politics

Six Degrees of Social Media

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I have come to the social media phenomenon slowly, kicking and screaming the whole way, but go I do. My first social media was Live Journal before I really knew what social media was. The only one I didn’t question was Tumblr, I think. I don’t know. Maybe it was something else. I can’t remember. I’ve always followed my friend, Andy and as the months went by and turned into years – is it really eight years since I’ve joined the online revolution?! – I’ve refined what I do with my social media. I’ve gotten rid of some, and increased my usage of others. I’ve connected some and I love Instagram more than I think I should.

While my Facebook is primarily for family and personal things, I do follow pages and in follwoing certain pages, I’ve been exposed and introduced to others and so on.

And that is how I come to you to recommend seeing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It’s not typically my thing. I never read the comic  books, watched the animated shows or any of the other movies.

I followed Jared Padalecki because he’s on the CW’s Supernatural and he’s an all around good guy with a smile that is warm and inviting. I love his whole family. Whenever I’d see him or Gen or the boys on social media or in photos of conventions, it would make me smile. It would uplift my mood. I can’t explain why. It just is. All of the Supernatural cast & crew are very much like a family, and I love that and am drawn to that.

Well, he’s friends with Stephen Amell who is on Arrow, also on the CW. So I followed Stephen Amell. He spoke his mind and this got him into trouble sometimes. He’d apologize, sometimes, and this down-to-earthiness of his personality was what kept me following his Facebook.

I listened to his live chats and I loved seeing him with his daughter.

He posted the trailer to TMNT, a movie I have no interest in seeing. I watched the trailer to support Stephen’s Facebook.

I liked it.

It made me interested in something because I watched the trailer.

I watched the trailer because I follow Stephen Amell. I follow Stephen Amell because I follow Jared Padalecki. And now I actually want to see this movie.

This is how social media works.

At least how it’s supposed to.

My Top 5 Social Media Personalities
In addition to Jared and Stephen:
1. Misha Collins
2. William Shatner
3. Wil Wheaton
4. John Barrowman
5. George Takei

My Top 5 Political Pundits
1. Ezra Klein (Vox)
2. Connie Schultz
3. Chris Cilizza
4. Planned Parenthood Action
5. Chuck Todd

My Top 5 Writers
In addition to any on the other lists above:
1. Lin-Manuel Miranda
2. Danai Gurira
3. Adam Glass
4. Robert Behrens
5. Neil Gaiman

Others that I Love
1. Norman Reedus
2. Greg Nicotero
3. Kim Rhodes & Briana Buckmaster
4. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
5. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

A Surprise from the Pulpit

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I wrote this soon after the mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, and shared it on my Facebook page. I wanted to also share it here.

Whenever the topic of abortion comes up in a church setting or with church people, I tend to hold my breath. I don’t know how many people are aware of my pro-choice stance. If asked, I try to be clear that I am for women’s reproductive rights in all the forms that women choose to use them. My most vocal place is probably on my Facebook and Tumblr, and no one from church, save one, is on Facebook or knows about Tumblr at the moment. That’s not to say I’m hiding my beliefs, I don”t think I do, but that’s how it’s been.

I had been looking forward to our Bishop as presider of the Divine Mercy Mass a few weekends ago. When I entered, I was handed a song-sheet and offered a relic to venerate, which I did.

I was early so that I could participate in the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, before the start of Mass. I find those group chaplet recitations and rosary prayers very moving.

The Mass went as it usually does except that it was the Bishop and there were four other priests in attendance plus the deacon. It gives the feeling of something special; not that each liturgy isn’t special in its own way, but the larger group of religious gives it a certain presentation. We have a really good music ministry and they are always outstanding and were on this day as well.

When the Bishop began his Homily with a reference to an unnamed political candidate who proposes punishing women for abortions, I cringed. I could feel my body tense up. I didn’t expect him to endorse this candidate. It also wasn’t because I expect my clergy to come out and talk about pro-choice or reproduction in any way that is not Catholic doctrine. This is something I accept within the church. In the particular case of my priest, he’s never brought abortion up in a political way; only as part of the prayer of the faithful for life, from conception until natural death, etc. with the exception of promoting 40 Days for Life. I usually add my own two cents of prayer silently to include all those who I feel should be included, and who are most often excluded – the women in their most difficult moments.

So when the Bishop brought up Donald Trump, not by name of course, I held my breath.

He talked about how that isn’t the way we should be thinking about the women who have abortions. He never once mentioned preventing abortions, banning abortions, birth control, adoption, none of it.

What he talked about was how we focus on the baby and we should be focusing on the women. He also used the word women, not mother. He talked about how women have their reasons for abortions and when they have them, we need to support them. Whether it’s their choice or their only choice, we need to show them this compassion we talk about. Real pro-life people don’t tell these women that they’re going to hell or that they’ll be punished. Real pro-life people are there for the women after their abortions and without judgment.

I’ve never heard such a pro-choice sentiment from a clergy person let alone a Bishop.

Of course, I know he’s not pro-choice, but this is the first time I’ve heard someone of his stature talk about women using another choice other than carrying the fetus to full term and having the baby.

I was pleasantly surprised on his focus towards the women.

Compassion and mercy are not talking points from Pope Francis; they are a way of living and I for one am happy to see it outside of the media and inside my own parish and diocese.

Favorite Super Bowl 50 Ads

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There didn’t seem to be a huge variety of commercials. Maybe it’s getting too expensive. I found the Amy Schumer, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd commercial funny and the Hulk/Antman was also a good one. Esurance was also unexpected and funny. I’ve included my three favorites below.

Clever and unexpected from a local company in Upstate New York, Death Wish Coffee:

What I thought was the funniest ad, from Doritos:

This ad about Native Americans was touching and poignant, and thought-provoking. Please watch and share, Proud to Be:

A Call to Claim Each Other

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Today marks the end of the the Week of Christian Unity. As called upon in Peter, “to proclaim the mighty works of the one who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light,” we can join together under the ecumenical banner of Christian unity.

From that joining we can move to the other faiths we have common-ness with as well as those we have no commonality with.

Interfaith and acceptance isn’t changing one’s beliefs, but including everyone regardless of their religion or non-religion as I’ve expanded the thought, and whatever else separates us.. 

Recently I attended a gathering sponsored by the Interfaith Community in my local area. It was described as “moving  beyond  tolerance,  and  beyond  coexistence,  to  affirmation,  acceptance,  mutual  support  and cooperation  among  peoples  of  faith  …  literally  to  claim  each  other as sisters and  brothers  of  G-d.” While this was faith-based, that is no reason to think that non-faith people or faith groups not mentioned by name are excluded from this type of conversation.

The presenters included a Rev. B, Rabbi K, and Imam G. In addition to their religious titles and education, the rabbi and the imam are also professors at a local college and hold degrees in religious studies. In the audience were several people I had seen before at workshops and retreats including our Bishop Emeritus, who championed interfaith cooperation and acceptance (including with the Jewish faith when it was an unpopular position to hold) in his thirty-seven years as Bishop.

The next thing I should mention is that this gathering/lecture had not been planned in the two months prior to the date. It became apparent that this type of gathering and discussion was needed with the onslaught of anti-Muslim rhetoric that is becoming prevalent in our country today as well as the tremendous rise of anti-semitism across this country and globally.

This will serve as my thoughts interspersed with my summation of the gathering and a paraphrasing of what was said by many in attendance. The only statements that are verbatim will appear within quotation marks.

I’ll begin where the Reverend began:

Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for President. We chuckled and eye rolled, but we were stopped cold when we were reminded of another disenfranchised group courted in the same way as Palin/Trump that gave rise to someone we all remember – Hitler. Megalomaniac. Demagogue. This was not hyperbole; or ironic. This was very serious. This was something to think about.

An austere beginning, and then he (followed by the Rabbi) continued with this quotation:

“Silence is sometimes betrayal.” – Martin Luther King

We cannot sit idly by and hope that it gets better, or that someone else will stand up for what is right; to speak out for someone else.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
– Martin Niemoller

Martin Niemoller was a Lutheran Pastor who spent eight years in a Nazi concentration camp. Some of his statements prior to that can be problematic, but he never shirked from discussing them or the changes in his views formed by the turning point of having survived the concentration camps.

If we’re not standing together, we stand apart in fear. We’re all concerned for me, but “I want them to stand with me or I’ll be standing alone.” [Rabbi K]

We must remember that we are all individuals, and individuals are approachable. We can’t dismiss a whole group of people, and that includes the ones we don’t agree with; even Fox News.

We must acknowledge that everyone has a conscience; a heart; mind; they are individuals.

It can be challenging to be a person of faith. It can also be challenging to be an American. It is also challenging to be a person who doesn’t have religious faith in this increasingly divisive to those who are different.

With the Patriot Act, we decided it was okay to profile, to strip individuals of their rights. Whenever we’re reminded of Japanese internment camps or McCarthyism, we’re told that we’ve moved beyond that bias.

But have we?

We must remember that our social – political – economical interests are all intertwined. Our destinies are intertwined on a global level. The world is too small to be isolationists; or imperialists.

We need to look for an interfaith, grassroots, educational movement of inclusivity.

Looking at the middle East, it’s imperative to remember that context is paramount. The Middle East is a land bridge on the way to Europe. Without it being home to the three major religions in the world, it would still be a land in strife. The political division by Europeans didn’t help matters in much the same way that the partitioning of Africa has come to a similar head in recent years.

Since admittedly, most of us have less knowledge of Islam and Muslims, it might be important to hear some unbiased facts about the Muslim faith and the Koran.

The Koran is 1400 years old and as I mentioned context is paramount. It has its governing and foundational verses. There is an academic and literary process to analyze and interpret the Koran. There is a freedom to choose, a G-d given free will that contributes to the analysis of the Koran.

The first thing to know is that Muslims have an understanding of the people of the book – those people who are “receiving of the Word/Scriptures from G-d.” [Imam G] This includes all Jews and Christians. The Torah came first, then the Gospels, and then the Koran.

Any “bigoted dialogue of other faiths, such things are in completely contradictive with foundational verses in the Koran.” [Imam G]

Whoever believes in G-d – Jews, Christians, anyone, be happy in this life and in the next.

We’ve followed a mixed path, but we have a common G-d. We have shared foods. We believe in marriage and building families.

Warfare is “never based on religious difference.” It is a last resort “for the protection of human rights and justice.” [Imam G]

All three of the Abrahamic faiths believe in salvation, families and marriage, and the protection of our places of worship.

Looking at the Pillars of Islam, where is jihad mentioned? Does Islam equal jihad? It does not. It’s not even in the top ten of the pillars.

Education is where it begins to bring us together and refuse to let us be separated. We need to heed the call to claim others, to protect others because if we don’t eventually we’ll be someone else’s other.

Postscript: This morning as I was finishing up the editing, I came across this Washington Post article discussing how a college student of the Muslim faith continues amid anti-Muslim rhetoric and the pressure to “fit in” as an American from both inside and outside her family.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

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Today is the 43rd anniversary  of the Roe v. Wade decision. That’s the decision that maintains a woman’s right to choose; to do with her body as she feels; It gives her privacy. It gives her autonomy. Many people herald it as a pro-abortion decision, but any of us who have contemplated abortion know that it is not. We know that no one, NO ONE, is pro-abortion.

Read about abortions before this landmark decision for some perspective.

As a country, we’re okay with the death penalty, even in cases where the convicted party is mentally disturbed – not the Charles Manson crazy, but developmental disabilities like Down’s Syndrome and mental ages that are well below their chronological age.

As a country, we’re okay with war; perpetual war since 2011.

As a country, we’re okay with torture.

We’re okay with domestic violence and victim-blaming where women are involved. Where men are involved, we reduce them to women.

We can’t even pass a VAWA that includes ALL women.

What is going on here?

I read something recently from someone who I respect, who is pro-life, who is a good-hearted, loving, peaceful person describing abortion (in some instances) as a convenience. Women don’t want to be inconvenienced. I strongly take issue with that way of thinking; that stereotype. Women who have abortions because of economic reasons are not doing it as a convenience. These women, for the most part are living in poverty. They have children and are often single parents. There is no universal child care option for them to get steady work or they work several jobs for part time hours. They are living in abusive situations that they can’t escape because they have no control over their own money and/or bodies.

Women would choose to avoid pregnancy rather than terminate it, but increasingly this option (birth control) is being taken away because corporations are people, too, my friend. The owner of Hobby Lobby is against contraception for religious reasons and chooses to force his employees to follow his religious beliefs instead of allowing them the freedom to follow their own religion.

The sooner the people in this country realize and accept that this country was founded on the principle of not only freedom of religion, the freedom to practice individual religions by individual people as well as, and in addition to the freedom to be free of religion entirely, the sooner these arguments will be null and void. We need to stop inflicting our beliefs on others. This country was founded on our differences; we should embrace them.

When my church does their prayer of the faithful, they almost always include a prayer for life, from conception to natural death. Very rarely, but sometimes, they reference abortion directly, and my mind invariably wanders and prays for the women; that they continue to have the freedom of choice; that they have the support, the autonomy, the health care and the reproductive rights that they should have in a free society.

We should be supporting women who choose abortions instead of terrorizing them.

The most recent act of terrorism in Colorado Springs that targeted the Planned Parenthood there killed a woman, not having an abortion, but supporting her friend, a man on his cell phone on the street, and a policeman/security personnel. This is horrible, and the fact that many of us hand-wave it away as collateral damage is more than a little disturbing.

The sooner we get back to our basics of bodily autonomy and religious freedom, the sooner we can move on as a country to more important things – stopping our military involvement, the quagmire, eliminating the gender gap in pay and rights, giving Americans the right to have access to health care that is actually healthy and affordable.

Women, when left to their own devices will make the right choices and the right choice is whatever they feel is right for them, not what you feel is right for them.

In all matters.

Freedom and Facebook and Politics, Oh My

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Before I write and post about my thoughts on the Jubilee of Mercy that began on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I wanted, no, needed to get this out of my system.

At some point, this will get back to my Facebook, and so I want to include this disclaimer for anyone who sees themselves in this screed.

This is not directed at any one person or any group of people. When I’ve seen these posts on my Facebook, they are from such a wide range of beliefs, political views, and religious affiliations that I started to see it as satire. The people who post these, I believe, are truly afraid of losing something. I honestly don’t understand it, but I know these people, and it saddens me to watch so many of them, not only posting these, but believing that they are true.

I can think of ten posts in the last two days that this might pertain to. For me, it might be a camel’s back sort of thing that pumped me up, so please do not be offended. And as usual, my disclaimer is longer than the entire thought.

As I moved from one marginalized group (Jewish) to another seemingly marginalized one (Catholic), I discovered the same thoughts of the presence of discrimination towards them. That isn’t to say that either group is wrong – in many ways we are all others to someone else, and when that happens we feel that. Although honestly, Christians are the least marginalized groups out there; of course unless you’re Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, African or Arab.

A lot of that stems from the attempts to include our various religions in our local (and national) government and the fact that many of us would prefer to keep it separate since you can’t possibly include everyone. For example, I’m okay with a decorated tree for the season, but I draw the line at a creche. (Yes, I still believe this even after my conversion.) A menorah, I’m on the fence about. As a Jewish person, the menorah is a religious symbol. When I taught preschool, and the kids made menorahs, mine were the only ones without a Star of David. I didn’t think sending home the Jewish star was appropriate, just like if a teacher sent home a crucifix as an art assignment for my children.

In all of the schools my kids attended, I’ve felt welcome and included for the most part. In our first school district, the school held an annual assembly – a holiday sing-a-long. I don’t recall if they called it holiday or Christmas, but it included more than Christmas songs. Most were secular, but they did throw in Silent Night and Away in a Manger in additon to Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The principal wore reindeer antlers and played the piano, and it was a wonderful, beautiful, small town in the city community gathering. I loved it, and after we changed school districts, we returned for that sing-a-long assembly for a couple of years after.

But recently, on my Facebook, and other places on the Internet that I usually ignore, there seems to be this thought of anti-Christian, anti-American bias that I’m just not seeing in reality.

Facebook does not suppress religious photos or patriotic photos. You’re not prohibited from saying Merry Christmas and G-d Bless America, so please, say it and post it to your heart’s content. Just please stop saying that you’re posting it in defiance of some imaginary Facebook TOS rule.

The Internet is indeed Real Life. When I started in 2008, there was that distinction. That line has been obliterated as we use our online presences for almost everything in our lives from communicating with our jobs and schools to holiday cards and birthday greetings. Online, offline, it is all part of us and our socializing in today’s world.

So, post your greetings whatever they might be. If I agree with them or like the cute picture of polar bears skiing, I’ll share it. Or I won’t. But posting it is not defiant. In fact, it is conforming and ordinary.

Creches and Nativity scenes. American flags and bald eagles. Religious posts, atheist posts. Wiccans and Solstice, Druidic prayers and Pope Francis’ words of wisdom.

Post them, don’t post them. Share them, don’t. I don’t care, (clearly I do, but really I don’t), but please stop telling me that Facebook cares what we post and will take it down so we must post three thousand American flags in a row or two thousand fifteen nativity scenes, not to mention that it’s still Advent – who is that in your manger?

No one is taking your guns. In fact, you’ve had more gun freedom under President Obama than the last two presidents (probably more than that).

He also is not taking too many vacation days. He’s used the least amount of vacation days of any president in this generation. We go to Long Island for Thanksgiving; he goes to Hawaii. That’s home.

He’s approved the least pardons.

He’s also Christian. Evangelical as a matter of fact.

Hillary Clinton might not be your cup of tea, but she’s not stupid and she didn’t murder an ambassador.

Do you know what I’ve been hearing at my church for the last couple of weeks? And not just from the priest and deacon, but from your run of the mill parishioners? Jesus and the Holy Family were refugees. Just like the Syrians. Except they were Jewish. Just like the ones we didn’t want and sent back in WWII. Escaping tyranny with only the clothes on their backs. Swaddling clothes in His case.

So play your Christmas carols, post your freedoms, but know that they’re not being taken away. Not sharing is not prohibiting. Saying Happy Holidays is inclusive, not EXclusive. It is for everyone – not so they’re not offended, but because we love them and they love us and they want to express that without getting a lecture on how they’re not Jewish or Christian or that they’re Wiccan and celebrate a secular Christmas, etc.

Christmas is about more than the birth of Christ. Advent and the Incarnation of Christ is in tandem with Lent and Easter. Christ is to be born in order to fulfill the prophecy that leads Him to Calvary and his Death so he can be born again. He dies for our sins, and is resurrected for our salvation.

But more than that, it is about what he said in John 13:34-35: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It’s so important that he repeats it in John 15:12. “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Season’s Greetings, Friends, and a Blessed and Happy New Year ❤

Get Out The VOTE

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In the United States, today is Election Day. Every citizen, upon turning 18 before Election Day can register to vote in their state. That means that you can vote in school board elections and for school budgets, for local government, state government, federal government, and for the President of the United States (every four years).

If you don’t register, you don’t vote.

If you won’t be in your home district on Election Day, you can request an absentee ballot. College students, disabled people, and the elderly and military personnel often use this. It is up to your state what your qualifications are for the absentee ballot.

Whether you believe it or not, every vote counts. Sitting out an election is the equivalent of voting for the other person.

Simply put, if you don’t vote, don’t complain. Legally, that’s not true – you still retain your first amendment right to say whatever you want about voting or anything else. But it’s not that simple.

If you don’t want to register to vote because you’re afraid that it will put you on the list for jury duty, don’t worry. The courts get your name for jury duty from the DMV. You drive, you’re in the jury pool.

Voting is more than a right. It is a privilege.

It is how we get things done in this country. If we want change, we need to make it happen.

If you feel that your voting isn’t doing enough, get involved in other ways,. Work on a campaign. Work in local areas to make your own community better. Educate yourself on the issues. Do not let the media and talking points (anyone’s talking points) give you the only information on a subject. Research.

The one thing you shouldn’t do is not vote.

GET OUT THE VOTE!

Beau Biden (1969-2015)

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I’m sad to post that earlier tonight, Beau Biden died. He was the son of Vice President Joe Biden. He had brain cancer and died surrounded by his family. There really aren’t words when someone as good and decent as Beau dies, and it’s only compounded by his being only 46 and leaving behind two children. I was open to admiring Beau because of how long I’d followed his father in politics. Joe is a man that I have long respected, and Beau earned his own respect through his work as Attorney General (of Delaware).

One organization that I learned about from Beau Biden is the Darkness to Light Foundation whose mission is to empower people to prevent child sexual abuse.

The Washington Post has a story about his passing.

Rethinking the March for Life

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In his Evangelium Vitae, Pope St. John Paul II said, “In giving life to man, God demands that he love, respect and promote life.”

I realize that today is a day to remember and pray for the unborn child. However, I would submit to you that while that is a noble and admirable cause, it does not translate into protesting and marching against abortion.

When abortion debates come up, often forgotten is the mother. Her physical health is ignored. Her mental health is ignored. Her economics are ignored, as are her support or lack of it.

Instead of marching or protesting against abortion, which should remain safe and legal for anyone who wants or needs one, perhaps we could promote life in other ways, like volunteer at a women’s shelter, donate to rape crisis centers (with time as well as money), provide for the already burdened lower economic family who has the number of children they want, give back birth control choices to the women getting pregnant since we know that access to birth control reduces abortion. Put comprehensive and accurate sex health education in the schools since we know that sex education done properly reduces teenage pregnancies and abortions.

Stop co-opting the word choice when you only want to provide one option.

Stop murdering doctors and terrorizing already fragile women at their moment of crisis as they follow through on one of the most difficult decisions they will ever have to make.

Of course pray for women and babies, but don’t forget about the ones who are post-born, the ones struggling daily under stresses and health risks and abuse. Standing on a street corner protesting only scares already scared women. There are other, more positive ways to follow your heart. Didn’t Jesus call those who prayed out loud and in public hypocrites? Didn’t He think there were other ways to pray, contemplatively instead of as a show to their neighbors?

We should rethink these acts of terror we put upon women at their lowest low, and pray and care for all life even those whose choices and lifestyles we disagree with and not abandon the women and children whose lives we are trying to affect.

An Uncomfortable Conversation

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Recently while I was driving, my eight-year old daughter started a conversation asking how people had babies. After a moment of almost going off the road I realized that she wasn’t asking how they are made but how they were born. She already knows they grow in women’s tummies. I’ve had three C-sections, so I started there, but eventually had to get into vaginal birth and it was still very basic, no problem.

Then the tougher questions came.

“Do I need to have a boyfriend to have a baby?”

Okay, good moment to express my equality stance by saying, no, you don’t need a boyfriend. You don’t need to be married. You can have a girlfriend. You can be married if you want. (There was a tangent taken that you do need a boy and a girl to make a baby, but you’re too young so we’re not going to talk about that, but no, you can be single and have a baby.)

So far, so good. Or really just satisfactory because this is the most uncomfortable, but necessary conversation to have with your child.

Then it got tougher still.

“What if I don’t want to have a baby?”

You don’t have to have one.

“What if someone wants to make me?” (No idea where this came from, but she was concerned about it.)

I won’t let them.

“What if you’re not there?” (Thanks for reminding me of the fragility of life and my impending mortality.)

If you don’t want to have a baby, there will be people who care about you who will make sure that you don’t have to have one. Or a boyfriend if you don’t want one. But don’t worry about that now, okay? You have a long way to get there.

Okay.

I could feel us both near tears by the end of this conversation, and I guess I put it out of my mind.

She was satisfied with the answers; I was satisfied-ish with my answers and all was well until the next time this subject (or another one like it) comes up.

This was weeks ago, and this morning at about 3am, I suddenly woke up and realized that with the way things are going in this country, my daughter may be more prescient than I thought. The irony that this came to me unbidden on the eve of the birth of Jesus is not lost on me. Perhaps he is the child of the most famous, single teenage mother to date. Not only a single mother, but a person of color living in her parents’ house, struggling with some tough decisions that a teenage girl should not have to make. Obviously, we know how her story ends; the Archangel Gabriel asked her and her faith led her to her decision, her assent to becoming the Mother of G-d.

I tried to ignore the replay of that conversation with my daughter in my head. It would not go away. I spent two hours tossing and turning and not sleeping when I realized sadly how relevant that exchange was.

What I thought of as a little girl’s worries about things she doesn’t understand are more relevant to today’s women than I realized.

There are women today who are forced to give birth against their will because someone else decided that they can’t have an abortion.

They became pregnant in the first place because someone else decided that they can’t learn how to prevent pregnancy.

Someone else decided that they can’t choose their own birth control and family planning; that their reproductive rights are nothing more than an antiquated notion as they are patted on the head and sent on their way.

These same people, who find the names of their football teams sacred, who can’t say the word vagina even when legislating against taking care of it, who choose to have vasectomies and abandon their own children are deciding that my child can’t make her own choices.

I realized that this world is not as far off as I thought it was.

In stating that I wouldn’t let anyone do that to her, it was the knee-jerk reaction of a mother protecting her child, but I won’t be there forever. Who will protect her rights when I’m gone?

We need to fix this now.

Right now.

No more Rick Brattins, representative of Missouri who wants a woman to have the permission of the father to get an abortion.

No more Bob McDonnells, former governor of Virginia, who wants to force women to undergo an unnecessary and invasive medical procedure before having an abortion (which has thankfully been ruled unconstitutional recently in federal court.)

No more Joe Walshs, Republican representative who said that there should be no exceptions to anti-abortion legislation including if the life of the mother was at stake.

No more Sam Brownbacks and Scott Walkers, governors of Kansas and Wisconsin respectively who followed Bob McDonnell’s trans-vaginal ultrasound stance.

No more Todd Akins and Richard Mourdocks.

This needs to stop.

Abortion needs to remain safe and legal for ALL women regardless of circumstances and socio-economic disparity.

We need to teach girls and boys alike that abortion is a last resort, but it is always an option. If we weren’t so afraid of premarital sex being the official bogeyman of a teenager’s life, we could talk about real reasons why teens should wait for sex. We could teach comprehensive sex education including PREVENTING pregnancy, which in itself would prevent abortions.

We wouldn’t be demonizing contraceptive drugs in their non-birth control use and glorifying and making easily available men’s erectile dysfunction drugs which are held up in every advertisement as take this, have sex.

I won’t be around to protect my daughter and make sure that her wishes for or against pregnancy are followed.

I need the rest of this country to look out for HER INTERESTS instead of their own.

At eight years old, my daughter should not be worrying about people making her have a baby or forcing her to have a boyfriend or be married if she wants a baby.

At eight years old, she may not fully understand it, but she knows it’s wrong and it worries her.

It worries me too.