Just The Lovely

I'm in the mood to write today, so I guess I'll admit to reading a book that will surprise some of you. It was called The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.

I'm not sure why this book caught my attention at the school library, but it did. I often wonder what people on the inside of the abortion rights groups are thinking, and I have to say this book did clarify my opinion on the early days of the abortion rights push. It seems that for many, the right to abortion had little to do with anything except being free of male dominance, and what's sad is that I guarantee you that most of the time when women have abortions its because of a man. Let me explain.

I was faced with a choice when I found out I was pregnant with Lydia. She knows this and knows that obviously being a single mom was not the ideal situation. The truth is though, that if her father had been elated...if he had hugged me and smoked a cigar and treated me like the mother of his child, he would have made my choice to keep my daughter much easier. On the flip side, there are women out there in fear of telling their boyfriends, their fathers, their husbands that they are pregnant. They're afraid of having a baby with a man who already mistreats them. They're afaid of the financial obligations. They're afraid of the time commitment. I understand these fears and understand there are many other reasons women choose abortion. But men are a factor.  I don't hate men, but I have to admit to my extreme disappointment with the current male species who cannot muster the strength to provide for a family, who treat the women in their lives like an aggravation. I was not raised in a family like this and I don't understand it. My dad never made me feel like I was silly. He appreciated women and girls for being different and he accepted them. Why can't all dads do that?

All that being said, in an effort to break through male dominance, women were encouraged to have abortions when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. However, I'm guessing that in many cases there was a male driving their decision to abort, so did anyone really get free of anything? Beyond that,  I think it's sad that these women behind JANE were so eaten up. They let men drive their lives...let them fill them with bitterness. They were admittedly full of fury and hate which means in the end, the men ended up controlling their lives anyway.