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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask how much support Pro-Life believers provide for actual children in need? Texas just banned abortion in the US.

407 replies

thecranberries · 02/09/2021 12:44

AIBU to ask what Pro Life 'supporters' do to actually help living children in need? Sparked by Rachel Maddow Show Podcast on MSNBC - which gives a brilliant coverage on what's going on.

PL seems to want to stop a woman's right to choose, even in instances of rape or incest. That's in Texas, US, but as we know, many of the 'trends' that start in the US migrate over here. And as we know, there are lots of Pro-Life (read anti abortion, anti women) believers over here.

So, my AIBU is to ask - what do these PL do to actually support actual living children in need in this country or the world? How much do they give to UNICEF/Save the Children etc charities? How much do they donate time, money and resources to actual children living in poverty, bad housing, experiencing harm or bad schooling to ensure that these actual living children get the best life possible?

Do these PL, who cite religious grounds, actually enable women to obtain proper contraception when they need it? And speaking about religion, how many religious PL turn a blind eye to religious organisations history of child abuse?

I don't understand anyone, especially men, who does not accept a woman's right to chose what happens to her own body.

So, AIBU to ask Pro Life supporters to tell me in detail what they do - as actively as supporting their 'cause' - when it comes to helping living children in need?

OP posts:
Nanny0gg · 02/09/2021 13:55

@Mrgrinch

I am pro-life / anti-abortion, whatever you want to label it as. This came as good news to me.

Why do you feel that people need to pay money or time because they don't believe in abortion? Do you give money or volunteer for every organisation that lines up with your opinion and valued on every aspect of life? If so, I'm surprised you have and time and money left at all.

You do realise there are no exceptions?

Maternal health. Foetal viability. Result of incest or rape.

It's barbaric

Mrgrinch · 02/09/2021 13:56

[quote SimonJT]@Mrgrinch What are you doing to support the babies that are born through forced birth?[/quote]
Abortion is legal in England

SimonJT · 02/09/2021 13:58

Abortion is legal in England

Ah, so you’re only pro English then.

SusieBob · 02/09/2021 13:59

"Just because I don't believe humans should have the right to end a life, doesn't make it my responsibility to care for the baby."

It has to be somebody's responsibility, doesn't it? Why not yours, seeing as you are so happy to have saved this unwanted babies life?

HPLikecraft · 02/09/2021 14:00

So @Mrgrinch you're vehemently against women choosing to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, but couldnt give a toss about the fallout from forced pregnancy and birth on either the mother or child?

Jesus fucking Christ.

Drgnbllx · 02/09/2021 14:01

Right so they don't care about the babies, that they campaign to keep alive? Makes sense.

Yes, that's what I'm saying.

Nokyo · 02/09/2021 14:01

It would seem MrGrinch has never worked in maternity services or safeguarding if pregnancies because of rape and abuse seem to be so extreme snd rare as to be irrelevant. I am not sure how they ever could be but then I think an unwanted pregnancy and birth is extreme and that we do a very poor job of caring for struggling families and more unwanted children are a bigger problem than more abortions.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 02/09/2021 14:02

Gilead here we come

Morechocolatethanbarbara · 02/09/2021 14:02

@Mrgrinch

So if you were raped at say 14, you're saying you would have happily carried that baby to term, given birth (risking your life in the process, as we all know giving birth can be dangerous) and raised it as your own, meeting all financial and emotional costs incurred, halting your education and earning potential to do so?

You would also happily deal with all the snide comments and judgements on you being a single teenager mother (that bizarrely the religious devout of Texas still seems to make, despite their forced-birth stance) for the rest of your life?

I'm assuming you don't actually live in Texas and you're a man, so this isn't actually a possibility for you which is why you're so staunch in your view.

Something that can never affect you personally is sooooo easy to judge isn't it?

MrsSchrute · 02/09/2021 14:03

Do you actually want to know op? Or do you just want to express your opinion and rage at the situation?
You're op doesn't read as someone who is seeking to actually understand someone else's opinion.

Original poster
thecranberries · 02/09/2021 14:03

[quote Mrgrinch]@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz sorry I'll try my best. The way the OP has written her post makes it look like people can only be pro-life if they donate to charities etc, I don't understand that logic. Surely that would mean that to be against animal cruelty I'd have to donate to that too, and each and every other thing I do or don't believe in. That's just not possible is it.[/quote]
No, I am asking what PL do to help actual living children in need.

If a PL's stance is that 'life is precious' then surely they should focus on helping actual living children, rather than forcing women who do not want to have a child for their own personal reasons, and subjecting that woman and child to hardship.

That's if PL actually value life. Seems PL happy to force women to have unwanted pregnancies, even if it came about from incest or rape, but are not happy to contribute time, money or resources in helping actual living children who are in dire need - at home or abroad.

My question was AIBU to ask PL what they actually do to support actual living children who are in need?

OP posts:
anon12345678901 · 02/09/2021 14:05

Texas is going so backwards, ironically I'd like to see how many of them claim my body my choice for vaccines but vote for this ban. This is about control of women and power over them. It's disgraceful that women in Texas have less rights over their bodies than a corpse.

TableFlowerss · 02/09/2021 14:06

It’s mainly to do with religious fanatics.

It’s not a baby at a few weeks. Yes it would turn in to one but where do you draw the line? At the point a women wants a termination, it isn’t a baby. Most women wouldn’t wait until 20 weeks plus.

It’s a woman body and she should get to chose, especially in situations of rape. It’s like medieval times, it’s fucking ridiculous.

countbackfromten · 02/09/2021 14:06

Abortion is healthcare. Restricting access to abortion only makes women far far less safe as it doesn’t stop it happening, it just takes it away from healthcare facilities and leaves women at risk. This law is horrific.

VulvaTeeth · 02/09/2021 14:06

Right so they don't care about the babies, that they campaign to keep alive? Makes sense.

You really can't think of any other motivation for why people would campaign against abortion other than that?
It's control, it's partisan politics. The majority of Republican senators support abortion because that is the current position of the Republican party- anything that opposes what the democrats are doing. The women and families who this will affect are merely collateral damage in the minds of most who've brought this forward.
You think that if a Republican senator's college bound teenage daughter gets pregnant, that she's going to be made to have a baby because he cares so much about his unborn grandchild? Chances are, she'll be taking a trip to visit family in New Mexico for a little while.

Mrgrinch · 02/09/2021 14:07

Right clearly this thread isn't about discussing the question in the OP, where she asked for the opinion of pro-life people. It's just a big pile on me. I'm not interested and I didn't come here to defend my beliefs.

I don't support abortion, that's all there is to it.

countbackfromten · 02/09/2021 14:07

Oh and @Mrgrinch - I pity you for describing this as good news. What a dark soul you must have.

HarrietsChariot · 02/09/2021 14:08

A solution of sorts would be to permit a woman to have an abortion, but only if she is sterilised as part of the procedure. This would make people think very hard about whether an abortion is right for them, knowing that they will then no longer to be able to have children in the future. It satisfies the pro-choice argument that a woman should have the ability to decide whether to proceed or not, and from the pro-life point of view there will be no more repeat aborters.

As someone who is very much pro-abortion this would satisfy any qualms over the so-called morality of the decision.

(Personally I'm of the Bill Hicks school of thought, that not only should abortion be legal but in many cases should be mandatory!)

Original poster
thecranberries · 02/09/2021 14:10

@MrsSchrute

Do you actually want to know op? Or do you just want to express your opinion and rage at the situation? You're op doesn't read as someone who is seeking to actually understand someone else's opinion.
I actually want to know. I'm fascinated by the fact that there are people who force women to have unwanted pregnancies but then do what? Do they see the starving children in Yemen, Afganistan, etc, or even on their own doorstep and give as much energy in providing support for them as they do in expending energy in harassing medical staff and women?

I'd really like all PL to list what they actually do, how much time and money they spend on doing it which balances the time and effort they put into their PL work.

OP posts:
GnomeOrMistAndIceGuy · 02/09/2021 14:10

I don't support abortion, that's all there is to it.
Let's hope a female loved one of yours doesn't ever need one then.

Mrgrinch · 02/09/2021 14:11

@GnomeOrMistAndIceGuy

I don't support abortion, that's all there is to it. Let's hope a female loved one of yours doesn't ever need one then.
I'm female just to clear that up
TableFlowerss · 02/09/2021 14:11

Western civilised world, the US, matching in to Afghan and saying how disgusting their attitude is to women’s rights (and it is beyond disgusting) yet they pass a law in Texas to prevent abortions under any circumstances….

You couldn’t make it up. It’s like a handmaids tale!!

Absolutely shocking and disgusting.

Driftingblue · 02/09/2021 14:12

Don’t ask people who support abortion bans if they donate to charity. Ask them if they support paid maternity leave, access to health insurance, subsidized child care, and enforced child support. Ask them if they support laws that would make it possible for women to actually be parents instead of leaving them with no money, no childcare, and an Infant.

CatJumperTwat · 02/09/2021 14:13

Mrgrinch is a long-term poster and a prime example of "pro-life" really being "pro-control-and-punishment-of-women". She believes women should serve men.

DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult · 02/09/2021 14:13

@Mrgrinch you have a dd. I've seen you talk about her

Can you really look at your dd, proclaim that you love her, and want her rights to her own body taken away?

You really want 11 year old little girls raped by their own fathers to be forced to carry that pregnancy to term?

You think its wonderful that people, like me, who's children have horrific, painful conditions, which means they will die in agony after they are born don't have the option to make sure their child doesn't suffer?

You aren't pro life, you're pro torture.