them to not use a condom. It also did not go into the reasons why many of the women (mostly women in their 20's) are not on the pill. The SECRET answer is undoubtedly SMOKING. Unless we develop a role play and some training for that moment, in the sexual act, where the man whispers, "Let me go natural, baby, just this once," and address smoking as the underlying cause of non-pill adherence, abortions will remain high.
ReplyDeleteHaving traveled some in other cultures, the United States abortion rates are no secret--many muslim nations use it to justify their own tyrannical hegemony on millions of women. As a history teacher, I see the Roe v. Wade decision as that of a parent saying, "I am giving you the keys to the car. You now have the right to drive. I don't expect you to wreck the car." Well, millions of abortions have now occurred since that time...too many. We women have taken that right and discredited ourselves...and hurt our sisters in other countries. Abortion statistics remain in the millions, and even when it goes down, the fluctuations are never substantial.
And remember--no matter what ideology you have, there may be some truth to the statement:
Abortion is women killing other women
Mrs. Olsen: Abortion is ending a pregnancy. Your most dramatic last sentence is unnecessary.
ReplyDeletelittle augury: Change nothing! Just keep going, you're doing something very right, be it lavender or planned parenthood.
Every single day, you open the "eyes of my eyes" and oh what a pleasure it is to see more through you.
A few dunderheaded comments from the Anons of this world are to be expected, addressed, and then we move on. Life is short and there are so many many subjects to cover and images to show us, like that beauty by Boccioni you put up today, of the three women.
Keep doing what you're doing with "little augury;" it's all amazingly good.
I support my own and others right to choose, and support government money for programs that might make that choice unnecessary as well as to make that choice. This includes prenatal and early childhood medicine, condom programs, abstinence education,rape prevention,domestic violence programs, and viable education later on. I could probably think of more. As Mrs. Olsen and others point out, the situation is complicated. As an adopted person, I am grateful that my birthmother did not make that choice, but then more recently I've seen that many children (particularly of poor mothers) often get poor prenatal care and are consequently born with insoluble problems, making American baby adoption less appealing for many today. That's in addition to the racial issues that get involved.
ReplyDeleteas a women who has desperately struggled to keep a hold of pregnancies, and done everything to have a child, i battle with the issue. however, girls must be educated about their bodies in schools, adoption must not be so painfully difficult and judgmental, and women MUST have the right to choose. safely and legally. i viewed this proposed bill as far more restrictive than what has gone before: women being stripped of any control over their bodies –- from the GOP redefining rape, to available contraception pulled from the shelves, to women being denied basic healthcare.
ReplyDeletei share similar views. after all this time, are we mere chattel yet again? http://soodiebeasley.blogspot.com/2011/02/some-things-never-change-hr3-and.html
If the unexamined life is not worth living, as the sage said, then examining controversial issues is rather the point, no? I don't doubt that you've attracted a lot more rant than the one you posted above. Is the "health care" debate just a smokescreen for something much more sinister? Consider this, from MoveOn.org:
ReplyDeleteIt might seem hyperbolic to say that Republicans have declared a war on women.
Sadly, it's not:
Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women
1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't.
2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."
3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)
4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.
5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.
6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.
7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.
8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.
9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.
10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).
The original email also contained all the sources, but eBlogger limits comment size. You can find this info on their website, moveon.org
Dear Patricia,
ReplyDeleteI adore your blog. It enlightens, inspires and provokes me, and while occasionally I don't 'feel ' the same understanding aesthetically, I appreciate your poignant insights and vision.
In the case of “What will women do” , I cannot agree with you more. While the women’s right to choose issue was not from my generation, I have not had to face the issue of the illegal abortions or can I imagine the social implications of what that decision may be. Personally, I cannot say whether I would choose to have one now, if the choice had to be made. Having had two amazing children already has shown me the potential of the human life that my partner and I could create. Just knowing that would prevent me from an abortion.
But that does not mean that I don’t support the simple right to be able to choose to do so. There lies the crux of the issue for me. It has nothing to do with whether someone is responsible or not, it only has to do with her choice to do something about it. There is a plethora of circumstances—sexual assault, illness or financial limitations that could be the tipping point for any women to choose to end a pregnancy. For others, it could be an opportunity to provide a baby to a family who has not been able to have one of their own, or a choice to become a mother. In all cases, it was the women’s choice, the simple act of choosing, that was important, not lack of options available to her.
I fear that if this bill is passed, we will be on a slippery slope that will bring us women back to a time where our bodies will not entirely belong to ourselves.
And, anonymous is a condescending chicken shit.
ReplyDeleteThank all of you for such a thought provoking discussion.
ReplyDeleteDear Patricia,
ReplyDeleteHi,
I am writing to you from Madison, Wisconsin where we are rallying to keep our collective bargaining rights. I only wish we could get these numbers for other issues like Planned Parenthood.
But most of all what rings in my head these days while we fight for whatever it is we fight for or against I think of words I’ve recently heard from Jon Stewart and President Obama.
From Jon Stewart, interview with Terry Gross:
I think we always have to remember that people can be opponents, but not enemies. And there are enemies in the world. We just need the news media to help us delineate. And I think that's where the failing is, that the culture of corruption in the media doesn't allow us to delineate between enemies and opponents.
From Obama’s speech in Arizona:
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -– at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -– it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.
In regards to your question - are women-so responsible for their own reproductive health or too irresponsible? or too young, too poor, too frightened- I don't pretend to know that answer--- I think women are human and are all of the above. But mostly there are the young women who often don’t have the support they need or the role models handy who can help them be prepared.