Thursday, April 28, 2011

A little rant about language and use of "pro-life"

A post mentions that Indiana is posed to become "the most pro-life state".

Really?

I'm not sure how interfering in the doctor-patient relationship to the point that politicians instead of people with medical degrees decide what "facts" are given to women really affirms the value of life.

I'm also not sure how denying poor women the ability to access resources for safer sex and birth control affirms the value of life either.

Is Indiana making a concerted effort to improve comprehensive sex education using methods that have been proven to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies?

Are they giving real options to women who are considering abortion? Are they improving resources for women experiencing domestic violence? Are they improving economic assistance to pregnant women with serious financial difficulties? Are they improving job protection for pregnant workers or giving better parental leave? Are they improving the quality and accessibility of prenatal care and providing a variety of birth options? Are they ensuring that parents facing a prenatal diagnosis of a condition like Down Syndrome will be able to know that their child's medical and social needs will be looked after for life?

This report card on pregnancy and parental leave provisions gave the state of Indiana a D-.

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