Friday, June 27, 2008

Back To The Future

If ever there was a need for investigation, redress and acknowledgement of the crimes against the senior mothers of the baby scoop era, it is now. The current resident of the White House wants to re-establish "maternity homes (prisons)" and a woman's body and right to her own decisions about her reproductive future are in peril as never before since the early 70's.

They say that even the devil can quote the scriptures for his own purposes and I think that he has made his way into the middle of many a religion. They are the ones that would take us back to the future...one of oppression and sexism and misogyny.

This attitude is world-wide. This article shows how much we really need to bring to light the injustices that are sneaking back into our various societies...injustices that were common in our era of shaming, blaming and punitive "solutions" to our situations.

This one sickens me to the core. How dare these people disallow this child a reprieve from such a horrible trauma?




Abortion for rape victim, 11, opposed by churches
Alison Mutler The Associated Press
June 27, 2008
BUCHAREST, Romania - Twenty church groups on Thursday urged a government committee not to allow an 11-year-old girl who was raped by her uncle go to Britain for an abortion.The anti-abortion Christian Orthodox groups also threatened to press charges if the girl were allowed to have an abortion in Romania on exceptional grounds.Their position was in contrast to the official stand of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which said the decision should be left to the girl's family.A government committee is to decide today whether the girl can go to Britain for an abortion or must continue the pregnancy. A Romanian living in Britain has offered to pay the costs.

The girl's pregnancy became known earlier this month when her parents took her to a doctor because she appeared unwell. She told doctors she had been raped by her 19-year-old uncle, who since has disappeared.She is 20 weeks pregnant. The legal limit for abortions in Romania is 14 weeks. Abortions can be carried out after that time only to save the life of the mother.In Britain an abortion is legal up to 24 weeks if two doctors decide that the risk to a woman's physical or mental health will be greater if she continues with the pregnancy than if she ends it.

The case has bitterly split the medical community, child-rights groups and the public.The National Child Protection Authority has said the girl should be allowed to have an abortion because she is already traumatized by the experience of rape and pregnancy.
The National Doctors Council said the rights of the fetus should be considered and the pregnancy should go ahead.




It is obvious that women are still seen as chattel, even girls as young as this, and are nothing but vessels as far as the cited "Christian Orthodox group" is concerned. Things like this let me know that we have learned nothing, either nationally or internationally, from the era of forced surrenders and isolation and babies taken, sometimes literally, from their weeping mother's arms.

This child is not a thing, a brood mare or a baby machine. She is someone who has been badly hurt and deserves a right to have her childhood given back to her. I doubt, however, that it will ever happen that way. She has already endured the worst possible scenario and these self-righteous brigands, arrogant medicos and other people who just want to spout their rhetoric are making it worse for her. I want to tell them all to back off because IT IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!!

At age 11, and with the input of her parents, the decision should be hers and should be honored.

Oh, and Uncle Testosterone needs to have his testicles removed and shoved down his throat. I'll be glad to volunteer if someone will hold him down for me. I'm feeling really crabby about this.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

(((Robin)))

This is pitiful for the poor young girl. Seems they are worrying more about the baby than the girl/mother-to- be but thats no surprise to any of us! She is just the incubator..for paps. Bet the church can make a profit off of the sale..there.

the UNCLE needs to serve time.. when they find him, he is getting away with rape and abusing a child..but thats probably nothing compared to what the church thinks of abortion.

Of course, churches abuse just as much if not more than those outside..as we have seen time and again in this country and others.


Gale

Anonymous said...

Usually I agree with a lot of things that you have to say in this blog, but I do not agree with this particular post.

Without getting into whether abortion is right or wrong I wanted to just say that I think a lot of issues need to be considered here that perhaps thus far may not have been.

Specifically I read that the girl's parents wanted her to have the abortion and that prolife proponents did not want her to be able to do so. But I wondered what the girl herself wanted?

Secondly, even if the girl DID or DID NOT want the abortion, being only 11 years old I would question her ability to make a decision of such magnitude! She may not really have any understanding of what her options are here, or how they will undoubtedly impact her for the rest of her life!!

She will never really get on with her childhood. But the decisions she makes, and which are made for her from this point on by her parents and the legal system, and doctors will also have profound impact for the rest of her life!

I wonder if it would be possible for the girl to have her OWN lawyer representing HER interests? A lawyer apart from her parent's lawyer and apart from the prolife advocates lawyer?? Maybe then someone more neutral can explain to her what her rights are, and can help her to muddle through the system!?

Again, I'm not arguing the rightness or wrongness of abortion here -- just stating that it would be wise for this child to get her own lawyer for obvious reasons.
Margaret_Diane

Robin said...

Good point, Mags. But, having been made pregnant by rape, myself, I sort of think that she would like for it all to go away. I don't think that, in her culture, there is such a thing as a lawyer who acts as a child's advocate. It's a pity. If she wants to keep that baby, then that is something to consider. I wanted my son but that was long after the conception and when I realized that it wasn't going to "go away." Since it is in a foreign nation, we don't really know what her personal options are. I just decry any group forcing her to have the baby if that is not what she wants.

Anonymous said...

Robin,
Thank you for considering and posting my thoughts on this matter. I LOVE that your blog is not just a place to read, but a place for discussion and growth too. :D
Margaret_Diane.

Robin said...

There are a lot of people who would disagree with you on that point, Mags. When someone gets nasty or tries to justify the act of adopting or calls me "hateful" or "bitter," I usually delete, not because I fear what they have to say, but because it is a waste of their time and mine. My position is not up for negotiation, change through pro-adoption rhetoric or condemnation. But still they try.......LOL

Anonymous said...

It's a shame. It seems like this sweet little girl is forced to grow up no matter which way she goes, and to be yanked around like she is, is likely only to make it worse on her. My heart aches for her. I do not think it is the churches right to make a decision like this for anyone.

I used to joke with my mother that I wish I would have gotten knocked up as a child, so at least I would have a child. She did not think it was very funny joke, and neither do I any more. One would only hope that she would have the baby and keep it. One would hope that the decision she made was her own, and one that would not haunt her the rest of her life. But that is really all we can do is hope. We can send our love and positive thoughts and prayers her way. We can hope for her personal happiness and healing in the situation, which ever way it turns out. It really should be her choice. Not the churches, and not her parents. Bless her.

Robin said...

She and her parents left day before yesterday to go to England for the procedure. I can't say that I am not happy at the outcome. I am GLAD they are doing this for their child...she is just 11, for heaven's sake.

I have a feeling that she was so traumatized by her molestation and rape that, at age 11 (she probably had just started her menstrual cycles), this trauma would be compounded by labor, delivery, or a C-section delivery, of a full-term infant. There is also the co-sanguinous (incest) factor which could affect the developement of a fetus. Were I her mother (and she IS only 11) I would want this to be over for my child, like, yesterday.

I just wish they could catch that raging pedophile of an uncle of hers and punish him, sccordingly. This is one of those cases where a little girl was victimized by an older, related man and there should be no question as to termination availability just like there should be no question as to the appropriate punishment of her rapist....jail for life and castrations.

I was 11 when I was molested by a relative...thankfully not raped, that came years later....and I thought it was all my fault. I certainly needed the support, advice and guidance of my family
which I didn't get. My grandmother called me a liar and threatened me with punishment if I told my mother.

The Improper Adoptee said...

Can I bring the Hedgeclippers?!!!

Robin said...

Only if they are rusty and a bit dull. It should hurt, doncha think?
;o)