I read the most repugnant letter in the National Post today.
Now, before I receive angry e-mails or posts, let me preface this blog entry by saying this person felt compelled to reveal the details of her private life by nothing more than her whims, whatever they may be. I, therefore, do not think too untoward to make a criticism about what was said. If she didn't want any criticism, she ought not to have written so frank a (self-serving, in my opinion) letter. I think it's only human that people internalise and even judge the actions of others, even if the judgment isn't always favourable. Maybe we shouldn't judge, but we do. And we do have every right to judge actions and words. Nevertheless, I do not advocate the throwing of stones- either literal or figurative- at this person. I do, however, think the matter should be discussed.
That being said...
The letter-writer, in as tart honesty as she can muster, admits her personal error- having "protected" sex and then aborting a baby who would otherwise have ruined her life (she says as much in the opening paragraph of her letter). In responding to a letter which states a pregnant woman should carry a fetus (it's always best to use a medical word in discussions like this because it creates a nice, cloudy distance) to term and then get sterilised, she doesn't see why anyone should make a decision like that. It's never dawned on her to refrain from sex if she didn't want to get pregnant, or that the fetus she aborted is any less human that her wanted children (whom she will one day tell how she proudly aborted their sibling so they could live "stable" lives), or that taxpayers, who may be opposed to her proud decision for any number of reasons, paid for it with their own money. It appears she doesn't get anything.
This is the crux of it. Is it possible that she really is that thoughtless and selfish that she can't see what she has said and done? I wouldn't be thanking God for abortions or being proud of having one or planning on telling any surviving children about such a thing. What is there to be proud of? I mean, really? The letter-writer is an embodiment of the "me culture"- an endemic parade of selfishness and thoughtlessness where one's own convenience, self-importance and sense of entitlement has superceded the medical community's duty to "do no harm", the taxpayer's right to opt out of objectionable wastes of hard-earned money, and even a child's right to live.
Have we come to the point where a man can clean out the family's bank account, a woman can drown her child in the tub, or a fanatic can explode himself, killing fifty other people simply because they want to?
I'm afraid we have.
6 comments:
I think your statement that we are living in a "me culture" is bang on.
I've found that every abortion story I hear has somewhat of a common denominator...they (expectant mothers) all have this "tunnel vision". They all know without a doubt, that this child will either
a) have a horrible life
OR
b) they, themselves will have a horrible life.
You'd think with this prophetic knowledge of seeing the future, they'd be too busy touring the world giving psychic readings...much too busy to be having unprotected sex and justifying abortions.
That said, I'd like to add that even when my dog had puppies, and one of them was stillborn, that mother dog tried licking that pup for over 45 minutes trying to stimulate life, to get it to take a breath. And you could see the heartbreak in her eyes when I finally had to take the dead puppy from her.
A dog. An animal setting an example for us, the supposed higher species...Ha!
this is nothing new. women have abortions for selfish reasons. newsflash! why are you acting so shocked by this as if it's something you've never heard of before? get on topic with something newsworthy.
What would you classify as newsworthy? Abortion is still an issue and as long as there are people with intelligence and consciences, the issue will not be silenced.
it shouldn't be silenced and i didn't say it should. what isn't newsworthy is the fact that abortion is done for selfish reasons. {i beleive you are having me repeat myself here, because i already made this clear the first time but i'll humor you because you seem confused}. i don't understand the big deal over this "most repugnant letter". over-reacting. melo-dramatic. again, it's not newsworthy. people are dying all over the world, horrible rapes and deaths and mutilations. one stupid letter from some selfish woman having an abortion is not newsworthy.
Well, why don't we track her down and shake our self indulgent fists in her face?? sound like a reasonable plan? I think you should actually accept what you seem to demand explicitly with your religious references; that you have the right to choose your beliefs, and therefore (if I follow correctly of course) you expect everyone to repsect them, yet you fail explicitly to repsect other people's. Interesting logic there.
If i were you i would carefully consider when and where the self-importance and sense of entitlement that you express such ardent discontent with starts and finishes. Does one demonstrate a sense of entitlement by expecting that others subscribe to their moral compass above all others for example? Is it self-important to assume that ones own interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath is the cardinal law(forgive the pun)? I think dear blogger that you have certainly made your point in so far as the profound sense of individual exceptionalism that permeates Western society goes, though perhaps not in the way you intended?
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