Mississippi Burning?

To the west we are seeing Mississippi, hardly a hotbed of reproductive rights, poised to pass a bill that will limit a woman's right to chose. She'll have to carry a rapist's child to full term! And a Democrat, Steve Holland, introduced this legislation! WTF are you doing Steve!

Drop by The Center for American Progress for a look at reproductive rights via Jessica Arons and Shira Saperstein titled "The Right Way to Reduce Abortion" which gives us,

Making abortion less necessary is by far the better approach. The first way to do so is to reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancy. Half of all pregnancies in this country are unintended, and, of those, half end in abortion. Unintended pregnancy could be reduced significantly if we showed true commitment to: 1) comprehensive sexuality education that includes medically accurate information about abstinence and contraception; 2) insurance coverage of and public funding for family planning services; 3) greater access to emergency contraception (which prevents pregnancy and does not cause abortion); and 4) programs that curb domestic violence and sexual abuse. Clearly, women who are able to avoid unintended pregnancy do not have to make the difficult decision of whether to have an abortion.

Unfortunately, even with the supports listed above, there will always be some unintended pregnancies; birth control methods are fallible, as are human beings. Therefore, once a woman finds herself with an unexpected pregnancy, a second positive way to reduce abortion is to ensure that she has the means to have and raise a child in health and safety should she wish to do so. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, one of the two most common reasons women choose abortion is because they cannot afford a(nother) child. By providing low-income and young women with genuine education and career opportunities, health care, child care, housing, services for disabled children, and other basic supports, many would have the resources they need to fulfill the serious obligations that parenting brings.

We'll see how our always enlighted leadership on Goat Hill approaches these issues. As usual, I'm hardly optimistic. Peace ... or War!