Innocence Lost! – Explaining Abortion to a 10 year old.
I am not a Dooce fanatic as MANY are! But I do enjoy her wit and check in on her weekly
(as opposed to daily where I go here: http://abrightfuture.wordpress.com/, here: http://mssinglemama.com/, and here: http://afatbridesmaid.blogspot.com/, and even here: http://mandysthirtysomethingblog.blogspot.com/)
to see if I can get a good chuckle. So it had to be divine intervention that I happened over to Dooce yesterday and caught this post…
http://www.dooce.com/2008/10/17/why-any-woman-who-intends-vote-mccain-should-reconsider
I say divine intervention because on Sunday evening I had an eye opening experience about just how wide spread & downright ugly this presidential campaign has gotten.
As we drove down the main road leading to our sub, and approached the corner of the side street we turn on to get into our street, there he stood. An older man in his late 60’s who I have seen there before. In any other situation I may think him a kind gentleman (because I have a soft spot for old men), grandpa type who I could just hug on and love. But in this situation, he stands at this fairly busy intersection holding a few signs stating, ABORTION IS MURDER, MCCAIN PALIN, PRO CHOICE IS PRO MURDER OF BABIES. You get the point! (I was a tad irate. Not because I support Obama but because this man was making a scene on publically owned property and if he wants to do so on his property that he owns that is alright. I myself have an Obama sign in my yard and I do not begrudge anyone that right, or their right to their opinion on whom the best candidate is. But not on public property while obstructing traffic at a heavily congested intersection!) So, as I pass his car (covered in signs & stickers also) I jotted down his license plate number. My intention to call the local police and ask them to speak to him, because I do not think his obstructing traffic with his political agenda is acceptable.
This is about where it began…
RED: That is not even true!
ME: What do you mean?
RED: THAT! What he says! It isn’t true.
ME: What isn’t true?
RED: I know what that is.
ME: [speechless]
RED: I know, and I know that is not the truth!
ME: Okay honey, tell me what you know.
RED: That Luke kid (a boy she was forced to do an assignment with – in which they had to pick a political candidate and do a fact finding paper on them. He threw a tantrum and insisted on McCain, she was upset because she wanted Obama.) said Obama says it is okay to murder babies and McCain says it is wrong.
ME: [still dumbstruck] What?
RED: And Emily said NO, Obama says it is between the woman and her doctor.
ME: What is between the woman and her doctor?
RED: When the baby is born, the woman and her doctor should get to decide if they kill it.
ME: OM MY GOD! NO! NO HONEY, NO! That is NOT what that is.
RED: [thoughtfully silenced] oh, okay.
ME: Neither John McCain or Barack Obama say it is okay to kill a newborn baby! That would never be allowed in this country. NEVER!
ME: This is why 10 year olds don’t need to be even thinking about stuff like this. You are all too young to understand this and you don’t need to worry yourselves with these issues. These are adult issues you don’t need to worry about. You need to not be talking about this anymore with the other children. Okay.
I kind of left it at that until last night when I had processed what had actually taken place and I felt I needed to explain further, from a more educated and prepared point of view.
ME: Honey you know abortion has nothing to do with killing newborn babies right.
RED: I did think that but now I know it isn’t that.
ME: You know last year when we discussed the way a baby is formed? The egg inside the mom, and the sperm that comes from the dad?
RED: [as she plugs her ears] EWWW, Yeah, Quit, Don’t Talk About IT!
ME: Well, that is when an abortion is done, when the two of them have just merged into each other.
RED: Okay.
ME: There are reasons for this. We believe God intends for every baby to grow inside the mommy and become a child. But there are reasons why this may be hard for some people. Some people who maybe aren’t ready to have a baby or whose baby may be sick if it is born. And that is what Obama thinks the woman should have a right to decide. But NEVER, EVER, EVER do they kill a newborn baby, that is NOT EVER allowed.
RED: Okay.
ME: Okay, and if this is brought up by other kids again just walk away and don’t talk about it. Also if you have questions about these things, please just ask me and we will clear it up for you. Okay.
RED: Okay.
That was the best I could do. My baby was walking around think woman and doctors just lightly decide to murder, innocent, beautiful, perfect little newborn babies! I was sad that I had to go this far in a discussion that I never wanted to have until she was closer to adulthood. With this one single conversation, my child was pushed a far way over that line where childhood ends. They are 10. They are just 10 years old! At 10, I was still playing with Barbie and making cakes in my Easy Bake Oven! Sure, it was 1984, Ronald Reagan along with Bush Sr. were running against Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. It was exciting because it was the first woman in the race ever. But, the media wasn’t so out of control and even though I was being raised by a Michigan Union Worker with a strong work ethic accompanied by an even stronger passion for the Democratic ticket, I was sheltered from all the ins and outs of the campaign. As most children I heard conversations between the adults in my life about why Mondale was better for the middle class and how Reagan was only going to help the rich. These were mere snippets though. There was no CNN that had a minute by minute debate blaring in the background for months and months on end, discussing every point from ever single Tom Dick & Harry that wanted to say how they see it. When we had classroom talks about the candidates and when we were assigned fact finding reports, there was no internet on which to do research. The facts we were given to sort through were all hand picked and looked at by the adults; before we ever saw them. And in my life, the teacher and my parents pretty much agreed on what I could be exposed to and what I couldn’t. Unlike today when the majority of parents are very open with their children and are happy to treat them as mini adults. It was a very different world back then and I am not prepared to raise a child in this new world.
All this comes on the heals of another issue. A different little boy told Red last week that she needs to be on a calendar supporting Lesbian Month with a picture of her and another little girl making out. Also, this left me disgusted and speechless! What are these parents discussing in the presence of them? Does no one at all support me in the pursuit to keep my children innocent as long as possible?
Right now, I am hating 5th grade! I do know enough to know this is only the beginning. And this leaves me just plain sad!
He is the one.
No, not The One, in terms of my love life.
The One in terms of The One who will lead us and see us to better days.
He just stepped up “for a…for a…a little somethin’ to say.”
This is a happy day for America. This is a happy day for Americans, especially the Single Moms & Dads among us.
This post from Alaina : http://mssinglemama.com/16/obama-calls-out-dead-beat-dads/, is what really got me fired up to back Barack Obama. But, then this week, he named Joe Biden, the one time single dad, as his running mate. So FIRED up to back these 2 men, I am. I am whole hearted believing these men are the ones to look out for me as a struggling American in this economy, as an American period.
To me it is no mystery that these two men see the world through similar eyes. It is no surprise that a man raised by a single mother and a man who was a single dad himself for some time are drawn to the same causes and see progress that same way. My favorite line spoken by anyone throughout this whole democratic national convention will be from tonight when Beau Biden (son of VP pick Joe) said, “5 years later we, my brother, my dad and I, married Jill.” That is an amazing way to hear a son speak of his parent and step-parents union. I was touched by this and I know others in my situation view it the same way. See, people from same situations, who have walked a mile in the same pair of shoes, will usually see situations and solutions through the same eyes. This is why Barack and Joe found each other and are heading to the White House on the same ticket. This is also why, THEY HAVE MY VOTE – for sure.
