As long as these two lists don’t match, we will have abortion
In every society, there are two critical lists: acceptable conditions for having a baby, and acceptable conditions for having sex. From time immemorial, the one thing that almost every society had in common was that their two lists matched up.
It was only with the widespread acceptance of contraception in the middle of the 20th century, creating an upheaval in the public psyche in which sex and babies no longer went hand-in-hand, that the two lists began to diverge. And now, in 21st-century America, they look something like this:
Conditions under which it is acceptable to have sex:
- -If you’re in a stable relationship
- -If you feel emotionally ready
- -If you’re free of sexually transmitted diseases
- -If you have access to contraception
Conditions under which it is acceptable to have a baby:
- -If you can afford it
- -If you’ve finished your education
- -If you feel emotionally ready to parent a child
- -If your partner would make a good parent
- -If you’re ready for all the lifestyle changes that would be involved with parenthood
As long as those two lists do not match, we will live in a culture where abortion is common and where women are at war with their own bodies.
~ Catholic author Jennifer Fulwiler, writing at salvomag.com, Spring 2010, as quoted by JillStanek.com commenter Barb on the “’16 & Pregnant’ star slammed as ‘anti-abortion extremist'” post, December 7
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.
I think she makes an excellent point but misrepresents the ‘lists’ to the mainline pushers of the sexual revolution/abortion those lists look more like this:
When is it permissible to have sex: when one is old enough have taken at least one sex education class and one wishes to do so.
When is it permissible to have children: when you are over the age of 25 and have completed at least one college degree, have a partner that can say the same, you are at least middle class, have no more than 2 children already, and have intentionally planned a pregnancy, and the prenatal testing shows you have a perfect ‘fetus’.
Thanks for putting yourself out there, defending life and the 5th commandment!!
Jespren captured the discontinuity of American cultural norms very eloquently – and shows the extreme anti-child bias of the “mainstream pushers of the sexual revolution/abortion”.
We Americans claim to love our children yet too many are indifferent to the hundreds of thousands of children/teens who suffer the consequences of premature introduction to sex – their broken hearts, their loss of self-esteem, their STDs. And then, of course, there is the rampant indifference to the millions of children slaughtered in their mothers’ wombs. IMHO, the sexual revolution has been very bad for women and children – and for men, too. It has greatly damaged trust, a foundation of relationships.
It won’t be long before our government insurance programs synchronize the lists for us.
But it won’t be to reduce abortion.
Jennifer nailed it. We need to make the lists match.