That Girl Is Outraged

I AM OUTRAGED! Big deal, right? I have already admitted to having too many opinions and to sharing them with and without "audience participation." But when I read about Patricia Heaton (perhaps best known as Debra in "Everybody Loves Raymond") and her tweet titled "Margaret Sanger Gets Her Wish" I was incensed and deleted my rather cute and funny, almost ready to post, post (a sign that maybe it wasn't that cute? or funny?).

Ms. Heaton is referring to an article written by Alec Torres in National Review Online titled simply "More Black Babies Aborted Than Born in New York City". Never mind why such an article was written or titled in such an explosive way. Or who in the world reads National Review Online (lots of explosive titles there!) - that would be a year's worth of blog posts! But for it to be implied that Ms. Sanger - who fought tirelessly for women to have control over their bodies - wished for abortion to be used as a means of ethnic cleansing is ridiculous. She was NOT pro-abortion, Ms. Sanger advocated for the use of birth control so women could have more control and choice. And so their families and spouses had more control and choice. Margaret Sanger was the daughter of Catholics (her father did later become an atheist) who supported women's suffrage. Her mother had 18 pregnancies, 11 of which were live births, a little over 50%, in 22 years. She died at the age of 49 and Margaret, the sixth child, became partially responsible for the care and upbringing of her siblings. It seems a little control and choice would have done wonders for Margaret and her family. W-O-N-D-E-R-S!

I digress however; anyone interested can find copious amounts of information on Ms. Sanger and all she did to help women just by entering her name into a "Google" search. I am taking umbrage at Ms. Heaton's insinuation that Ms. Sanger wanted abortion to be a solution to a woman's desire to choose when and how many children she has. I am taking umbrage at Ms. Heaton's suggestion that abortion is the problem and not a makeshift solution to the problems of poverty, poor education, a low-minimum wage, and a myriad other social issues. I am taking umbrage at Ms. Heaton propagating the idea that abortion is meant as a means to eliminate certain races or socio-economic classes.  I am taking umbrage at Ms. Heaton pointing fingers and not offering a way to solve the problem.

If you are anti-abortion, then do something to stop unplanned pregnancies - not abortions. Increase sex education and access to birth control. Or offer a REAL solution to raising a child and finishing school and having to work. Or discuss adoption and do something to make that a less traumatic experience for all involved. Why not spend the energy you do berating those who believe in choice on convincing those around you to increase the minimum wage? Why not volunteer to work with at-risk youth or speak to groups of young women so they know they can be and do anything they want? What we do not need is more vitriol slung at those who work tirelessly for equality among all races, both sexes, and for all income levels. What we need is less Patricia Heaton and more Margaret Sanger.