The United States of Sex: How Abortion is Weakening American Women

By Darci Barrett
Clash Daily Guest Contributor

Over St. Valentine’s Day this year, our nation’s first freestanding all-in-one Abortion Clinic and Birthing Center opened up in Buffalo, New York. This, of course, is being hailed by “reproductive rights advocates” as a huge step forward in the “birth justice and abortion access movements”. Veronica Flores at  Feministing.com calls this “awesome” and “super cool” all in the same short article.

Really? Do intelligent people in this country really spend their time, energy and even resources to fight for something called “reproductive rights” without recognizing that the purpose of those reproductive organs is to REPRODUCE? Isn’t expanding abortion robbing women of the awesome experience and ability of growing and birthing another human being?

Now, don’t get me wrong I earned my feminist card a long time ago by being born and raised in the  Washington, D.C. Metro area by a non-religious, Vietnam War-protesting, Valedictorian, Pre-Med, 1st College graduate in her family, CFO of a multi-million dollar corporation, League of Women Voters member of a Mother. Despite all those accomplishments, she and I both realized that there’s more to life than having an impressive résumé and the Universe doesn’t revolve around either of us. Thus, we chose to follow Christ’s teachings in our lives, but that didn’t mean we gave up our brains. Quite the opposite actually, I feel more intellectually empowered than ever.

So let’s be real here. There is not much need to fight for the right to reproduce whenever and however we want in the modern day U.S. of A. There are no gender, race, or child quota restrictions that we are facing in this great country of Freedoms, unlike some countries past and present including China. A 2012

meta-analysis by Chinese researchers, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Causes and Control, found a 44 percent increased breast cancer risk after an abortion. It also found that the risk grew significantly with subsequent abortions – a 76 percent increase after two abortions, 89 percent after three.

Is that what we want to happen to American women? Of course not.

What “reproductive rights advocates” are really fighting for is the right to control when and under what circumstances we can NOT be pregnant and give birth. But don’t we already have that? I mean with all the birth control methods readily available, even free in some places, can’t we already have sex without consequences, whenever, however we want?

Better yet, we could just exercise our self-control and abstain from reproductive activities all together if we aren’t prepared to reproduce. Radical idea, I know. Who in their right mind would want to give up their “right” to sex on demand and without apology? Certainly not most “sexually liberated” people I know.

I love sex as much as the next person, but let’s grow-up here and recognize what’s really being fought for is to get a selfish, temporary high of feel good bio-chemicals off of another person without having to worry about any pesky repercussions like a baby. That seems to me more like an addict trying to get a hit, than a woman embracing and protecting her awesome biological ability to grow and birth another human being. I should know, I’m 15 years clean and sober and mother of two amazing kids.

Much like drug dealers and their clientele, pimps and johns across the country are cheering this “movement” on as a way to justify and enable the use and abuse of women. Abortion is also frequently used to destroy evidence of rape and incest and allow male perpetrators to continue hurting girls. Is that really something we want to enable?

Speaking of prostitution, anyone who’s ever worked even near politicians on either side of the aisle knows that MANY U.S. politicians, especially those who fight for abortion “rights”, are simply fighting for their ability to cover-up their own illegal sexual exploits with professional working girls, not to mention the plethora of interns on Capitol Hill like I was during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. How exactly does that empower women? It seems to me that it turns us more into virtually disposable sexual objects than strong, independent humans that are just as valuable to society as our male counterparts.

What about fighting for reproductive responsibilities to go along with our rights? How about we, as responsible adults, decide that if we choose to use our reproductive parts to gain sexual pleasure and a pregnancy results then we must take responsibility for that part of our bodies that we just used to reproduce. And by responsibility, I don’t mean pay for an abortion. I mean take care of our bodies during the pregnancy and raise the child or give it to someone who wants to. If this interferes with your career or education or ideal body image then just don’t have sex. That’s right, put your big-girl panties on and keep them on.

Don’t give me that “unwanted” or “unintended” pregnancy crap. If you don’t want it, don’t do “it”. With an estimated 2 million parents waiting to adopt in the US alone, the over 1 million abortions every year are not needed. Is adoption easy or simple for all parties involved? No. If you want easy, keep your pants on.

Unless you’d rather be considered “easy”? I mean isn’t that also what we’re fighting for here, not to be  considered promiscuous even if, by definition, that’s exactly what we’re acting like. Because when men sleep around they aren’t considered  something as condescending as “easy”. Maybe that’s because they don’t have the amazing privilege of growing, birthing, and caring for little human beings like we do as women.

Don’t think having the ability to get pregnant and give birth is a privilege? Talk to the 1 in 10 women who can’t get pregnant even though they desperately want to. They know that becoming a mother is the most wonderful, amazing, challenging, and fulfilling life event a woman can experience. It is also the most character strengthening and confidence building exercise a female can go through. Even an agnostic friend of mine, who had multiple abortions in the past, called the experience of holding her recent newborn baby “pure Love and Light.”

Now that is what I call super cool.

Image: Courtesy of: http://thomasknappick.wikispaces.com/anxiety

Darci Barrett is a conservative, Christian, work-from-home mother of two young children, owner of a small business and a highly opinionated writer.