Fueling My Fire

This pisses me off: (courtesy of newsok.com)

[Oklahoma State] Senate Bill 1742 places several new regulations on abortion and related issues.
It:
Requires minors to get consent of a parent before getting an abortion.
Expands recognition of an unborn child as a separate victim in a crime against the mother.
Ensures a woman is informed her unborn child, if 20 weeks or older, may feel pain during an abortion and that anesthesia could be administered to the baby to relieve that pain.
Ensures a woman seeking an abortion has the option to view her unborn baby by ultrasound before the abortion.
Allows funding to be directed to organizations that help pregnant women and anti-abortion counseling and support services.

Who the fuck do these legislators think they are?!! The majority of these assholes are men, who will never have to make the difficult choice to terminate a pregnancy, so therefore, should have no say in what is a woman's private business. Most of the "facts" that these legislatures draw upon to create these archaic laws are false. No person's body, male or female, should be legislated. No woman should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term, or to be made to feel guilty about the decision to terminate. Rarely does a woman come to this decision lightly. I know women who are haunted by it to this day, yet, would not change their decision, because it was for the best at that time.

I signed the Ms. "We Had Abortions" petition, not because I've had an abortion (which I haven't-I've never been pregnant), but because I stand in solidarity with my fellow women, especially my friends and family members who have had to make this choice. Abortion is not a black and white issue. Read the stories by brave women like Julia and Cecily, and you'll see what I mean. Until you've been placed in that situation, you have no right at all to judge. After all, isn't that what Jesus was supposed to be about? Who are you to decide what is right for someone else? Why can you not just say to yourself "While I don't agree with the concept of abortion (for whatever personal reason), I will not judge those who have had one. I will leave it up to a higher power (if you believe) to judge"? If you think you're saving the "unborn", then I suppose you'll be providing all of the emotional and financial support for the mother, in addition to adopting her child in order to keep her from aborting? Or, in other cases, would you rather a mother die, because her health was at risk, or let a fetus with a severe abnormality suffer the trauma of birth, only to die shortly afterwards (or in utero)? Are you going to care for all of the drug and alcohol affected children born to addicts every day? Or, are you going to do what you do now, ignore these children while they languish in the system? If you're so "pro-life", why not care for those who are already here, and stop worrying about those who are not?

Needless to say, for the first time ever, on Tuesday, I will be voting straight party lines. I try to give opposing political views the benefit of the doubt, and listen to what they have to say, but with everything going on the world, and the way this country has deteriorated under Republican rule, I cannot, in all good conscience, give one vote to those whose views I abhor. It's time for the country to make a change, and hopefully, as the polls are indicating, that change will be begin November 7th. I encourage you to join me at the polls to create the change together, for yourselves, your family, and your country.