Indexed

I’m a little sickened with myself…
I immediately though “abortion”

=/

P.S. I like the snazzy new layout & header!

I really appreciate your creative blog, but this post is exceedingly offensive. You are better than simple partisanship or straw-man arguments. I expect better in the future.

Good for you to make a brave post, Jessica. My “choice moment” daughter turned four in September, and I’m thankful every day that it was my CHOICE to have her; she was not something forced into my world.

Nightmares, indeed. No woman should have to worry about someone else’s decision regarding her health…or her “health,” for that matter.

I’ve been reading these for a while and I have to chime in about some of the posts I see.

This is not a news paper! There is no reason why it should be fair, balanced, or anything like that. This is one woman’s opinion.

If you don’t like what she says, fine. Just don’t expect her to stop doing it just because you don’t like it. That is, after all, what freedom of speech is all about.

Actually, it’s the life of a small, unborn child that weighs down and tears at the hearts of women. I know because they’ve told me, because I’ve seen it. Of course, if we start saying that this is okay, people will feel less guilty. However, that’s true of anything: murder, rape, incest, stealing, polluting the environment, you name it. There are cultures where some of these are normal or encouraged.

The new design is very cute, I like it.

When I was little I used to think being called Mommy Dearest was a good thing and I would call my Mom that for awhile until she corrected me.

“That hurts my feelings, Becky”
“Why?”

Sweet Benny,

You are correct in that these comics are based
on one woman’s opinion. But if she didn’t want
feedback, she wouldn’t have a discussion board
for them. It looks like we have a new, improved
board for them.

I don’t expect her to stop doing what she does
because of my opinion or anyone else’s. However,
if she notices that a particular type of cartoon
turns off a significant part of the audience (and
she can probably make a graph out of that), she
might reconsider the frequency of those things.

That would be a business decision because, like
it or not, this page sells books.

Had me lookin’ in wikipedia on this one.

That’s what it’ll be like if this abortion ban passes in South Dakota or one of the other
states trying to pass something similar. A rise in coat hanger abortions and dumpster babies. And I see a direct correlation between foster homes and crime and too few actual adoptions taking place.

Love the new site, and a little controversy is a good way to start off, in my opinion.

choice is nice and so are the up grades… if the baby is born and the father wanted nothing to do with the baby or if he wanted the kid to be aborted then he also should have a choice to be in or out of the baby’s life. that should be the only choice a man has on the matter…

is it just me, or the older comics look… fuzzier?

I notice the comic doesn’t actually state a case for one side or the other; it’s just the facts. Before 1972, wire hangers and sketchy adoptions were two results of the unavailability of legal abortions. That’s not pro or con.

It’s like when someone talks about the number of war dead, they’re automatically seen to be as liberal or anti-war. What does that say about the opposing side, that speaking the truth is seen as a liberal thing to do?

Dharmamama-

I’m pretty sure this is pro-Roe. An anti-Roe post probably would not alert readers to the negative aspects of not having legal abortions.

BUT it’s okay to take one side on one’s own website. And while I DO think men deserve an opinion on the matter (though I don’t think the fact that many anti-abortion statutes were made by old white men is a coincidence), I think I’d rather just avoid the trouble. Regardless of my side, I won’t be admonishing Jessica for exercising her freedom of the press. Come on now people, it’s and index card.

I think one of the best parts about your blog/new website is all of the people telling certain other people to lay off the harsh comments. Too often you see the comment section of a given website laden with arguments and harsh words. It’s nice to know that there are still level-headed people out there!

P.S. Speaking the truth is obviously a liberal thing to do, if Sarah Palin can get away with lying baldfacedly to the press about how pleased she was that no ethical violations were found in the Troopergate case. Did she even read the outcome? I teach writing and critical thinking (including good research habits and the creation of authority as a writer/speaker), and most politicians would not get the highest marks in my courses based on what they deliver, omit, and gloss over. Palin would get an immediate FAIL, however, for blatant lying. It makes me sad and worried for how our nation’s future will turn out if people are praising her and developing a cult around her when she is so clearly a poor role model — not for her personal life: that I could care less about — but for her professional conduct.

Hi Michelle, actually Norma is pretty easy to get in touch with. You can find her protesting Planned Parenthood and speaking across the country on a regular basis.

Regardless of whether you feel good or bad about it, there are also millions of women who feel opposite the way you do. I’ve personally met several of them. They’re the ones who’ve been pressured into abortion by boyfriends or husbands who threaten to abandon them. Their families and friends tell them they’d ruin their lives by having a child. Their parents force them into the operating room for “their own good” despite their tearful protests. These are the stories I hear over and over again.

Certainly it must be the case that there are millions of other women who’ve had abortions don’t feel any guilt about it. If one believes she hasn’t killed an innocent human being, then certainly she won’t feel guilt. Or, if you’re like a growing number of thinkers who believe it’s actually okay to kill someone who infringes on your perceived list of inherent personal freedoms, then again, you won’t feel guilty. There can be many reasons not to feel guilty for having an abortion.

And if you look to history, there are quite a few quite sane and rational people who have been utterly convinced that terrible things are just fine and dandy. They had no guilt either.

Wow - a little too political. My wife and I adopted our son from S. Korea and are so grateful they don’t practice abortion there. As for “Choice”, I won’t even touch that one, I’m a guy. Clearly abortion procedures are safer today for the mother (who choose to relinquish that role), but what about the unborn child? Not safe for her, huh? There are alternatives!

@paul: Stop using personal anecdotes to
make a point. That you have met woman who think as you do does not proof a point. Show me relevant data or shut up.

@blah, the point I was making was that abortion psychologically destroys many women. Having met many women who that’s happened to is actually proves the point for me. However, you may choose to believe that I’m a liar and also assume that because I’m against abortion, I would lie to prove my point. That seems a little far-fetched, and certainly cruel-hearted. I firmly believe that you can’t bring about good by using evil means (e.g. you can’t bring out truth by lying). It actually brings about more evil (adding to the lies) and certainly helps no-one.

Please notice that I also acknowledged that there are millions of women who don’t seem psychologically affected by abortion because they’ve justified it through their perception of reality or through rational argument.

I’m very interested in the right to make choices. Our legal system is based on laws that provide consequences to choices. For instance, speeders get tickets, lose their licenses, or go to jail depending on how fast they drive over the speed limit.

I don’t believe the pro-choice movement is about the right to choose something at all. Choice is inherent in all our laws; you can’t break one unless you choose to. Instead, it seems that the pro-choice movement exists to prevent or remove negative consequences for choosing to have an abortion. On the same note, the pro-life movement exists to establish penalties for such a choice.

Each have different driving motives. The pro-choice movement wants women to have complete autonomy over their bodies, to protect the health of women around the world, and to improve the quality of life for women. The ability to safely and legally have an abortion is seen as a (if not the) key to bringing this about in the near future. The pro-life movement wants to protect unborn children, considering them to be fully franchised persons, equal in value to their mothers. It also wants to provide ways for women to give children they don’t want or can’t support to those who value them and would care for them adequately. They believe that abortions kill innocent human beings in massive numbers and that abortion scars many women at a very deep level. Ending the practice of abortion is seen as the key to bring about justice for the unborn.

I’m curious to see if everyone agrees with this assessment!

Hmm, pro-life people aren’t against a choice, just the action that one chooses to take. It’s like being against lying in court, stealing, etc.

Love this one Jessica and your site in general. Thanks for the wit and humour

Paul: you’ve made your point and we’ve no doubt where you stand on the issue - now please push off and find another soapbox.

@paul: I would take your point much more seriously if you can show me study that for example shows women who had an abortion had a statistically significant higher suicide rate than woman without an abortion, anything that makes your point scientifically valid. Not just anecdotes.
But since this is just throwing around opinions i will chime mine in. To me it seems if you force a 14 year old to have a baby because she can not have an abortion legally, you are more likely to destroy two futures than one for which we yet have to come to a consensus on if it even had one to begin with.

I was talking to my mom who worked as a nurse in NYC in the 60’s. She said that a women could get abortions at the hospital provided they said to the hospital staff that they would try to do it themselves.

Hardly partisanship, as someone suggested. It’s just Jessica’s opinion expressed as a very clever diagram - as usual.

Oh, and it’s quite obvious to anyone that abortion should be legal.