aggent36
Warning: Reading the thoughts of other could change your own.
Plan G: Grow up
plan b“The conservative politics of the Bush administration forced me to have an abortion I didn't want.” It’s hard not to read an article that starts that way, and it’s even harder to forget. It’s been a year and half since the Washington Post published this woman’s personal account of how she conceived and ended a life and whom she blames along the way. And I haven’t gotten over it yet. She starts her story by telling us that she and her husband rarely have time together and that “ in a sudden rush of passion,” they failed to use contraception. The next morning after getting the kids on the bus, she calls to get her ob/gyn to call in a prescription for Plan B, because “ I wanted to make sure that our momentary lapse didn't result in a pregnancy.” This is the one and only times she shoulders some responsibility in this fertility fiasco. She goes on to tell us that not only is she over 40, has all the kids she plans to have, but she is also on medications that “ you shouldn't take if you're expecting or even planning to get pregnant.” This is the point where my curiosity gets the better of me and I have to finish reading the article.
She places the call only to find out her ob/gyn won’t prescribe Plan B. She says, “When I realized the seriousness of my predicament, I became angry. .. that conservative politics have held up [Plan B’s ability to go over the counter].” She reminds us that she is not some teenage girl who got knocked up in the backseat of a car on prom night. The lack of widespread availability of Plan B “wound up penalizing an over-the-hill married woman for having sex with her husband.” She’s angry with her doctor’s office because “they aren't even required to tell the patient why they won't provide the drug. Nor do they have to provide a list of alternative sources. In any event, they were also partly responsible for why I was stuck that Friday, and why I was ultimately forced to confront the decision to terminate my third pregnancy.”
Now let’s review the facts: This is not her first pregnancy: she is fully aware that sex can and does lead to babies and with two kids in the family she knows exactly what that entails. She is on medication that should not be taken if pregnancy is a possibility. She is not blaming herself because “this all could have been stopped way before this baby was conceived if they had just let me have that damn pill.” This does not sound like a woman lamenting the fact that she let her passion override her “usual” use of birth control. This is a woman who is upset that the back-up plan she was apparently planning on at the time fell through.
In the end, she did have an abortion. She says “It was a decision I am sorry I had to make. It was awful, painful, sickening. But I feel that this administration gave me practically no choice but to have an unwanted abortion.” If there had been no Plan B, it was a decision she would have faced anyway. The story reads as if she would have made a different choice on that night of passion, had Plan B not been an option at all.
No matter what side of the abortion/Plan B fence you stand on, I think everyone agrees that these are not meant to be an excuse to let passion override responsibility. No one should be thinking, “Aw, to hell with it. I’ll just call the doctor in the morning, let’s go for it!” That attitude is an affront to every woman who has ever had to make a gut-wrenching decision concerning a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, over a child too ill to survive after birth, over too many children to carry in one womb, over a slew of other heartbreaking reasons. In a society that allows for choices, above all else we have to choose responsibility. Freedom to choose in not freedom to blame.
( In my essay I have tried to fairly represent the author of the article and include quotes representative of her overall story. I have not included her name because my essay is not about a person, but about an attitude. To hear her complete story in her own words, read : “What Happens When There Is No Plan B?” The Washington Post. Jun 4, 2006. p. B-1 . )
She places the call only to find out her ob/gyn won’t prescribe Plan B. She says, “When I realized the seriousness of my predicament, I became angry. .. that conservative politics have held up [Plan B’s ability to go over the counter].” She reminds us that she is not some teenage girl who got knocked up in the backseat of a car on prom night. The lack of widespread availability of Plan B “wound up penalizing an over-the-hill married woman for having sex with her husband.” She’s angry with her doctor’s office because “they aren't even required to tell the patient why they won't provide the drug. Nor do they have to provide a list of alternative sources. In any event, they were also partly responsible for why I was stuck that Friday, and why I was ultimately forced to confront the decision to terminate my third pregnancy.”
Now let’s review the facts: This is not her first pregnancy: she is fully aware that sex can and does lead to babies and with two kids in the family she knows exactly what that entails. She is on medication that should not be taken if pregnancy is a possibility. She is not blaming herself because “this all could have been stopped way before this baby was conceived if they had just let me have that damn pill.” This does not sound like a woman lamenting the fact that she let her passion override her “usual” use of birth control. This is a woman who is upset that the back-up plan she was apparently planning on at the time fell through.
In the end, she did have an abortion. She says “It was a decision I am sorry I had to make. It was awful, painful, sickening. But I feel that this administration gave me practically no choice but to have an unwanted abortion.” If there had been no Plan B, it was a decision she would have faced anyway. The story reads as if she would have made a different choice on that night of passion, had Plan B not been an option at all.
No matter what side of the abortion/Plan B fence you stand on, I think everyone agrees that these are not meant to be an excuse to let passion override responsibility. No one should be thinking, “Aw, to hell with it. I’ll just call the doctor in the morning, let’s go for it!” That attitude is an affront to every woman who has ever had to make a gut-wrenching decision concerning a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, over a child too ill to survive after birth, over too many children to carry in one womb, over a slew of other heartbreaking reasons. In a society that allows for choices, above all else we have to choose responsibility. Freedom to choose in not freedom to blame.
( In my essay I have tried to fairly represent the author of the article and include quotes representative of her overall story. I have not included her name because my essay is not about a person, but about an attitude. To hear her complete story in her own words, read : “What Happens When There Is No Plan B?” The Washington Post. Jun 4, 2006. p. B-1 . )
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