Home >
Humanities And Science >
Conservative
Response to Anna Quindlen's Jan 27 Column in Newsweek Magazine on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Stuck in a Time Warp By: Noelle Franzen
I feel sorry for columnist Anna Quindlen. She is the feminist all anti-feminists love to hate. Have no doubt, anti-feminists have a burning passion for what we believe, we're just not as mean about it.
However, there's a point at which one's ideals become so undeniably belittled and overrun by current liberal thinking, one must speak out about it. Enter me. I am the anti-feminist every feminist loves to hate. The twisted part is, I enjoy it. The ridicule, the shock, the obscenities…go ahead, give me a hard time, I will not budge, and I'll defend my stance as long as I live.
So, as I was reduced to reading the January 27 issue of Newsweek (all of 5 minutes), I stumbled upon the last page, Quindlen's The Last Word, of course. Now, usually I disregard it (as I do all Oprah-sponsored books, events and people), but this week she caught my eye.
As has already been repeatedly slathered across network "news," we are upon the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the historic changes that decision implemented. Now, most would say what a historic event this was and how women have benefited so much from this ruling, I on the other hand, find it to be one of the saddest days in history.
This week, Quindlen has attempted to summarize the feelings of every woman in America in three short columns. She states, "the impulse to combine…home…and…work is not an option…it is a given." It is? Well sign me up! She could not be more wrong. This decision, unlike abortion, is a choice that every single mother makes. It is most definitely not a given.
She also states that, "there are women for whom a career is an essential part of identity and self-esteem." Poor women. Your point, Ms. Quindlen? She continues to include a parade of women for whom "a job is essential." Is this her excuse for all the abortions that take place in America today? I'm too busy, I'll just go have an abortion.
Further on down the liberation parade route, Quindlen jumps to the defense of working mothers everywhere, mentioning Clinton legistlation and the struggle of balancing motherhood and work. She then makes a statement that should make all freedom loving Americans boil over: "America remains the only significant developed nation that has no national child-care policy." I'll buy you a one way ticket to Sweden if you'd like Anna. Yeah, that's a great idea! National child-care! Thank God I won't have to raise my own children…the government can do it! What a relief.
This woman makes me sick. And I haven't even made it through one column! Better pop a few Dramamine. Get ready, here comes the duh statement of the century, "women have…come to understand something about having kids: it is demanding work." Holy Crap. This woman is a genius.
She continues, it "is best done from a bedrock of maturity and security." She says this like it's the smartest thing anyone has ever said in the history of the world. Well of course, Ms. Quindlen, motherhood, and for that matter, parenthood should only be experienced when a couple is ready to accept an 18-year, 24-hour-a-day responsibility emotionally, financially and resourcefully.
What about all of those un-wed teenage girls getting pregnant? These emotionally immature girls who can't keep their clothes on are getting knocked up by emotionally immature boys who can't keep it in their pants. What about them, Ms. Quindlen? Oh yeah, parental consent will get them an abortion faster than they can learn algebra. Parental consent! Why are these kids having so much sex? WHY? Stop having sex!
Parents tell their kids not to have sex until they're in love. NO. That is not right. Parents should say marriage. Teenagers think love is sophomore year after the homecoming dance. Wrong idea ‘rents!
Okay, we've finally hit column two. I feel like I'm on the never-ending carousel ride from feminist hell. Quindlen's optimism really comes through when she states that "someone once told me I would feel differently about abortion after I had children myself." She now so stringently believes that "mothering is so critical and so challenging that to force anyone into its service is immoral." You're SO articulate! That's a really nice way of saying how wonderful it is to have abortion readily available if I accidentally get pregnant and haven't quite reached the level of understanding that Quindlen has about how serious becoming a mother is.
Its service! I'm sorry you feel that motherhood is a service, Ms. Quindlen. I really am. Because its not. It's a gift. Just like the child that grows inside of you.
I'm sweating.
She implies that women like my grandmother were ignorant when they were married at 22 and having babies. And still married. "…Women know more about their bodies today. They understand the fine points of reproduction; they know what the fetus is and, as important, what it isn't." Ahhh, the fine points of reproduction. You mean, an egg and a sperm, right?
What is a fetus, Ms. Quindlen? You didn't quite make it there in your column. I'll tell you what a child is, if you'd like. The baby inside of you. A child is a living, growing human being created by a man and a woman, from the time he is in the womb, where he depends on his mother to supply food and incubation for nine months, until he is born, flesh and blood and oxygen. A human being.
Quindlen points out (still, column two) that a big difference between 1973 and 2003 is that there were no female senators and today there are 14. "Nine are wholehearted supporters of abortion rights, and three support the right to an abortion with some reservations." Unless she can't add, or just plain forgot, that leaves 2 senators, females, who God forbid might actually be pro-life. I can't believe it. Are these two senators stuck in Quindlen's time warp? Are they so stupid that they actually don't support abortion? God, no.
She doesn't mention them because she is pro-abortion and she wants nothing to do with people who think differently than she does. In fact, she doesn't even mention they exist. That's fair. Quindlen then reminds the reader that "millions of American women have had…abortions" and at the time "it was the right choice…." Millions. That's millions of babies who were killed because their mothers were too busy, too selfish or having unprotected sex just for the heck of it. But they were safe AND legal. No excuse necessary.
Oh, there's more. "But the abortion rate has slowly fallen." She says that like it's a bad thing. NO! Abortions are happening less frequently! Quick, get pregnant so I can have an abortion because I'm too busy building self-esteem at work! Here come the evil pro-lifers. Quindlen believes this decline in abortion rates is because of "decades of persistent, sometimes lethal, harassment by anti-abortion forces." Forces!? I can see it now…the hundreds upon hundreds of pro-lifers in rows like soldiers marching in time to the drill sergeant who still supports the draft….
She throws in a few reasons for this decline, of course. Oh please, tell us what we've won. It "may be because the number of providers has decreased…" or it may even be because "6 percent of all pregnancies were ended at home with pills." Well that's good to know. Understood correctly, Quindlen gives justifiable alternatives to going to a clinic, and that is, by all means, enough to fulfill the amount of abortions that should be occurring in the United States today.
In her apparent love for countries that support plentiful abortions, Quindlen goes on to praise France, Scotland and Sweden for their efficient use of the RU-486 pill because "more than half of early abortions now take place that way." Finally, a do-it-yourself abortion kit! ***
After thirty years, abortion, like any legal procedure, has made advancements and evolutions. Not all of these changes have been smooth sailing for pro-abortionists, but they've managed to keep the dream alive. They've pushed the limits of the debate over when life starts, and even still, partial birth abortions became a reality. Abortion is the lowest form of the nasty excuse that is our evil human nature, our selfish desires and ultimately promises the demise of a civilized culture. We execute murderers, but we do nothing to the killers of our children. We strive for animal rights, hate fur and cosmetic testing, yet support and strive to keep legal the abortions of unwanted babies. The abortion rights activists in this nation are afraid that Roe v. Wade will be turned over by newly appointed judges. They view this as evil and a violation of their "constitutional right" to kill, and a stripping of the control they so desperately need to exercise over a human life that is not their own. We did not lose the battle when Roe v. Wade was decided; we were merely introduced to another, a battle far more important than the one the feminists "won" that day in 1973, it is the battle for life.
About the Author
Noelle is a senior at Concordia University in Irvine, CA, majoring in English. She hopes to find work writing satirical/politically themed articles for magazines after graduation. If that doesn't happen...well, she'll just be a struggling writer living on saltines and jugs of water.