New tool to promote Life on social media: “WombTube”
Pro-abort Marisa Meltzer posted a piece at liberal website Slate last month entitled, “WombTube: The odd and addictive videos of women who reveal their pregnancy test results online,” that caught the attention of MSM’s The Today Show today.
Host Meredith Vieira cynicly picked up on Meltzer’s theme, wondering if excited newly pregnant mothers might be “revealing too much.”
Vieira had on as guests a reproductive psychiatrist and one of the “WombTube” moms, Jewel Peach.
Turns out Jewel (great name, btw) is pro-life and posted the interview on my Facebook page. Jewel wrote that she asserted her pro-life views on the show, which thrilled me to pieces. Scroll to 3:20 for that, but the entire segment is interesting, particularly Vieira’s eeyore treatment of the concept…
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As the repro psych indicated, the drawback to posting pregnancy results is if a preborn baby dies or is born sick. But even those instances are life-affirming. The death of a preborn baby is a tragedy, not a “choice.”
Obviously, there is no pro-abort counterpart to “WombTube” other than someone like Angie Jackson, who live tweeted her abortion last year.
Reacting negatively to a pregnancy test and making “WombTomb” videos of the abortion would strike a viewer with normal sensibilities as grotesque, which the other side knows. Meltzer took note, in a roundabout way:
That these videos are dominated by women doggedly trying to get pregnant explains why I didn’t see any WombTube videos of women getting negative test results and jumping for joy or even exhaling in relief, just like the pregnancy test commercials on TV. Both the commercials and WombTube share the same fantasy world where news of a pregnancy is only welcome and the darkest emotion one might be allowed to register is shock. It’s rare to find a video depicting a reaction to a negative test result at all, and the few women who post their nonpregnant status are devastated. They post these videos to prove to the world how committed they are to having babies.
Meltzer doesn’t want to admit her pro-life sensibilities:
I will admit that at first I thought all of these people were, well, nuts. I still might. I can’t entirely understand why someone would post her pregnancy results for the world to see, and since none of the WombTubers I reached out to would respond to my questions, I remain baffled. But as a viewer, I’m something of a convert. The emotional rollercoaster they promise is highly addictive and, since they almost always result in good news, a pleasant pay off.
Meltzer posted a slideshow of WombTube videos. Here’s one. The dad’s reaction is so sweet, too! Made me tear up…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bDkUKGjCyo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Prebaby?
Well, while personally I don’t like how much self-broadcasting there is now, this is pretty sweet. That is such a happy moment!
Much better than getting the live updates via twitter about the murder of a child. :(
That last video of the couple finding out they were pregnant made me CRY! Beautiful, beautiful joy~ Love it! (and I have had one too many negative results and miscarriages too~ I KNOW what those two lines can mean!) Life is beautiful <3
That first video made me cry…watched it a second time and it made me cry again. Those who have struggled with infertility will totally understand and be able to relate to those feelings of joy after finally seeing those lines!
I don’t understand how that’s supposedly sharing too much? What is wrong with celebrating the new life inside you? I suppose I could see why it would make pro-aborts uncomfortable though.
The video of the mother and father finding out that they were going to have a baby is so sweet and it put a smile on my face :)
You know, even if I didn’t “want” to be pregnant at a given time, I always felt a twinge of disappointment when the test would be negative. I can’t say that what I experienced was ever relief or excitement over a negative test.
I do admit that with my first I wasn’t quite sure if I was “ready” to be a parent yet and so I went and laid down on my bed and cried for a few minutes when I found out I was pregnant, but it didn’t take long before I was excited and I love him dearly! Even if I felt a little upset, I loved him immediately and wanted to protect him. With my last baby (#4), I didn’t want to be pregnant yet… our 3rd child had had a tear in his placenta at 10 weeks and I thought I was losing him (now THAT was devastating!) and that went on to heal (Praise God!) but then at 27 weeks, my water broke and he was born. He’s had zero issues from being premature and I seriously praise God for that! Yet, it was a very emotionally difficult time and I pumped 8-10 hours a day for him and it was so exhausting. I wasn’t mentally ready to face that possibility again. I didn’t want to become pregnant again until he was 2 years old (but I stopped using BC right before becoming pregnant with my 2nd after it messed me up and while pregnant with her I found out how hormonal BC and IUD’s and all that REALLY work, so yeah…). Anyways… SO when I suspected I was pregnant when #3 was 10 months (meaning I became pregnant when he was 9 months) and I took a test… I admit I was pretty upset. I was worried about money because things weren’t well for us financially at the time and I still felt sort of traumatized from my precious baby being born so early, so when that test came up positive, I was shaking and I was crying–not tears of joy–and my husband was hugging me and telling me it was going to be okay (he was right, of course). BUT I will say this–I NEVER thought of hurting her! It wasn’t her fault she was conceived earlier than when I *thought* was best. It took me a little longer than my first to *feel excited*, but you know what… she’s 2 months old now and I look at her and I am so beyond *thrilled* to have her! I nearly daily thank God that things did not go according to “our plan.” She’s beautiful and amazing and I love her so much! And while I was pregnant with her, I prayed constantly for her protection and I told God, “I want THIS baby! Please, don’t let anything happen to this baby!” I have never once regretted her :)
Yeah, I caught the “prebaby” thing too. Was that a typo, Jill? Please don’t let the pro-aborts get ahold of that line.
It must have been a very slow news day for Viera to make an entire segment out of this, complete with a psychologist. Talk about much ado about nothing! So women post pregnancy test videos… what’s the harm? This just seemed like a sideways subliminal stab at the pro-life movement.
Then let the prochoicers come out with Abortion Tube. If some are as proud as they say they are, then what’s to stop them?
Go for it, choicers!
I am friends of Jewel’s sister and was thrilled to see her on TODAY…. she is such a light shining bright with her pro-life voice. I was so proud of her! and did you see as soon as she mentioned her prolife stand they didnt say much else to her. She was able to get it out though! I thought the topic was rediculous though… there is so much junk on youtube, why would people care if others share their good news? ugh, whatever! Bottom line – GOOD JOB JEWEL!!! We are all very proud of you darlin!
That last video made me cry too Bethany! It was beautiful. Thats the reaction you’re SUPPOSED to have when finding out you’re pregnant. If people were treating sex the way they should it WOULD be the reaction everyone has.
I didn’t take a pregnancy test with my son as I was not expecting to be pregnant. I had pain and the docs drew blood which revealed I was pregnant. I had not even missed a period yet. I have had two late periods (I am normally as regular as clockwork) in the past year or so that followed a “birth control mishap”. I was so excited when the condoms failed especially since both times occurred when I was ovulating (I can tell when I am). When my period was late both times I happily ran out and bought HPT. Both times only one line came up. With tears in my eyes I looked desperately for that second line and often within hours I would get my period so it was probably just my mind holding up the cycle. So I have never had the joy of getting a BFP on a HPT. But I look forward to the day when I get to experience that. I will probably be doing cartwheels down the hallway.
If I just shared tmi I apologize! LOL.
“That first video made me cry…watched it a second time and it made me cry again. Those who have struggled with infertility will totally understand and be able to relate to those feelings of joy after finally seeing those lines!”
And yet for those with infertility, who have yet to see a positive test, videos of happy moms-to-be with their positive pregnancy test, along with cutsie baby videos, progressive pregnancy pics, and birth announcement on social networking sites, only create more heartache and longing. I…I can’t watch those videos
I found the blog of the lady featured above. Her name is Kate and she had a baby boy! I think its such a wonderful thing to see. It really filled me with euphoria to think of her finally getting her heart’s desire after struggling with the burden of infertility. Why anyone would look down on this is beyond me.
“It’s rare to find a video depicting a reaction to a negative test result at all, and the few women who post their nonpregnant status are devastated. They post these videos to prove to the world how committed they are to having babies.”
This is what is called “the general case”. On average, most women want to get pregnant and have babies. It is normal and normative. Getting pregnant and not wanting it is pathological. Of course, pro aborts are themselves pathological and therefore identify with and promote the pathological condition rather than the normal, healthy normative case.
In all of human history, folks have congratulated expectant moms. Duh, it is normal.
Ashley is clearly not familiar with Darwin. The notion is that reproduction = winning. Those who don’t, go extinct = lose. That is why it is a natural/normal drive. The general case is what is normal and natural.
“That’s a whole lot of women who don’t want to be walking wombs, or have thought “I don’t want to get pregnant right now.”
This is what is generally called “oppression”. The man who is having sex with her doesn’t want her to get pregnant and she is bowing to his demands in the hope that later he will commit and she can get the baby she wants. Women are oppressed by the unnatural demand that their bodies not function normally. These are the women who end up older and desperate for a baby because they ignored nature when they were young to satisfy the demands of an oppressive society.
Demanding that young fertile women be sexually available but not reproduce is oppression.
Pro-abort Marisa Meltzer posted a piece at liberal website Slate last month entitled, “WombTube: The odd and addictive videos of women who reveal their pregnancy test results online,”
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Children are a gift and a blessing.
I find it odd that ms Meltzer finds it odd that most women react joyfully when they discover they are pregnant and that these women would want to share the good news with the whole world.
It seems ms Meltzer believes these women should react as if they had just tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease.
I find ms Meltzer ‘odd’.
Ashley, come on. Being pregnant = chained to the stove? Don’t spew that. You are working aren’t you? I worked while pregnant. Remember our conversation how pregnancy doe NOT equal weakness?
“three to five saves lives”
Actually, the current recommendation is 18 months between pregnancies, which happens to the average time between pregnancies if a woman is nursing exclusively.
Ashley, on this issue I think that Humanae Vitae is perfect. I’m not even Catholic, but the teachings are so sound. It isn’t at all “anti-sex” or even “anti-sex-unless-you-are-specifically-trying-to-have-a-baby”
It’s just all about respecting our bodies and understanding sexuality within the context of reproduction.
There used to be a blog that had it broken up into really readable sections. Does anyone remember what I’m talking about?
This isn’t exactly what I was thinking about, but it seems really good!
http://www.priestsforlife.org/contraception/humanae-vitae-study-guide.htm
Women can share even more about their pregnancy on facebook through the Little One Pregnancy Place Calendar~
Share the wonder of your baby’s development before birth with your family and friends.
You can use our Little One Pregnancy Calendar and Journal to:
1. Announce your pregnancy
2. Learn about and see what’s happening with your baby
3. Chronicle special moments and receive comments from your friends
4. Upload memorable pictures
5. Create a series of belly shots as your body changes in your Belly Gallery
6. Share EHD’s pics and videos at various stages of pregnancy
7. Announce news of your baby’s birth along with all the key info (weight, length, time of day, etc.)
8. Show off photos of your big day in your Newborn Gallery
The calendar describes various development milestones and includes rare imagery featured in The Biology of Prenatal Development DVD.
Create your free calendar and journal today and use it to keep everyone you care about up to date on this amazing process. http://on.fb.me/fVwy6d
movie clip The Beating Heart in Slow Motion: 4 1/2 Weeks Pregnant http://bit.ly/8BAIYc is from the best window into the womb dvd The Biology of Prenatal Development http://bit.ly/fA0dW1
hippie, I don’t think it’s accurate or helpful to characterize getting pregnant and not wanting to have a baby as “pathological”. Some women feel very emotionally overwhelmed by pregnancy and are terrified by the thought of actually being someone’s mother. Those women need help to choose life and to possibly pursue adoption, not a derogatory amateur psychological diagnosis.
While I do think the videos are very sweet and some of them actually brought tears to my eyes, I do wonder why people would want to share with the entire world. Friends and family for sure, but everyone on the net? I guess I find it odd because I’m an introvert and very private–I haven’t given a status on Facebook for over a year. I would be overjoyed to find out that I was going to be a mom, but I don’t think that the whole worldwide web necessarily needs to know. JMHO