Can someone please explain to me what a recreational abortion is? Well, once again my guest recipient for today’s Throat Punch is a politician but surprisingly it is not a Republican. This time it is Democratic Senator Jack Hatch of Iowa. He’s one of the good guys. He doesn’t believe that women don’t have the right to choose. He doesn’t typically support the theory that women are frivolous creatures who choose to end pregnancies for selfish reasons but when giving a speech recently he must have forgotten how to use his words or simply forgotten which side he was on. All I know is that his flub has earned him a good hard throat punch just to remind him to use his words.
While discussing the likelihood that Iowa Republicans will once more come after the state’s Medicaid coverage of abortions in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the pregnant person, Hatch told the Associated Press that the Republicans will be unsuccessful, noting that these are “medically-needed” abortions versus “recreational abortions.” Uhhm, what the fuck did he just say?
When I think of a recreational activity I think of something fun like playing a sport, something involving frolicking, laughing uncontrollably, splashing or a cocktail and watching the sun set on a tropical island. I think of being out of this world happy; probably because recreational activities are at a premium in my life these days.
I do not think of making one of the hardest decisions of a woman’s life. I don’t think of tears and remorse; surgery and pain. I don’t think of changing my place in the world and living with that choice for all eternity. That’s not what recreation is in my book; not in any woman’s book. Is it recreational when a man is castrated or gets a vasectomy? Is that fun for men? Do men like to be kicked in the balls?
Fortunately, I’ve never had to decide to have an “abortion” but I did have a medically needed D & E (Dilation and Evacuation) after I miscarried. I had no choice in the matter but I will tell you that it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to live through. It nearly broke me. It was not fun. It is not a hobby of mine. It was not something that I took lightly or will ever forget. That procedure changed my life, the very fabric of who I am. It was not something I would ever associate with recreation, whether you chose it or it was forced on you out of medical necessity, like mine was, the end of a life is not recreational.
It’s my assumption since Senator Hatch is one of the good guys that what he meant was medically necessary meaning that there is no choice and by “recreational” he meant that it was a choice but boy was his choice of words wrong. They came off as flip and demeaning to women.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again; if you weren’t born with a uterus and vagina, stay out of mine. You have no idea what you are talking about. There is no way to understand the toll abortion, pregnancy, infertility, birth, labor, delivery or loss of a pregnancy of child have on a woman, unless you have been in her shoes and experienced it first hand.
Abortion is never done without thought, no matter what the run of the mill pro-lifer will try and have you believe. A pregnancy affects a woman on some level from the moment she knows it has happened. There is a weight that comes with the ability to bring life into the world and we women know it, we feel it and we live it. We don’t need anyone else to tell us how to feel about it or when its okay and when its not or give us permission to do what we want with our own body. How is this even a political discussion? It’s a personal decision not a political one. It doesn’t affect the country; it effects one woman and her life.
What do you think of using the word ‘recreational’ to refer to abortion?
