OMG... I never got that the title of that book could be a double entendre referring to the prosecutor as well as the serial killer!! That book was amazing, loved it!
Thank god! The poor girl has earned it for going through that stupid media circus.
If a serial killer was residing in my uterus I would definitely abort it.
And these are the same people who when some story comes up about negligent parenting will say "Some people shouldn't be allowed to breed!".
Whatever, it's not actually about logic or rationality or what makes sense. It's about dogmatism and parroting whatever the authority leader says, no matter how little sense it makes. When you're told the "truth" already exists and you have to do nothing to seek it because it's already packaged up in a book for you all pretty, you don't develop any sort of rational facilities for evaluating logic and arguments. Therefore it's very easy for them to hold all sorts of conflicting and hypocritical values.
I read a sci-fi once about invading aliens. The aliens did research on our culture and decided pro-life males were the best hosts for their (parasitic) children since they were the most invested in protecting that life regardless of whether they consented to carrying it or not. And then they were all messily impregnated (without consent, naturally).
One of the most satisfying sci-fi concepts in a book EVAH. :)
Seems like religious leaders have little faith that their followers might willingly opt-out of taking the contraception. If all of your Catholics don't take the contraceptive options the insurance is offering, isn't your point moot? Have some faith in your Catholic women that they might actually follow your beliefs, the same way you ask them to have faith in your religion.
Do you know what polio looks like?
This is not some perceived threat- it's actually happening in other countries, like China, where polio outbreaks are becoming more and more common due to people choosing not to vaccinate.
[www.cnn.com] are very, very lucky you have never been exposed to any of these fatal and crippling diseases. Part of the reason you haven't been exposed is because of everyone else vaccinating ("herd immunity", look it up). If more and more people subscribe to your parents' point of view, we're going to see more and more outbreaks like the one in China. So please educate yourself before spreading the idea that if one un-vaccinated person didn't catch a disease then therefore everyone is safe. Because the evidence speaks otherwise.
Well ultimately I agree completely that personal responsibility needs to be taught and enforced. :)
I read somewhere you can also just use an actual electric toothbrush on your face as well, just choose the softest bristle head available. But I never tried it myself. I love my Clarisonic.
Then again, teen pregnancy rates are currently at the lowest they've been in ages.
So despite the abstinence-only education, something's working! I posit that it's the popularity of "16 & Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" educating teens on the true consequences of unprotected sex... ;)
They need to make some shows like "16 & Herpes-ridden" or "Teen Chlamydia"... ;)
Good for you and your girlfriend! Yep, you guys are probably a lot more mature than your peers. :)
Ultimately I agree it's the individuals' responsibility. Thanks for having a nice discussion about this with me. :)
But I think the government can assist with providing the tools and education necessary to do so effectively, because it's clear that many teens are NOT aware of the consequences of their actions, and it's clear that government intervention in contraception and sex education directly affects the rates of unwanted pregnancies, as shown by the rates and programs in other countries (notably Sweden and other European nations).
If the government can help reduce an issue that so clearly creates moral distress on all sides and is a strain on our nation's health resources, don't they also have an obligation to do something about it to free us taxpayers up from paying for children that never should've been born to begin with? I don't want to pay for someone's pre-natal care and welfare for their child if they never wanted that child to begin with- I'd rather pay for contraception which is much cheaper and preventative.
But you know what, I understand it's a tough issue. I just want kids to get contraception access and sex education, period, I don't care where it comes from. Just seems like NGO's aren't being successful at it so far and that stronger intervention might be necessary, but I wouldn't say that my stance is that the government HAS to be the one to provide that- as long as everyone's getting it and it's consistent.
I don't understand what was wrong with getting sex education through school and the parents having the ability to opt out if it went against their beliefs. Why did that get tossed aside and abstinence-only taken up? (Which has proven to be a dismal failure.) If the parents have the ability to opt out there should be no conflict there...
People would go in droves to see good movies too if they actually made them. I hate when studios place the blame on the buyers when the buyers are limited to what the sellers are offering, and the sellers can certainly shape new trends and tastes and tap into desires the buyers didn't even know they had!
I agree it's disturbing to equate "doesn't take no for an answer" with "romantic". I read this book called "The Gift of Fear" and they have a section on stalkers and he makes it very clear how damaging he thinks these romantic comedies are. He says showing persistence says more about that individual and their obsession levels than how much they love you or how deserving of love you are. And yet we interpret this tenacity as if it's a reflection on the object and not the objectifier.
BTW, his advice on how to get rid of stalkers (or potential ones) is to avoid engaging with them in any way.
Wow, gave me a lot to think about here! I have nothing (intelligent) to add, but just wanted to say thanks for all of these insights! I think you may be on to something...
It is if it affects all of our quality of lives significantly. And I'm not talking about abortions, I'm talking about PREVENTING abortions and unwanted pregnancies through contraception and sex education. We can all agree on preventing abortions and unwanted pregnancies.
I just find it ironic that people immediately jump to the whole "she shouldn't be having children" argument when a mother parents poorly, and yet immediately forget that as soon as we try to offer contraception and sex education to the very women at risk for this sort of thing.
"Kids know they're out there... They're just too horny to even bother sometimes"
Exactly (and I would argue that some kids DON'T know they're out there- you'd be shocked how little your average teen knows about contraception. I recall even college-age friends thinking vaseline was ok to use with condoms, etc.). Teenagers actually don't have the frontal lobe development to fully inhibit their impulses and make good decisions. Studies have shown that they aren't equipped with the same decision-making facilities as adults yet.
So, asking someone without the abilities to make a mature decision, to make a very mature decision that requires directly inhibiting one's very strong, new, hormonally-driven impulses = dumb, pointless, and unfairly placing the responsibility on them when in fact the responsibility is on us adults to understand what they are and aren't capable of, and plan accordingly.
I'm sure some teenagers can pull it off, but it's extremely difficult. Better to emphasize abstinence, but ALSO give them the tools to cope with it in case they can't pull off abstinence. Yes, they might be just as likely to ignore contraception, but having 12 options instead of one option to practice safe sex automatically increases their odds of using one, especially if they're more likely to use one method over another.
Honestly, how many times have you abstained from sex because you were concerned about disease and children when the opportunity was right there in front of you begging for it?
I think you're confusing possible with probable. Just because it's POSSIBLE for a teen to abstain from sex, does not mean it's PROBABLE...
Take your case to the Republicans who are trying to deny women like her from getting access to birth control and education about how to use it.
Yeah, because teenagers have proven they totally can make adult decisions like abstaining from sex when they're horny.... *eyeroll*
Abstinence may be "foolproof", but the people who need to do it the most (teens) are the ones least capable of actually exercising the self restraint necessary. Abstinence plus contraceptive and safe sex methods must be taught just in case they are unable to pull abstinence off...
