So about three years has passed in Virginia and the company that Mike's at is pulling operations out of Virginia and have offered us the option to move to Tennessee. We like the education levels here, especially for our gifted and talented daughter and that whole idea kind of shrivels the teacher in me. I'm sure it'll be good, but I'm thinking Virginia sure looks better on the education lists than Tennessee.
While one of my oldest online friends lives there and I'm dying to go there and see her, I also have strong considerations regarding living in the heart of the Bible Belt, where the bible thumping and revivals can rival the rhythm of a drum circle in Davis. Where in Utah, there's a Mormon church on every corner, the Baptists have the street corners covered here.
I also think it defeats a lot of the reason for moving here initially. I wanted to be able to see my parents a lot more. Right now, I'm getting to see them twice a year at minimum. I like that a great deal. With my father's diagnosis of Parkinson's, getting to see them is something I look forward to each and every time. Despite the fact that my mother is a little prickly, I've gotten used to it in my old mellowing age and I'm good with it.
Living in Tennessee will take us pretty far out of their travel routes and while we can drive and meet them somewhere, it's still going to suck. I like being able to cook for my parents. It's one of my favorite things to do.
We're trying to set up to fly out to Tennesee this weekend. Russell can watch Genny and I'll cook spaghetti ahead for them, so they'll have dinner for a few nights. I've never been there. Nashville isn't my idea of a good time either, so I guess I'm going to have to crank up the Dixie Chicks and suck it up.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Man, have I had it.
I live in a state now, that has mandatory ultrasound before someone can obtain an abortion. They also have counseling and all this other crap because apparently women are too stupid to make an educated choice.
No, I don't think that every pregnancy should result in an abortion, clearly. I have two kids. I just think that every pregnancy should be wanted. Children deserve to be wanted, loved, cherished, spoiled, and cared about.
I'm reading Jeff, One Lonely Guy, which contains a litany of lonely people who suffered abuse as children, among other things. I know that 20% of children in American have "hunger issues." My husband makes twice the average income for our area, but I've been to the food bank. We all know someone who was abused as a child. We all know someone who was molested. Numbers from the Centers on Child Abuse indicate that incidents of child abuse are increasing.
Yet attacks on abortion rights are also increasing.
It makes no sense to me at all to force women to have unwanted pregnancies. Yeah, that's a good idea. Suddenly, money is going to drop out of the air, groceries will magically appear in the fridge and the child will be clothed and fed and loved -- that isn't even happening before the kid is born. I can't imagine some divine magic wand is being waved. When I hear adoption, I simply want to puke. Are you kidding me? How many children of color are waiting adoption? How many special needs children are waiting adoption or are in foster care? I think that people who are willing to endure all of the risk and difficulties, most pregnancies are wrought with to give a child up for adoption are awesome, but I think that if a woman is going to go through the risk and physically daunting issues of pregnancy, that carrying a pregnancy to term should be what she chose to do.
Choosing something let's you own that decision. Choosing to continue a pregnancy means you're willing to contend with the outcome of that pregnancy -- the baby. That could be keeping and raising the child. That could be giving it up for adoption. However, I also think that an abortion has outcomes, too. I think that choosing to have an abortion means being willing to grieve for the child you're not having. I realize that not everyone gets pregnant at the drop of a hat and that they are often jealous of women like me who basically have to just bend over in a strong wind and when they stand up, they're pregnant.
I just think that women should be able to choose. Because they know what they're going to have to deal with -- the decreased ability to make money compared to a man, the cost of raising a child, the sadness at ending a pregnancy, the need to have adequate care for themselves and their pregnancy.
I think every pregnancy should have adequate pre-natal care. Every woman planning on carrying her pregnancy to term should have pre-natal vitamins. Every woman should have affordable regular ongoing care during her pregnancy and after her delivery and be able to afford it. My friend just had a premature infant who got necrotizing entercolitis -- basically, the baby had trouble figuring out food, so her little intestines started eating themselves. She was hospitalized for a month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). My friend can't afford to go to her doctor for after-birth care because of the cost. She falls just above the cutoffs for any help. I just had to buy groceries for her, so she could get by. She spent all her money paying the co-pays for her daughter to get care. The hospital bill for her daughter's care came in a box and was two inches thick.
I didn't plan my children. I have trouble with current methods of birth control. I wanted my children though. They are loved and they know it. They know they can come to us because they do come to us.
They are beautiful. I am blessed. Everyone should feel like that about their pregnancies. If they don't, they should have the right to utilize other options such as adoption or abortion and should be able to do so without being judged. Every person knows what they can and can't handle. Let God handle the judging.
I live in a state now, that has mandatory ultrasound before someone can obtain an abortion. They also have counseling and all this other crap because apparently women are too stupid to make an educated choice.
No, I don't think that every pregnancy should result in an abortion, clearly. I have two kids. I just think that every pregnancy should be wanted. Children deserve to be wanted, loved, cherished, spoiled, and cared about.
I'm reading Jeff, One Lonely Guy, which contains a litany of lonely people who suffered abuse as children, among other things. I know that 20% of children in American have "hunger issues." My husband makes twice the average income for our area, but I've been to the food bank. We all know someone who was abused as a child. We all know someone who was molested. Numbers from the Centers on Child Abuse indicate that incidents of child abuse are increasing.
Yet attacks on abortion rights are also increasing.
It makes no sense to me at all to force women to have unwanted pregnancies. Yeah, that's a good idea. Suddenly, money is going to drop out of the air, groceries will magically appear in the fridge and the child will be clothed and fed and loved -- that isn't even happening before the kid is born. I can't imagine some divine magic wand is being waved. When I hear adoption, I simply want to puke. Are you kidding me? How many children of color are waiting adoption? How many special needs children are waiting adoption or are in foster care? I think that people who are willing to endure all of the risk and difficulties, most pregnancies are wrought with to give a child up for adoption are awesome, but I think that if a woman is going to go through the risk and physically daunting issues of pregnancy, that carrying a pregnancy to term should be what she chose to do.
Choosing something let's you own that decision. Choosing to continue a pregnancy means you're willing to contend with the outcome of that pregnancy -- the baby. That could be keeping and raising the child. That could be giving it up for adoption. However, I also think that an abortion has outcomes, too. I think that choosing to have an abortion means being willing to grieve for the child you're not having. I realize that not everyone gets pregnant at the drop of a hat and that they are often jealous of women like me who basically have to just bend over in a strong wind and when they stand up, they're pregnant.
I just think that women should be able to choose. Because they know what they're going to have to deal with -- the decreased ability to make money compared to a man, the cost of raising a child, the sadness at ending a pregnancy, the need to have adequate care for themselves and their pregnancy.
I think every pregnancy should have adequate pre-natal care. Every woman planning on carrying her pregnancy to term should have pre-natal vitamins. Every woman should have affordable regular ongoing care during her pregnancy and after her delivery and be able to afford it. My friend just had a premature infant who got necrotizing entercolitis -- basically, the baby had trouble figuring out food, so her little intestines started eating themselves. She was hospitalized for a month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). My friend can't afford to go to her doctor for after-birth care because of the cost. She falls just above the cutoffs for any help. I just had to buy groceries for her, so she could get by. She spent all her money paying the co-pays for her daughter to get care. The hospital bill for her daughter's care came in a box and was two inches thick.
I didn't plan my children. I have trouble with current methods of birth control. I wanted my children though. They are loved and they know it. They know they can come to us because they do come to us.
They are beautiful. I am blessed. Everyone should feel like that about their pregnancies. If they don't, they should have the right to utilize other options such as adoption or abortion and should be able to do so without being judged. Every person knows what they can and can't handle. Let God handle the judging.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)