A
Republican state legislator in Arizona reportedly wrote an email to a
constituent saying that women should witness an abortion before having an
abortion.
So, I have been thinking
about this, about Representative Terri Proud, a Republican state legislator for
the state of Arizona.
Who reportedly wants women
seeking abortions to watch an abortion before committing to the procedure. (Which, of course begs the question, who
films an abortion?)
I have a few questions.
Do women seeking a tubal
ligation or a hysterectomy need to watch one before deciding on the procedure?
Do women who require a mastectomy,
the removal of the breasts that nurture children & so delight grown men,
need to watch one before consenting to the procedure?
Do women who seek relief
from a painful, & perhaps deadly, cyst on their ovaries, need to see the
procedure before consent?
Do women need to see a
mammogram or watch a pelvic exam before consenting to either procedure?
Do women need to watch a
vaginal or C-Section birth before bringing a child into this world?
This last question I can
answer.
Long before I was pregnant
(at the ancient age of 29), I worked as a candy striper at a hospital in El
Paso – in the maternity clinic, in the gift shop, in the nursery.
A different time, a
different mind set, a different age.
We candystripers got to do a lot of
things: check urine with little strips,
sell candy, hold babies, watch as a nurse cleaned up a newborn. Hold babies. Feed babies.
Grieve about the little
ones who were put at the back, out of the nursery viewing area, because no one
was going to come & coo over them.
Watch a priest give the
last rites.
And one morning or
afternoon, watch a vaginal delivery through a tiny window.
All of which taught me of
the wonder & fragility of human life.
None of which inspired me to become a mother or give birth.
No amount of film, no
amount of rhetoric, influenced me to become a mother.
My mother, my father, my
grandparents & aunts & uncles & cousins & siblings &
extended family & friends taught me that parenthood was amazing. And family even more amazing.
Not a law, not a video, not
a threat, not a vaginal ultrasound – none of those things convinced me to give
birth.
My choice.
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