Having faced an unplanned pregnancy myself, I can almost exactly say what goes on in the brain of someone facing this sort of situation. It is scary, and often times, for very young girls, it is almost a “fight or flight” response. You either deal with it or you run away. And it may not even necessarily be that you want to run away from the baby. You want to run away from the situation of having to: tell the father of the baby, tell your parents, wonder how you’re going to be a mother and provide for a baby, and maybe continue on with school,etc. It is not at all an unreasonable thing to believe that a young girl feels overwhelmed with all these thoughts and thinks of the quickest way to get rid of all these thoughts….i.e. abortion. It does not mean that she is irrational or can not think for herself. It means she is scared and vulnerable. Often times, a little reassurance that she CAN do this and that there IS help out there is enough to help with the anxiety. I have always thought that saying, “can” is more empowering than telling a woman she “can’t” do something, don’t you? So instead of telling someone they “can’t” possibly be a mother because of a variety of reasons, what about telling her she “can?”

Holy straw man, Batman! That’s quite possibly the most inane thing I’ve heard all day.

To co-opt a catchphrase oft used by the “pro-choice” movement: Who decides (what constitutes “religious zeal to the point where it’s insane”)?

Is it wrong to guess that you think women who choose abortion have been pulled by some exterior force and it’s really not their decision? Girls, either way, what are we doing to ourselves? Isn’t it terrible that both side thinks the other is incapable of rationally coming to a decision? What does this say about our belief in womens’ ability to think rationally?

Perhaps it is a subset of a subset of a subset. But perhaps it is not.

Perhaps it is a far broader movement.

I’m sure there are plenty of legit reasons to homeschool your children, but I think there are also plenty of reasons not to.

For instance, I think exposure to one teacher is extremely dangerous. I come from a family of teachers and have benefited greatly from having school at a public high school and a private Catholic university. The diversity of opinion and teaching styles has taught me a great deal about life as a social being but also as a student. My mother is plenty bright, and could probably teach me a great deal at home, I dare say it, maybe even more on some subjects, but my mother is not an expert in all subjects, nor does she contain all of the insights that my various teachers have given me. There is something very strong and positive to learning in an atmosphere with other students as well. I learned just as much from my peers as I did from my teachers.

Ultimately it’s a parent’s choice however. I am a strong believer in that. However, it doesn’t mean I ultimately as a citizen approve. http://www.flhef.org/pdf/2001033.pdf

According to the document linked above 38% of students homeschooled are homeschooled due to “religious reasons”. This religion could be Christian, Islamic, Wiccan, Judaism, or some other smaller religion, I disagree with raising one’s children this way and smothering his or her with their beliefs. It’s somewhat sick and arrogant to think that your children should become vessels to perpetuate your beliefs. We should have children not to perpetuate ourselves, but because we believe in the values intrinsic to life. Those values are self-discovery, experimentation, growth, challenge, and moral grappling. Yes I do believe children have even a unique ability even over adults to do this grappling on their own. I fear that the young women on this board have been bombarded since their birth with religious language, religious instruction, and programmed morals. I have no problem with their ideas, nor with Elizabeth’s if she thinks she rationally arrived there on her own. I am merely raising a flag that too often, in all walks of life not just religious, we see smothering parents. It could be parents like Lindsay Lohan’s that put their daughter on a stage for their own egos, parents that drive their public school students to overwork themselves to get high-grades, it’s the parents that don’t want their children to achieve for fear their kids may perform better than them, and like I said it’s these religious zealot parents that believe having children is a great way to perpetuate their own values. It’s sick and if I personally could end it, I would. This is not to say of course children should not be brought up in religious backgrounds, certainly not. I’m just saying that children should not be absolutely smothered with religious zeal to the point where it’s insane.

The unschooling thing seems interesting. However at 12 for instance, I was pulled a million directions, and I’m glad I was pulled. If I did what I wanted at 12 and continued to pursue it, I’d be in meteorology. If I did what I wanted at 13, I’d be making plays. If I did what I wanted at 14, I’d be a sports broadcaster. I had exposure to different people and experiences in public school, and I don’t think I should have had total control over what I learned. How was I to know what I should learn if I did not know what was out there? I’m all for unconventional education techniques and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to education, but I’m all for giving our public schools the resources to meet the needs of every child.

Gosh, I too hope that Miss March, Christina, et al. never stop challenging themselves, never stop questioning, and never stop thinking.

For that matter, I hope that I never stop challenging myself, never stop questioning, and never stop thinking.

And, furthermore, I hope that you too, Ldawg, never stop challenging yourself, never stop questioning, and never stop thinking.

As for Jesus Camp, I haven’t seen it myself, but one Catholic guy I know fairly well and whose judgment on this sort of thing I’m inclined to trust has seen it; he says it’s probably a fairly accurate portrayal of a subset within a subset within a subset of the broader homeschooling community.

You might be surprised to know that there are a myriad of different pedagogies advocated and practiced by the millions of homeschoolers in our country, many of which are — for lack of a better term — rather “non-traditional”. Consider, for example, unschooling.

I find it amusing that you think women are only easily-influenced when they choose to oppose abortion. They are only rational and educated when they support what you think is right. I was not home-schooled, and really, my religious views have very little to do with my abortion views. I have examined both sides of the issue, and am aware that facing an unplanned pregnancy is a totally fearful situation. I’ve been in the situation. I do not, however, find ANYTHING wrong with empowering and supporting a woman to be a mother, even when the circumstances are challenging for her. I believe in telling her she “can” do it and helping her to in any way that I can. I don’t believe empowerment has to come at the expense of her unborn child.

“I have often been inclined to think that perhaps the war wasn’t the best thing, but I still refuse to make a definite decision because if the media is decieving us as they did during the Vietnam War, I do not want to be a victim of their deception. The media horribly decieved Americans during the Vietnam War, making that just war seem unjust.”

Could you qualify this statement? I am confused as to what the media’s role in this deception was? I feel as though Vietnam from a historical perspective was a grave mistake.

Kendra, I think all of the young women who write on here are very well-intentioned, smart girls. I think in many ways they believe what they are saying and in fact will for the rest of their lives. Please operate with the understanding however that most of these girls have been educated in very conservative oftentimes religiously fervent households (literally, they are home-schooled) and obviously at their young ages have not had the life experience to understand these complex choices many of their older sisters face. All we can do is rest in the knowledge that there is other young women out there, that stand up for their right to educate themselves and to exercise their own choices about personal morality. I feel very comfortable knowing that these girls have access to the internet, which is a vast resource for education. I am reminded of the movie Jesus Camp continually, and it breaks my soul into pieces. Do not fault them, in fact cherish them for being passionate and seeking outlets for their passions. It is just my hope that girls like Miss March and Christina, never stop challenging themselves, never stop questioning, and never stop thinking.

Kendra,

The idea that we must be forced to choose between advocating for either a mother or her child is foreign to us.

I’m sure we can agree that no woman wants to have an abortion. How, then, can an unwanted abortion be a solution to an unwanted pregnancy?

When we sidewalk counsel outside abortion clinics, we warn women about the dangers abortion poses to them personally. I would encourage you to check out our documentary on sidewalk counseling, No Greater Joy (which you can watch here), parts of which were filmed outside of some abortion clinics in Chicago, and which includes interviews with several mothers who had planned to have abortions but then decided to choose life for their babies instead after talking with sidewalk counselors.

I’d also suggest you check out the Feminists for Life website, which includes ample resources explaining why abortion is always harmful to women.

I’d especially recommend their Q & A Series, Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice Questions.

Kendra,

I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that any of us have the idea that we believe abortions clinics “hope for the woman to be deformed or hurt from” abortion.

But as for the idea that many abortion clinics are kind of sketchy, there are plenty of examples of that.

See here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

And that’s just for starters.

If you want more, check out Christina Dunigan’s incomparably comprehensive and thoroughly documented Real Choice blog.

Actually, you’re very incorrect in assuming that doctor’s who perform abortions don’t explain the side effects. I can’t speak for every Planned Parenthood or abortion clinic in the nation, but I know that in my city those two places are the only clinics that lay out all of the options. A First Choice Clinic or another place sponsored by a church or religious organization forces every patient to have an ultra-sound and listen the fetal heartbeat, obviously in an attempt to make the woman severely attached (ironic if they want adoption to be an option), even if that treatment is not desired.

The Planned Parenthood, in my experience, does NOT perform abortions; they discuss all of the options with the mother, abortion actually being the last thing they bring up as something to look in to. The abortion clinic, the only one in my state mind you, requires therapy before and after hand and gives very detailed descriptions of the risks and side effects of the procedure.

I think it’s very ignorant and awful to assume that all they care about is money when in fact; they are a doctor caring for a patient. I would never say that all pro-life advocates care about is judging and condemning people, basically that they pretend to be the voice of “God” or that they are above others, because I don’t believe that. It seems like you have it in your head that abortion clinics are these dirty, horrible places that perform unsafe procedures and hope for the woman to be deformed or hurt from what happens there, which is not only ridiculously melodramatic, it’s untrue.

Once a baby is conceived, even if it is unwanted, even if it is through rape, that baby is a person and is existant. The important thing to understand, is pro-lifers care for the baby AND the woman. We want to help a woman in a difficult pregnancy. But we also want that baby to live, for it did nothing wrong! It does not deserve to die!

Those that are pro-abortion, however really do not care for the woman. They do not tell her that when having an abortion she will have side affects that will affect her for the rest of her life! These side affects include increased risk of breast cancer, an increased risk of being infertile later, and most importantly the guilt that she will have from killing her innocent child. In essence, the pro-life movement helps the woman and child, and the pro-abortion movement hurts the woman and kills the child.

God bless you!

In the Love of Christ,
Jo March

Thank you for giving this info on McCain. I will definitely look furthur into what he really stands for.

You’re very right in that McCain’s voting is an important key to what he really believes. It is through such voting that we know that Obama supports infanticide.

Human Life International’s website may have info on which candidates are pro-life. However, they may also not say anything about this until the Rebublican and Democratic parties choose their candidates.

On the side, do you know if Ron Paul is pro-life? One time he said something suspicious about the fact that he, being a doctor, delivered 4000 babies and therefore believes in choices. Was he trying to say that he believes in abortion?

God bless.

McCain may now be saying he is for overturning Roe v Wade and against killing human embryo’s right now but I think he is doing this just to get Pro-Life votes. Once he’s in office he will no longer be Pro-Life. I do not really believe him.

In fact, if you check out the video link I posted in post #15, you will actually hear McCain state he would never overturn Roe v Wade and he’s for killing human embryo’s. McCain claims he’s Pro-Life but he has a worse voting record than Pro-Abortion supporter Al Gore on Pro-Life issues. This should tell us something.

Also, I don’t believe in voting for the “lessor of two evils” candidate. Voting for the “lessor of two evils” is still a vote for evil!

There may still be a 100% Pro-Life candidate running for President. If not, you can still write in a vote and concentrate more on the other seats.

Mike

Yep, you’re right that Obama supports infanticide. Sick! But when I visited McCain’s website, I read there that he supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade and does not believe in killing human embryos for stem cells.

Now, if it turns out that all the presidential candidates this year are in favor of abortion, it’s very true that none of us should feel that we have to vote for one of them. But at the same time, it’s a good idea to still vote, but vote for the candidate who will do the least damage in office. You can look at this kind of voting in the following way: You aren’t voting for that candidate because you support his views; you’re voting for him because you’re trying to keep the worse guy out of office. Fr. Frank Pavone has some wonderfully insightful reflections on this subject, and these can be read here: http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/votingstatement.htm.
And also here: http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/imperfectcand.htm

I hope this is helpful, and God bless.

I personally have not formed an opinion as to whether or not the War in Iraq is unjust. I feel like I do not have enough info on the war to make a good decision about it.

I have often been inclined to think that perhaps the war wasn’t the best thing, but I still refuse to make a definite decision because if the media is decieving us as they did during the Vietnam War, I do not want to be a victim of their deception. The media horribly decieved Americans during the Vietnam War, making that just war seem unjust.

I would have agreed with you during the beginning of the war, but as we see in hindsight, there were no WMD’s in Iraq, and thus no reason to immediately invade. We did not use war as a final resort. This is not a media warp of facts, it is common knowledge. Since we did not use it as a last resort, how is it not an unjust war?

As far as the election, I can’t support either Obama, Clinton or McCain. Obama voted to kill babies who are born by voting against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Therefore, Obama’s not only avid Pro-Abortion but also Pro-Infanticide.

Clinton’s known as being avid Pro-Abortion.

McCain stated he would never overturn Roe v Wade and supports killing human embryo’s.

http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/02/marykay_the_vid.html

Therefore I cannot support or vote for any of these candidate.

By the way, I am a few years over 35, Pro-Life, Against Capital Punishment in America and Against the War in Iraq. I realize abortion is by far the most important issue of our day!

Mike

Isn’t it ironic that around the world the USA is trying to fight terroism, when we are doing a better job of killing Americans than terrorists? 3,000 Americans killed each day…in the name of “choice.” Just something to think about…

Blessed Triduum and Joyous Easter to you all! May Christ, who conquered death conquer the culture of death in our world today!!