We Did Pretty Well on Tuesday- Now Let's Talk More About Abortion

On the interconnectedness of things...

When you live on an island, you realize how much everything is connected to everything else

If too many people decide to go off island to do their grocery shopping because it’s a bit cheaper there, stores on the island won’t be able to stay in business and eventually EVERYONE will have to go off island to shop, the ferries will be over crowded with long wait times, and you’ll end up paying far more in transportation costs and lost time than you saved on groceries on the mainland.

This is the part of the abortion debate that never gets discussed. No, no, not buying groceries, although that does figure in, if you follow my logic. It’s the part about how by deciding to ban or criminalize abortion, that so many things eventually fall apart.

At the outset, can we agree that abortion is healthcare?

That for whatever reason you need/want to terminate a pregnancy, it’s a valid reason? Sometimes it’s because it’s just not the right time in your life. These abortions are usually sought early on, because you just know you don’t want to be pregnant/bring a child into the world now.

Sometimes it is a life threatening emergency. Ectopic pregnancies, spontaneous miscarriage, fetal abnormalities: these are often late in a pregnancy and are usually accompanied by heartbreaking choices and loss of a wanted pregnancy. I’ve never come across a report of someone who just decided at 8 1/2 months along that nah…I’d rather go bowling.

Abortion is not only a healthcare issue, it is an economic issue

Okay, okay. I’m not an economist. I went to art school. I’m a painter and a cartoonist and a writer. But because of that, I know what it’s like to live on an economic knife’s edge. Just a small shove in one direction or another can be the difference between having a place to live, a way to get from here to there, and enough to eat. Now think about having a child while you are trying to do these things.

If you are compelled to drop out of school, or lose your job because now you suddenly have a baby to take care of, you need more money and have less opportunity to get it. Even if you are married or in a committed relationship, you are going to need more money.

And that drop in income or loss of educational and work opportunities will follow you for the rest of your life.

Because you had to drop out of school you couldn’t train for the career you were headed for.
Because you didn’t get that training, you had to find lower paying work. Maybe you feel trapped in an unhappy relationship.
Because you had to accept lower paying work, you couldn’t save much (if anything) for retirement.
Because you have few retirement savings you are more reliant on Social Security.
You also have to work longer, and have less in your Social Security because you made less money.
Because you have less money, maybe you have to live in a smaller home.

We haven’t even talked about lack of affordable healthcare, hospitals that close in rural areas and what that does to the long term health of mothers and children. We’ll save that for another day.

You can be economically disadvantaged long after you are past the age of getting pregnant - just because you missed those productive years in your 20s & 30s.

So, when the GOP starts playing their sad song and weeping crocodile tears over loss of a potential life, they never talk about how they are going to make sure healthcare is provided for this new life, or that they want to guarantee education and sufficient food for growing children. Because that is not their plan. Honestly, I can’t figure out what their plan is, other than to create a permanent underclass to do all the work that makes their life comfortable and effortless. Is that the plan?

If we really don’t want 50% or more of the population to become second class citizens, we better turn out and keep voting for the people who want to do better for us, and not the people who outright say that want to take away your rights, your Social Security, and your healthcare.

I made a helpful infographic!

Thanks again to all of you who have chosen to read my meandering thoughts. See you again soon.