Old INS friend Ruth, who posts here as ruthied and gives me a kick in the butt when I need it, sent me a great link yesterday to an article about a New York county executive who is proposing that pro-choice Democrats put their money where their mouths are. You can find the article in its entirety here, but I wanted to highlight some of the good stuff (bolding mine).
(Thomas R. Suozzi) is a church-going Catholic who believes that abortion should remain legal. He also is a Democrat who thinks that government should take concrete steps to make it easier for women to choose against abortion. He’s proposing that his suburban jurisdiction … spend some serious money to make that happen. … By gambling on offending everyone, this New Yorker just might move the national abortion debate to more constructive ground.
Suozzi spoke directly to the cultural contradictions that push many women towards abortion … to wit: “Women who choose abortion have their morality questioned. Women who choose to put a baby up for adoption have their maternal instincts questioned, and women who carry an unplanned pregnancy to full term when unmarried or financially insecure are often labeled irresponsible.”
At last-someone who gets it. Women’s reproductive freedom is essentially a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” proposition. Mr. Suozzo is proposing a bill in his county that would allot about $3 million to cover everything from homes for single mothers to family planning information so that every possible option would be available. However, I must admit that I’m not quite certain that even with the options offered that that would somehow convince every woman not to abort. There is nothing mentioned about emergency contraception, which (in my view) would go the farthest in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Could have been an oversight, though. I do think this is a good start-for much too long the lines have been too starkly drawn. Instead of flinging political poo, there needs to be frank discussion and appropriate action.
Subscribe in a reader
