Just a quick diary on the subject today.
Apparently, disgusting, old white men carrying graphic signs are being replaced with skeevy young white hipsters with a van and a sonogram.
A Facebook friend posted this.
Since I have worked in a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, I've seen and heard it all when it comes to the reasons for seeking an abortion. My Facebook friend is a Christian youth minister but very moderate in most if her beliefs. Many if her followers are hard core Evangelicals however. Here was my reply:
This is spoken by a person with actual experience with women who have made the choice....First, seeing a sonogram never changes anyone's mind. Women know they are pregnant and why they came to the clinic in the first place. The current state push for sonograms is a shaming thing, nothing else. Planned Parenthood already does sonograms before every procedure thus the reason why PP hasn't been screaming about it being a problem. (Forced transvaginal ultrasounds are a different story). Second, does it seem like a good idea to replace skeevy old white men hanging around in front of clinics with skeevy hipster young men poking into a woman's private business? Unless this guy is the father, why is this his business? Third, there is a woman attached to the blessed embryo you know. Rather than shaming her or yelling at her or threatening her or ignoring her until she is carrier of the blessed embryo, maybe offer her some support in advance so she never finds herself at that clinic. Treat her like a full-fledged member of the human race rather than an object to be controlled and ridiculed. If she is poor, make sure she has access to birth control, proper healthcare and nutrition. It seems to me that treating 51% of the population like livestock isn't exactly the Christian thing to do. Maybe if you want to save lives, worry more about guns, war and state sanctioned capital punishment. How about abuse and neglect of the babies that are already here? Where is the Christian uproar over those things? Jeez, this obsession over a life form that naturally terminates itself more tha 30% of the time (miscarriage) is getting pathological. Have you ever noticed that the activists, televangelists and politicians that continually keep you ginned up over this are making money off you? They. Do. Not. Care. So no, nice white hipster boy with a van and a sonogram machine is not a God send. He's just another in a long line of grifters.
I try to be civil but apparently I didn't have it in me today.....
Update....here is a continuation of the discussion:
Her reply....Well...I didn't write this I just posted it. 2. If you read the post they aren't yelling at anyone or coercing anyone they are offering resources and they have a licensed technician doing the sonogram not some untrained hipster. And to say people don't care is a blanket statement that's really harsh. The truth is that most media doesn't show the people who genuinely care for the poor and downtrodden. It doesn't make for good news fodder, rather highlighting the radicals who bomb clinics and are general monsters make a better point. Just like targeting the small percentage of doctors who do late term abortions and saying that all abortions and people who perform them are like that.
Me: The dude is still a grifter....he provides nothing that is not readily available. I know many Christians care about the poor and downtrodden but shouldn't they be putting up a fuss at the offices of the politicians who are trying to tear up the social safety net? Or is it just easier going after vulnerable women rather than powerful men? I know you are very moderate in your social and cultural beliefs but as a group, Christians should worry about how they are viewed by society at large. The "radicals" among you are starting to be viewed as the norm. The last straw for me is Christian groups fighting anti-bullying legislation in the states. This anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-poor stance being carried out by "Christians" with a megaphone is hurting you all. I'm just offering a view from outside the Christian bubble you live in. The view is appalling from here. As the Christians say about the moderate Mulims.....why don't you police your own?