Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Acts of Parliament

Blogland is buzzing with the vote about to go through Parliament dealing with stem cells, IVF & the abortion limit. The Daily Mail and Guardian go head to head waving their flags, fists and rhetoric. I haven't been keeping an eye on the debate simply because I'm trying to deal with my day to day stuff. Pretty much like everyone else I suspect. Turning over to the sports page, looking for cheap holidays or a date.

I haven't voted for years. In fact, I last voted for Tony Blair the first time around (yes, it's all my fault. I know). I am the disaffected voter. Part of it comes from working in Local Government and seeing the process of democracy at work and the complete loonies who claim to represent you and I. The truly shocking decisions that get made, or don't. Granted the council I worked for was in worse shape than most, but it excelled in arse covering and wall-papering. The fact of the matter is I don't believe that those members on a local level are any different to Members of Parliament. I don't believe that my local MP is any more honest and trustworthy and quite frankly he gets paid a damn side more for regularly fucking up, than I do. If I was that incompetent or dishonest I'd be sacked forthwith. That they get away with spouting forth about family values and have the personal lives of alley cats, makes me less likely to believe anything they say about family values and moral fibre.

However, I this is an uninformed and general rant. My opinion, which accounts for absolutely zip, but doesn't stop me from voicing it.

There are some mutterings from the conservatives about the rights of lesbian couples to IVF. They claim that the lack of a father figure will lead to the downfall of society and have followed through with various statistics about the terror of single parenthood and the apocalypse. As a single parent, I am constantly disappointed in my child. I hang my head in shame. My Boy, despite his lack of father on hand 24/7, continues to be polite to adults. *gasp* He's doing well in school. *shock* I mean, he doesn't even throw stones at little old ladies! The shame.

It's always dodgy trying to simplify a complex argument, but I think they're missing a point here. A lesbian couple who want a child are more likely to parent their child properly. Their child has the same chances as the rest of us to grow up 'normal'. Tell me again, how is that wrong? And try not to quote 'God' in any of your answers.

There's also the abortion law. Moves afoot to drop the limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Foetus viability hasn't improved despite advances in neo-natal medicine. Interesting, since there are tests which can only be done at 20 weeks to check for birth defects. Will a woman who has the test done at 20 weeks, receive the results in the same week and if necessary arrange and have an abortion in that same week? So a woman has a test done and gets the result and makes a decision to have an abortion before the Friday? Because of course most clinics operate Monday to Friday. How exactly is that going to work?

Do I believe that a woman has a right to chose whether she has a baby? Absolutely. Especially since the Nanny State we live in fails so miserably to care for the carers. If a woman decides she won't have a baby for financial, emotional, psychological reasons, I think she should have access to the services to make a termination possible. I don't think society has a right to dictate that she brings an unwanted baby into this world.

14 comments:

  1. I agree with you entirely. I hope that we don't go the way of the USA where abortion becomes a major political issue.

    And just because a couple are married and of opposite genders, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be better parents or provide a happier home. I know several people (of older generations mainly) who have stayed married because splitting up would be unacceptable but they haven't provided a happy home for their children as it has been filled with arguments, hatred and bitterness.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sanddancer ~ exactly

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:41 pm

    "I don't believe that society has the right to determine whether she brings a child into this world". Dead right, Roses. She had that 'right' when she got preggers! Now wants to pass the buck?
    You're dead right, also, about politicians. I don't know whatever happened to the decent ones, but they're nowhere to be found nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dickiebo ~ I'm not sure I understand what you mean. If a woman becomes pregnant and choses not to have the baby, she's passing the buck?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:47 pm

    Spot on Roses...I believe women have the right to choose and what makes this so difficult is that abortion is an intensely personal decision for so many different reasons and not one that can be described in the simpleton black and white stuff the anti abortionists come out.

    As sanddancer says I'd hate to see abortion hijacked into a political or religious issue by nutters like in USA or only available to those with the means to pay for it

    On another note, I know what you are saying about fuckwit MPS and the like. Firstly I so don't get this vote with your conscience rubbish that has been going on about the abortion debate, sod your conscience, what do the people you represent think?

    And secondly rest assured it's not all bad news, I've been happily campaigning with a bunch of like mind folks in my local area to overturn a ludicrous planning decision taken by our local council, approved by Ken Livingstone and Yvette Cooper and what's more we've won! We heard it was overturned this week! Long live democracy (and sensible people who know what they want where they live)!

    ReplyDelete
  6. NM ~ well done with your victory! Good to hear the process is alive and well and people are using it

    ReplyDelete
  7. I completely agree.

    On the subject of lesbian couples - surely it is far more important for a child to grow up in a stable, loving, nurturing environment and watching a loving, respectful relationship between his parents than growing up with two people of the opposite sex who got caught out after a drunken night out and now resent each other. OK maybe extreme but you take the point.

    As for abortion - as NM says it's an intensly personal decision. For a society that "cares", how unsympathetic to add more pressure to an already emotional situation.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hottie ~ what makes me laugh is the right-wing argument that bringing a child up in a same sex family will influence their gender preference.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:06 pm

    Always, always, always go to the polls to cast your vote...

    1) Down the ages people have died to give you that privilege...

    2) If you don't use a privilege, rather than becoming a right, some bugger will take it off you altogether...

    3) If you don't cast your vote, whoever loses will be able to claim that only a few people voted the opposition in...

    4) Potentially most important of all, if you can't be arsed to go down the polling station, you have NO moral right whatever to moan about anything at all the government subsequently does...

    If you can't find it in you to vote for any of the candidates, then spoil your paper before placing it in the container...

    But do for heavens sake cast a vote...Until now, I've held a huge amount of respect for you, but I'm afraid that as you couldn't be arsed to vote for years I can't be arsed to listen to any of your political opinions...

    ReplyDelete
  10. northerner ~ fair enough

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree with everything you say on the abortion topic.
    I can't think of any other example of where so much money and effort have been given to opposing legislation.
    If only it could all be channelled into feeding and caring for the children already here.

    btw - I nearly tagged you this morning. I let you off at the last minute because you are so busy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. kaz ~ exactly. I wouldn't have minded the tag, I'm away this weekend, but I'd have got my revenge on you first thing Monday morning!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree with you totally. There are far too many unwanted, unloved children in this world as it is without any woman being forced to bring another.

    I'm fairly sure that should I fall pregnant now (chance would be a fine thing, I might add!) I probably wouldn't keep the baby. I'm too young, too selfish and in far too much debt to burden a child with a mummy who's a head case. I had a bit of that myself growing up and I wouldn't want to put another through it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I agree that the issues of abortion shouldn't not be hijacked by political and religious arguments especailly when the political and religious arguments bear no resemblance to reality. these decisions arn't being made by people A: likely to be in a situation where they would require an abortion or B: be of a gender where they would require an abortion.
    I get really angry when you see male politicions waxing lyrical about a subject they do not have a vested interest in and I get even madder when women then tout the same arguments - Nadine Dorries, she particularly annoyed me in the guardian!

    ReplyDelete

Hey, how's it going?

Bank Holiday Sunday

Dear Dave I woke up today with Philip Glass' Metamorphosis in my head. It's apt really as it was part of the music chosen for your...