Rape is not a method of contraception . . .

On Thursday, asked during a TV interview in Roanoke, Va., whether a woman should be able to get an abortion if she was raped,(Paul Ryan) replied: 

“I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea, the position that, the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life.”

Rape, Mr. Paul Ryan, is not a method of conception. 

 It is an act of violence & control, played out in a sexual manner.  It is brutal, and it invades more that the body.

1. The very idea that it does not matter how a woman conceives is repugnant.

Of course it matters.  

Conception should always come out of an act of mutual consent.  Out of an  act of loving one another enough to want to make a child.

However, the need for sex, a very biological & emotional need, does not always take the time to consider the consequences of the act.  Which can result in a child.

Teenagers, 29 year old, 36 year old women get pregnant fulfilling that need.  Unmarried women get pregnant.

If there was a moment in my life when I was not pro-choice, I do not remember it. 

Pro-choice, not pro-abortion as a method of birth control.

And yet, I was that 29 year old, that 36 year old woman.  Not married.

My choice was to give birth to those two embryos.  As a result, I have two handsome, kind, loving & amazing sons.  And when I made that choice, I realized I had the greatest resource available to help & support me – my family.

But it was my choice.  Certainly not the government’s choice.  

There are real, serious, compelling reasons why women take a different path that I did.  Sometimes dire circumstances.  Those reasons are their own, and personal, not political.

 

Rape & incest are just two of those dire circumstances.

If, Mr. Paul Ryan, you think rape is just a “method of conception,” you are deluded.  

And a woman who votes for you on the ticket, is voting against herself.

Why Not Chick-Fil-A?

About Chick-Fil-A – no support, no boycott from Jaki Jean.

Except, of course, in this blog.

Since people who read my blog, & people who know me, understand & accept that I do not lean to the right, it comes as no surprise to them that I support same-sex marriage & protection for the participants in & children of those relationships.

I love breakfast at Chick-Fil-A.  Those little nuggets tucked into yeast rolls & packets of honey provided upon request.  I love that, for an additional charge, I can substitute fresh fruit for those little waffle fries that are so very bad for me.  I admire that the franchise closes on Sundays.

Because I remember Sundays & Blue Laws & coming home from church to roast beef with all the trimmings.  With the family.  Sitting at the table, talking.  I love those memories.

I understand that the current president & son of the founder of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, is a Conservative who probably believes he is standing up for Biblical principles.

I doubt that Dan Cathy & I agree on much, but we do agree that each of us has the right to speak our minds & support organizations that reflect our leanings.

And we both have the right to disagree with one another & refrain from supporting one another’s leanings.

I refuse to participate in this day, except by my absence from my favorite breakfast.

Chick-Fil-A is making a banner profit today, supported by Conservative, God-fearing, Evangelicals racing to locations across the country to stand up for God.

The debate about same sex marriage, about a woman’s right to make her own health decisions & control her reproductive body – these are not Biblical issues.  Not in this country.  

Because the last time I looked, we were not under some version of Conservative Christian sharia law.

The last time I looked, no one had tried to reverse the First Amendment of the Constitution.  

As I observe the antics of this election, the flagrant abuse of perpetuating half-truths through social media (by all sides), the climate of distrust of anything & anyone Other, I wonder.

If anyone remembers what Lincoln posed at Gettysburg.

that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

People.  All people.  Of all colors of the rainbow.  Of all sizes & shapes.  Of all leanings.  Of all religions & faiths & ethnicities & histories.

All Americans.

So, Dan Cathy & I will agree, like civilized people, to disagree.  He will continue to make a great deal of money & support causes he believes are supporting God.  

And I will remember the taste of those little nuggets tucked into yeast rolls, dripping with honey.