And even when you explain, they can still go "but god says it's like that," and that's meant to cancel out logic.
One of the things I find endlessly frustrating is that it perpetuates the idea that belief in god and belief in science are mutually exclusive, and...they're not. Not even remotely! There are many great men and women of science who did/do believe in god (or some sort of spiritual entity, whatever you want to call it) and don't see any sort of conflict between their religious/spiritual views and the scientific world. Because science and religion are two separate things! Maybe an individual's views on one can inform and influence the other, but they're not the same.
To put it a little more flippantly, I don't demand that churches teach string theory and quantum physics in church as an "alternative" to religious dogma. Religious dogma has no place in scientific curriculum.
How someone can seriously suggest that a body not working properly, or a fetus not developing properly enough to stay alive is intentional-- and on the same level as murder-- is batshit insane.
When people called Rep. Bobby Franklin (from Georgia, the genius behind the bill in question) on this very thing, he hemmed and hawed and backtracked, saying that the bill was MEANT to be used as a rubric to rule out "human involvement," but the bill also never explained or defined what the fuck "human involvement" entails. It's also one of those bills that claims personhood begins at the moment of conception (ugh), so one could technically argue that using things that prevent implantation of a fertilized egg (like birth control pills or IUDs) is tantamount to murdering another human being in cold blood. Which is just...horrifying and mind-boggling to a degree that I can't even begin to explain.
That's one of the things that frightens me SO MUCH about a lot of the bills being proposed right now. Their wording is so terrifyingly vague that it would allow the laws to apply in ways they should never, EVER apply. Like the law that was on the table in South Dakota that would've essentially legalized the murder of abortion providers. It got shelved after everyone flipped their shit about it, but the fact that it was even under consideration in the first place is appalling. There's a lot of that happening right now. It's very, very scary.
(I think the miscarriage bill got shelved too, which is good...but it also seems like the outcry around the REALLY awful bills is being used to mask the passage of laws that are less outlandish but no less awful, like the one that just passed in South Dakota. Women now have to wait a mandatory 3 days and undergo "counseling" before they're allowed an abortion. There's only one Planned Parenthood in the whole state, so women who have to travel aaaaaall the way across the state either have to make several trips or they have to find a way to stay three days, which -- if you're working and don't have the money/resources to do this -- is going to make things damn near impossible.)
Miscarriage SUCKS. But seriously, I don't think it's comparable in any way, shape or form to someone murdering someone who's here and alive.
I have nothing to say to that except, "ABSOLUTELY," and "you are so very right."
You know what's funny? Before things started getting bad in the past several months, I never even thought of OB/GYN as a career track I might interested in. Now? Part of me really wants to go work for Planned Parenthood after I get my degree and my nursing license. I've been donating to them, but if this kind of shit keeps up (and if the GOP takes the presidency next year and the Senate in 2013, ugh ugh UGH) they're going to need more than just money -- they're going to need doctors and nurses willing to work for them as well.
no subject
One of the things I find endlessly frustrating is that it perpetuates the idea that belief in god and belief in science are mutually exclusive, and...they're not. Not even remotely! There are many great men and women of science who did/do believe in god (or some sort of spiritual entity, whatever you want to call it) and don't see any sort of conflict between their religious/spiritual views and the scientific world. Because science and religion are two separate things! Maybe an individual's views on one can inform and influence the other, but they're not the same.
To put it a little more flippantly, I don't demand that churches teach string theory and quantum physics in church as an "alternative" to religious dogma. Religious dogma has no place in scientific curriculum.
How someone can seriously suggest that a body not working properly, or a fetus not developing properly enough to stay alive is intentional-- and on the same level as murder-- is batshit insane.
When people called Rep. Bobby Franklin (from Georgia, the genius behind the bill in question) on this very thing, he hemmed and hawed and backtracked, saying that the bill was MEANT to be used as a rubric to rule out "human involvement," but the bill also never explained or defined what the fuck "human involvement" entails. It's also one of those bills that claims personhood begins at the moment of conception (ugh), so one could technically argue that using things that prevent implantation of a fertilized egg (like birth control pills or IUDs) is tantamount to murdering another human being in cold blood. Which is just...horrifying and mind-boggling to a degree that I can't even begin to explain.
That's one of the things that frightens me SO MUCH about a lot of the bills being proposed right now. Their wording is so terrifyingly vague that it would allow the laws to apply in ways they should never, EVER apply. Like the law that was on the table in South Dakota that would've essentially legalized the murder of abortion providers. It got shelved after everyone flipped their shit about it, but the fact that it was even under consideration in the first place is appalling. There's a lot of that happening right now. It's very, very scary.
(I think the miscarriage bill got shelved too, which is good...but it also seems like the outcry around the REALLY awful bills is being used to mask the passage of laws that are less outlandish but no less awful, like the one that just passed in South Dakota. Women now have to wait a mandatory 3 days and undergo "counseling" before they're allowed an abortion. There's only one Planned Parenthood in the whole state, so women who have to travel aaaaaall the way across the state either have to make several trips or they have to find a way to stay three days, which -- if you're working and don't have the money/resources to do this -- is going to make things damn near impossible.)
Miscarriage SUCKS. But seriously, I don't think it's comparable in any way, shape or form to someone murdering someone who's here and alive.
I have nothing to say to that except, "ABSOLUTELY," and "you are so very right."
You know what's funny? Before things started getting bad in the past several months, I never even thought of OB/GYN as a career track I might interested in. Now? Part of me really wants to go work for Planned Parenthood after I get my degree and my nursing license. I've been donating to them, but if this kind of shit keeps up (and if the GOP takes the presidency next year and the Senate in 2013, ugh ugh UGH) they're going to need more than just money -- they're going to need doctors and nurses willing to work for them as well.