Columnist: Sex selection abortion “the Achilles heel of feminism”
Sex-selective abortion is the Achilles heel of feminism.
A systematic culling of embryos on the basis of sex ridicules the very notion of “choice,” particularly since it is well known that abortion according to cultural prejudices often leaves no practical choice to the pregnant woman at all.
She takes her abortion orders from her patriarchal authority figures.
~ Barbara Kay (pictured), National Post, December 7
[Photo via theprovince.com]
Dec.11, 2012 1:00 am |
Feminism, Sex-Selection |
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.
Darn. Comments are closed. There are some “scientific” people there being…very unscientific.
“cultural prejudices often leaves no practical choice to the pregnant woman” oh, you mean like doctors saying at your first prenatal they won’t provide you pregnancy care unless you agree to a termination if prenatal testing comes back less than perfect, or doctors, nurses, and media which demand women abort disabled fetuses, or Social Workers who say you are too poor for more children and you need to abort, or boyfriends who demand you have an abortion or they’ll leave and refuse child support, or conselors who tell women if they continue the pregnancy they’ll have to drop out of school and live on welfare the rest of their life, or feminists telling women children will make them slaves, or society saying you need a degree and a bank account before you have a kid, or that anything over two kids is irresponsible, you mean a culture like that? Oh, wait, you support *that* culture as a culture of ‘choice’.
But this is not always true Barbara! What about that picture that a pro-lifer took and was circulated on Twitter. This black woman was 20 weeks pregnant with twin GIRLS. But she already had 2 daughters and she wanted a son, not more girls. She would not be swayed by pro-lifers who tried to talk her out of killing her daughters. Her belly was very visibly swollen and round. And yet she didn’t care. She didn’t want girls. This wasn’t a cultural thing. This was a “me me me…what I want or else” thing.
I have 2 boys. I would love a daughter. I understand wanting a baby of the opposite gender so you get to experience raising both sons and daughters. But if my next baby is another boy I would never kill him for being a boy. I would never kill him. period. Mothers should protect their children no matter what.
Actually abortion itself is the achilles heal of feminism because it asserts that only by destroying a women’s natural and unique reproductive capacity can they truly be equal, but she makes a good point nevertheless.
We must always be careful with the use of the term feminism. Pro-life feminism does exist and this is not an Achilles heel for them.
Since when has the “choice” crowd ever let trivialities like biological facts and reason slow down the parade to their “clinic”?
Anyone who is capable of the philosophical gymnastics necessary to create an appearance of justification for the “difficult issue” of abortion will have no problem coming up with a seeming brilliant way to justify sex selection abortion that is also completely pro-woman. I have total confidence that they will get the job done. Trust women.
Western feminism’s failure to come up with a coherent response to sex-selective abortion shows how parochial it really is. They may care to some degree about oppressed women in China, India, and the third world, but not as much as they care about themselves.
Feminists quite rightly realize that giving full voiced disapproval of sex-selective abortion could potentially jeopardize the way other abortions are viewed. admitting that sex-selective abortion is wrong opens up an uncomfortable can of worms about “choice” and the necessity to “trust women” no matter what. Feminists are so hellbent on preserving abortion on demand, for any reason, and without apology, that the plight of the women from China or India no longer matters. It’s more important to them that abortion rights here in America remain secure. And so, the foreign women trapped by a culture that tells them to kill girls are thrown under the bus for the greater good of feminists in the west.
“She takes her abortion orders from her patriarchal authority figures.”
This is the case for the majority of abortions. Either the child’s father coerces the mother into aborting, or the mother makes her choice — as celebrated by feminists — in order to be successful in the society that feminists describe as patriarchal, that is, business-oriented, competitive, and lacking in family support. If the society is bad because it is patriarchal, why do feminists seek to succeed in it by playing by patriarchal rules and perpetuating its negative qualities?
Eric, because the irony of mainstream feminism is it hates females and wants to make them into androgynist males to be ‘equal’, rather than glorying in the feminie and seeing them as inherently equal. Feminists (mainstream) believe women must *become* equal, while women who reject mainstream feminism think females *are* equal. A big part of the problem is they misconstrue ‘sameness’ for ‘equality’.
“Feminists (mainstream) believe women must *become* equal, while women who reject mainstream feminism think females *are* equal.”
Kind of reminds me of this: https://www.jillstanek.com/2012/03/being-pro-choice-the-essence-of-misogyny/
Doesn’t seem to have become a link, so copy and paste in browser if neccessary, it does work.
JDC, great quote!! I would add that authentic feminists don’t seek to solve problems for some people by subjugating other people. People- all people- are cherished and nurtured for the authentic feminist.
“JDC, great quote!!”
It was one of my favorite quotes of the day, so I’m glad that a reason to bring it up presented itself. I really should take this opportunity to again congratulate Alice on being so right about this.
I’m not sure this preference for boys is as wide spread as people think. According to most fertility specialists, 80% of couples seeking sex selection are seeking girls. I think the tide has turned in many respects.
I have 2 boys. I would love a daughter. I understand wanting a baby of the opposite gender so you get to experience raising both sons and daughters. But if my next baby is another boy I would never kill him for being a boy. I would never kill him. period. Mothers should protect their children no matter what
That picture broke my heart. I know that she felt those children — and they weren’t blobs, they were fully formed at that point — move inside her. What did she tell her two children at home? I’m sure they noticed she wasn’t pregnant anymore. What if she conceives girls again? Or never is able to have another children. The tragic thing is that thousands of people, including myself, would have LOVED to have those babies. I’ve always dreamed of having twins!
There is a great deal of violence in our society, but especially in the black community. I sometimes wonder if this has anything to do with the astronomical abortion rate among black women. Our first instinct as human beings is to protect and nurture the defenseless among us. Abortion goes against this part of human nature. If we can destroy the most helpless, the unborn, killing a born person isn’t so difficult. Say what you will, but abortion hardens hearts.
I can’t remember a thread where every comment was so uniformly spot-on. Even JDC’s “mis-link” was useful to me, because I feel like I still have my computer “training wheels” on. Not to mention Alice’s excellent comment. :)