South Dakota just passed one of the most stringent anti-abortion laws in this nation's history since Roe v. Wade, and is no doubt meant to be the instigator of the first of what will become many attacks on the decision. The goal of such measures: to completely outlaw abortions, except in the case where the pregnant woman's life is in danger. (And I would expect even that will come under attack by ultra-conservatives; as a result, being pregnant will literally mean you would give your life for your child's. Most mothers would undoubtedly stand for that after the birth of their child, but I don't know of many who would choose it before--but the choice, in the conservatives' minds, is exactly what women shouldn't have.)
What this does mean is that women who become pregnant as a result of rape and/or incest will not have the choice to abort that child. Not only that, but it also means that the perpetrator of such crimes and his family would then be considered in custody and other parental rights' decisions. Of course, it also means they could be held responsible for child support as well, but we all know wonderfully that whole system works.
The issue of counseling the next generation in a society where abortion is outlawed is knowing that there will be an increase in the number of human beings whose conceptions came of violence and/or family relations. Individuals will grow up either knowing or finding out that their existence is the result of forced intercourse, an illegal exertion of power and control, not as an act of love or willful creation of a next generation. How might this affect a person's sense of identity? Of self worth?
What about women who are raped, who are victims of incest and now pregnant? These women will also need support from the very society that forces them to carry these children and subsequently raise them or give them up for adoption. What are current attitudes towards single mothers? Towards young teens who are pregnant? As the number of pregnant women and teens increases, will supportive attitudes prevail and increase correspondingly? I'm going to hold a pessimistic "No" response on this one, but I would love to be proved wrong.
I also can't help but question how these mothers might actually raise these children, how a woman who is raped by a stranger will love her child, how a teen whose child has the same father as she does will interact emotionally with that child as she raises it. It cannot be assumed these women will automatically give their children up for adoption; in a culture which forces their continued pregnancies, they may also feel the pressure to see through raising the child as well. What will the mental and emotional dynamic be of these mothers' relationships with their children? And how is this going to affect this next generation of children?
As a result of such restrictive abortion laws there will also be an increase in the number of children born out of wedlock (already problematic nomenclature, but still a prevailing ideology in our culture). In a time of outcry against diminishing "family values" and protection of marriage acts passing in state after state, we will see an increase in children born to single mothers, to absent fathers (if they were even known at all), and fathers who are not in a position be take on the role of father to the child for whom they are also already grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, etc. As a society, we must begin now to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of mental and emotional complexities that will result from all such possibilities.
If this concern seems overblown, keep in mind the statistic that one in three women will be a victim of sexual assault in this society. One in three. Now consider the likely percentage of those that might result in an unwanted pregnancy. Rape and incest are still hushed topics in our culture, but by outlawing abortion, we will literally be able to see before our very eyes just what a prevelant place these vile acts maintain. We are not, by far, a civilized nation, and it has nothing to do with abortion.
Our society must begin to prepare itself for a new generation of bastard children whom we have demanded be born, and be prepared to embrace them and bring them into our lives. (Not to mention being ready to support the ensuing health issues that will be on the increase, those genetic complexities that result from familial inbreeding, and unknown health issues that a rapist passes on to his resulting child. An increase in special education needs in elementary schools, an increase in health care needs for young mothers dependent upon state aid...)
I wonder just how many parents would be eager to have their child play with "Tommy" from next door, who was born as the result of the 12-year-old neighbor being raped by her grandfather, all of whom are still living as a family unit. Or how supportive teachers will be of the single mother coming to parent teacher night who explains the reason for "Emily's" absent father is that she had been raped by a stranger and there was never any father in the picture. You might say that she wouldn't even say that, but why wouldn't she? We have told her it is nothing by which to be ashamed. Or will there be an increase as well in the currently prevailing response of victim blaming? So that now, not only is the woman to blame for being raped by stranger, family or friend, but this child is the living punishment for her transgression (of simply being born a woman in this society)? How would you feel as an adult to know that this society believed your existence to be the punishment for your mother having been raped by a stranger or by her own brother? I can't even begin to imagine the years of therapy that will take or the emotional response an individual might take against that very society as a means of acting out.
We must all seriously question just how we plan to live with this next generation of children, how we plan not to ostracize this group and make them feel as though their births were not misfortunes or mistakes. Frankly, I don't see it happening. If anything, we are about to become the first of a series of generational dominoes that will come crashing down as these children grow up despised, regretted and outcast from the very society that demanded they exist in the first place. It will be a long time in coming, if ever, before we embrace them and call them family.
No comments:
Post a Comment