Reaching Out

There's half a ton of debate out there (as well as a media circus) about the woman who had an IVF procedure with EIGHT embryos and all of them resulted in pregnancy.

Fishy things about this?

- She already has 6 children.
- One is a special-needs child.
- She's recently filed for bankruptcy.
- She's basically relying on the support of her family.
- She claims she didn't know that all eight embryos would take in this procedure, but having conceived several more times before through the same procedure, surely she would have realized it was possible to end up with eight babies?

I'm trying very hard not to pass judgement on what she's doing with herself: it IS her body, and it's her business what she does with her body. Just as every woman has a right to an abortion, so should every woman have a right to motherhood.

And then I think about Somel in Herland's response to Van's question about criminal types having children in that country, and when she replies that those women weren't allowed to raise their children, Van says, "I thought motherhood was for all of you."

"Yes, motherhood, maternity, the right to bear children. But raising children is left to our highest artists," comes the answer.

Which is how I feel in this case - a woman has the prerogrative to keep or dispose of an embryo as long as it is within her body and mostly a biological parasite. However, once it is OUT, a child is a life now (albeit a financial, psychological, emotional parasite until it becomes more independent), to which society must be responsible. (That's why pro-lifers are annoying... for them it's just the pregnancy that matters, and beyond that, they expect the woman to be on her own - or preferrably with a man - to raise the child.)

This woman's not exactly in a country where children are very highly regarded (except as methods of social control) - maybe if she was in a country more like Herland where each child could be guaranteed of the best possible start to life because the entire country is geared towards caring for the next generation, this situation wouldn't sound so awful as it does.

But as it stands, I find her incredibly irresponsible to have so many children without being completely capable of providing for them, short of publicity (similar to the Duggars) - not for what she's done with her body, but for her existing children. However, her choice has been made, and there will be eight more little children in the world to consider.

And the rest of the media and public stares a-goggle as if it were a freakshow, rather than a situation to be taken seriously, pointing fingers and blaming her for being the crazy one. And I want to know what crazy IVF clinic she went to that implants EIGHT embryos under the assumption that only ONE will take. Here I thought they implanted at most two or three, not EIGHT.

I think we forget how true the old adage "it takes a village to raise a single child" is.

I hope some kind people pitch in and help her out. I don't think it'll happen, seeing as she's a single, unmarried WoC. Still, I hope her kids grow up okay. It's really hard to raise children in today's world, much less a large family like that.

It's Jan 28th. Twenty years ago, Canada overturned its anti-abortion laws, and abortion is legal! Hurrah!

Here're some related readings (looks like it'll be updated a lot):
- Wiki article on Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the first doctor to open an abortion clinic and to speak openly about changing the laws. He performed illegal abortions and was prosecuted. Jan 28th celebrates the end of his state-sanctioned persecution and the birth of legal abortion in Canada.
- Dr. Morgentaler's Toronto abortion clinic has the tagline that inspired today's post title: "Every mother a willing mother, every child a wanted child". It also asks people to donate funds to help spread accessibility of abortion all over Canada. Dr. Morgentaler is working on opening abortion clinics in Canada's north.
- A Globe and Mail article on how much more Canada has to go in achieving its pro-choice ideals. It's got this fantastic quote from Madam Justice Bertha Wilson: "It is not just a medical decision. It is a profound social and ethical one as well. It asserts that a woman's capacity to reproduce is to be subject not to her control, but to that of the state." Realizing this injustice, since then women in Canada are now free to their reproductive rights without state interference.
- 10 Reasons to Support Reproductive Rights by Jill Fillipovic over at Feministe, written on "Roe Day", that is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade in the States. There, you will also find the neat picture which inspired the title of this blog. I may put it in a sticky post, just 'cos.
- Article on Group News Blog on the new strategy of abortion: RU-486 which allows women to get an abortion directly from doctors without the hassle of passing through hordes of pickets screaming "ABORTION IS MURDER" at her... Mrs. Robinson mulls on the ramifications of anti-choicers who may not have public institutions to attack with the advent of this drug.


( And onto the blogging for choice! )