We had another comment from the other side that I wanted to respond to in a new post to give both her thoughts and my responses more visibility. Her comments are in quote marks and my responses are bolded...
Kristen said...
"As a college student in Georgia, I have concerns regarding the amendment- particularly how it relates to contraception.
Your website details that "...genuine contraception is the prevention of life." (in the "Responses to Common Objections" section) No argument here. BUT the medical definition of pregnancy begins at the point when the egg is implanted in the uterine wall. This poses quite a problem if your definition of "personhood" begins at the moment of fertilization, which occurs before implantation. The kind of birth control I use (the pill) is hormonal and used to prevent the egg from implanting in the uterus.
If this is the case, how can you speculate that my birth control (and many other common forms of contraception other than the pill that rely on hormones) wouldn't be banned? Seeing that this contraception would interfere with your definition of "personhood" in that it would prevent the fertilized (and therefore, in your terms) "person" from implanting, how could it NOT be illegal?
My fear is that not only will Georgia women be stripped of their constitutional right to choose to have an abortion, they will also be stripped of most common forms of birth control that would in turn prevent them from having an unintended pregnancy in the first place. Pretty scary, huh?"
Hi, Kristen.
Thank you for taking the time to comment, and for writing such a thoughtful objection. I know that one of Planned Parenthood's main arguments against this amendment is that it is "an attempt to ban certain forms of birth control." I also know that this is not true and Planned Parenthood is spreading this misinformation to mislead and cloud the real issue. The real issue is the dignity of all human life whether that life is a days-old embryo or a disabled veteran, or an elderly citizen. We feel that the best way to affirm that dignity is through a constitutional amendment.
While Georgia Right to Life does oppose the forms of birth control that cause chemical abortions (abortifacients), this amendment of itself will have no effect on any type of birth control.
Constitutional amendments are not legislation. We think it's very important to be honest about what this amendment does, and more importantly, what it does not do. If this amendment is passed, (which requires a two-thirds vote from both sides of the legislature, and a majority vote from the citizens of Georgia) there would be no immediate impact on birth control, or abortion for that matter!
The day after the amendment passed, abortion clinics all over the state would still be in business. You would still be able to get your birth control. Constitutional amendments are made to be broad in scope, so that if passed, legislators can later attempt to pass bills to enforce the part of the amendment they want to enforce, or think they could enforce constitutionally.
As one who studies the statistics of abortion, I believe that if the people of Georgia can barely decide if they want a barbaric procedure like abortion to be legal or not, there is no reason to believe that the same people would decide to ban abortifacients. According to the polls, over 90% of the country believes that there should be full access to birth control. Birth control was made legal before Roe v. Wade, and there is no reason to think that it would be made illegal if the Human Life Amendment were passed, or even if Roe v. Wade was overturned.
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Hi Again,
I appreciate your response to my questions and concerns regarding the proposed amendment, but as you may have already guessed, I strongly disagree. Supposing the amendment was passed, the possibility for our legislature to introduce a bill to ban abortion would exist. In such a conservative state, this seems entirely plausible to me.
The simple thought of having a group of politicians in control of certain aspects of my reproductive health is enough to make me move out of state. Whether or not abortion and contraceptives WOULD be banned is, of course, pure speculation at this point. But if the amendment was put into effect, the banning of abortion and contraceptives would be in the realm of POSSIBILITY, right? Supposing no group of sane legislators would even touch the subject of banning contraceptives, would it not still be POSSIBLE (if the amendment passed?)
Another thing-- you aren't the only one that considers abortion to be "barbaric." Most people do. I do.
I think pro-choice people get a bad rap in the pro-life community for being pro-abortion. Who is pro-abortion? You have to be (in my opinion) a total whacko to think that having to come to an abortion clinic and terminate a fetus is one of life's little pleasures.
The thing is, it's a terrible hardship to have to decide. That's the basis of being pro-choice-- to have the FREEDOM (yeah, I live in America and I want to express every freedom I have)and peace of mind to make the right choice for myself if I'm considering an abortion.
These women go through hell to make the decisions they make. Why not trust them? Why not let them (and their doctors) make their own decisions rather than a politician? Why not take all this money and all these proposed bills and amendments and put them towards PREVENTING unwanted pregnancy so we won't have the NEED for abortion?
Also, I've been browsing the site and saw something that shocked me. There's a link for "church resources." OK, I realize that this is JUST a website, but that's kind of a tip-off to me that religious beliefs are weighing in on these decisions. Whether I'm a Christian or not doesn't matter-- I don't want someone else imposing their religious beliefs in my healthcare! What ever happened to secularism???
I'm totally bewildered at this situation. It seems ridiculous to me-- when the solution could be so easy. Nobody wants to be faced with the difficult decision to have an abortion. So why not prevent it?
I just responded in the main post area, Kristen. Thanks!
Hello,
Thanks for your response to my latest post, I would love to respond back, but I'm feeling a little slighted at the fact that you cut and pasted certain aspects of my statement and chose to respond to those only. I realize it was a bit lengthy, but I would much rather have you also give me your thoughts about the rest of what I wrote so that I may better respond to you. Also, those viewing this blog would see only those statements that you cut from my post at first glance. It took me a minute to access my entire statement. I think it may be more fair if you included all of what
I had to say, rather than the more controversial bits (which I know are more interesting, but it still seems biased.) I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!
I think I responded to all of your major questions in the last 2 posts. If you have further questions or concerns, I would like to invite you to call our office. (770-339-6880) We have a staff of people that would love to dialogue with you and answer all of your questions and concerns.
"While Georgia Right to Life does oppose the forms of birth control that cause chemical abortions (abortifacients), this amendment of itself will have no effect on any type of birth control."
I would disagree with this position. If life begins at fertilization, and birth control pills make the womb a hostile environment preventing a fertilized egg from implanting, then by default the birth control pill should be banned to be in compliance with your constitution. This IS the correct position to take. Period. ALL life, regardless of how it has been conceived, is precious and to be protected. Therefore, ANY means used to terminate this life violates the premise of your constitutional amendment. Don't waiver on this one!
No one is waivering on this issue. While there is SOME evidence to suggest that some forms of birth control like the Pill create a hostile womb, there is also evidence that the Pill has NO effect on the endometrium. At this point, NO ONE has done the kind of research that needs to be done to PROVE that the Pill has any effect on the endometrium. Until that study comes out, I think pro-lifers need to be careful about not overstating our case by saying things like, “birth control pills definitely kill babies.” We just don’t have adequate evidence to say anything like this definitively.
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