From The Washington Post: This Mother's Day, Support Family Planning by Debra Haffner
There’s nothing I’m prouder of than being the mother of two children, now 17 and 25. Both were planned, both were very much wanted, and as Mother’s Day approaches, I reflect on how blessed I am to have each of them as part of my life.Lucky for her kids they were planned and wanted. Just think how unloved they would be, how resentful she would feel, if they were anything but. Yo Debra - great that you feel blessed and proud and all - but there are a lot of moms out there who love and feel pride about their unplanned kids, too. I'd like to think my mom is proud to have me as a son, unplanned as I was, for instance.
But we know that all too often, and for too many women, this is not always the case. In the United States alone, half of all pregnancies are still unintended, despite widespread availability of contraception. In nations lacking access to family planning services, the situation is even more dramatic, with new analyses showing that unintended pregnancies around the world could drop by more than two thirds, from 75 million in 2008 to 22 million per year if universal family planning services were available.See, according to Debra, the only good pregnancy, the only worthwhile pregnancy, is a planned pregnancy. This anti-life pro-pleasure mentality brings with it it's own set of peculiar curses: hubris, disdain and a sense of haughty omniscience. To her, an unintended pregnancy is a prison term, or a stigma.
And "universal family planning services" also refers to sterilization. To me, that's the only way to quickly drive down the number of unintended pregnancies. Did you know, for instance, that Rwanda is looking at providing vasectomies for nearly 700,000 men in three years? They might not be forced vasectomies, and they might not be targeted at the poor or undesirables - but such programs can easily be manipulated, and do a great disservice to human dignity.
It is inconceivable to me that some who are anti-abortion are also anti-contraception. As the Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Maternal Mortality and Reproductive Justice states: “The sacredness of human life is best upheld when women and men create human life intentionally and women are able to have healthy pregnancies and childbirths. We affirm women and men as moral agents who have the capacity, right, and responsibility to make their own decisions about procreation, including family size and the spacing of their children.”It's inconceivable (what, is that supposed to be irony)?? That some who are pro-life are also anti-contraception? Does she not realize that some forms of birth control are abortifacient? Apparently so. Does she not realize that increased use of contraceptives leads to an increase in abortion? I guess not. Does she not recognize that sexual relations between a husband and wife are sacred and holy, and that outside of marriage, it's evil - which is where most unintended pregnancies occur?
Maybe so. Notice how intentionally subjective that religious statement is. Use of the terms "women and men" (pro-feminist switch there, didja notice?) rather than "wife and husband" - showing that she apparently doesn't believe that sexual relations is only holy and sacred within a marriage. No mention of God - setting up the man and woman as sole arbiters of what is moral, sacred and good.
That's not a religious statement at all - it's a purely secular humanist one. Intentionality is sacred; healthfulness is holy - implications that unplanned is evil, and difficulties or imperfections are bad. These are the attitudes of the Elite and Know-Betters. They certainly aren't Christian beliefs.
There's more at the WaPo - I've cited more than I care to. Click here to read the rest, if you want.
This article is not about celebrating motherhood. It's an article celebrating pure and unadulterated liberal feminism, which is anti-motherhood. Motherhood is about service and sacrifice, unconditional love and care for the children God has blessed her with. It's about denying the self and discovering joy and happiness in the process of giving one's self to the other. There's a certain depth and breadth to motherhood that fatherhood can never hope to reach. Motherhood is a gift to the child and the family, and the mother receives much more than she gives in return.
What kind of insane world must Debra live in, where limiting motherhood is the best Mother's Day present a mom could receive?
Note: The Rev Debra Hafner is a Unitarian Universalist, and was the CEO of SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) for 12 years. Draw your own conclusions from that...
