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The mere mention of Roe v. Wade often strikes a certain amount of discomfort for many. For others it invokes a sense of justice, and then there are those who are overcome with rage. Clearly it's one of the most publicly tumultuous decisions ever handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

With yesterday marking the 34th Anniversary of this landmark case, I was looking for a way to discuss it that felt right. Because it is still such a controversial issue for so many, I feel that dialogue about the subject must also be carefully tempered.

I am grateful for the right to be left in charge of my own body by my own government. I believe it's an issue that each woman has the right to decide on her own, period.

Many times when I struggle to find the right words to express my feelings, I turn to others. This time is no different. This was written today by LLP contributor, Mensch71. It is republished in it's entirety with her permission.

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Growing up in the Casa de Mensch, I regularly embarrassed (and now grateful) for the frankness with which MommyMensch discussed sex, drugs and alcohol. By the time I'd reached puberty, not only did I know the proper names for most everything, I knew how things worked. Mom was absolutely determined that HER daughter would not find out about reproduction from a book or a health class. She dispelled every sex myth ("you can't get pregnant if you do it in a swimming pool!") and made sure that I knew the consequences of drinking while doing anything, including breathing.

As I got older, I became the Sex Guru among my friends, simply because my Mom made sure that I was informed. It's not that I had much personal experience, but I was prepared. When I leapt into the fray, I was smart and safe.

At some point during high school (or maybe a little earlier), Mom told me about a college acquaintance of hers who found herself in the family way. Now, this was the 1960s when unmarried and pregnant were Just. Not. Done. Her options were to drop out of college and to drop out of college. I don't remember all of the details here, but what I do recall is that this desperate woman had a "coat hanger abortion".

She died.

She died because she had no choices. Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. On January 21, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that upheld a woman's right to make choices about her own reproductive health.

Contrary to some opinions, Roe v. Wade doesn't encourage abortions, it simply provides woman with the right to have one. For nearly my entire life, this right (along with the right to vote, drive and serve in the military) has been part of my world. I can't imagine a time where it wasn't ok for me to be the master of my own ship, the captain of my own destiny.

That said, there are many who would like to see a world where reproductive health choices are the purview of the church and there are others who believe that women shouldn't have the vote or be allowed to own property or be the CEO of a company. As absurd as that sounds today, remember that only decades ago... this was the case. So be grateful for the rights that we have today and work to protect those that others would take from us.

Just Say NO to Dick and YES to Jen - Reason #10

Abortion is one of those hot-button issues that really isn't comfortable to think about or discuss.
But when it comes down to it, the majority of voters believe that a women has a right to choose for herself, particularly in cases of rape and incest.
Not only is Governor Granholm protecting a women's right to choose, she's actually being pro-active on stopping unwanted pregnancies all together.
Dick DeVos' plan? Other than interfering with a women's right, he hasn't said boo.
So why would we vote for a guy that doesn't stand for what we do?







10. Dick DeVos has extreme views on abortion, even in the case of rape and incest.
Dick DeVos does not support a woman's right to make personal medical decisions and opposes reproductive choice — even in cases of rape or incest. (MIRS Capitol Capsule, July 20, 2006)







10. Governor Granholm supports a woman's right to choose, and is working hard to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Governor Granholm has vetoed two bills that would have restricted the right to choose.
Jennifer Granholm established the Talk Early & Talk Often program designed to offer resources for parents to discuss abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, and other issues regarding sexuality with their middle-school aged children. (MDCH)

Here are the facts...

Governor Granholm says that she supports a woman's right to choose, but she believes we need to be pro-active when it comes to unwanted pregnancies.

• 40.6 percent of all pregnancies are unintended – (MDCH 2001 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System)
• The total cost to Medicaid for the delivery of a baby and first year of life is $11,528 – with the cost of delivery averaging $6,197 and the cost of first year of life services averaging $5,331. (MDCH FY07 Budget Projections)
• In FY 2000, the state Medicaid program paid for prenatal, delivery and post-natal care of roughly 26,000 unintended births. Each birth cost Medicaid $11,000, which translates to $286 million in costs for Michigan. (MDCH FY 2000 Budget)
• If Michigan can reduce the number of unintended pregnancies by 10 percent, it would save the state over $27 million in Medicaid expenditures annually. (MDCH F707 Budget Projections)

Dick DeVos says he's opposed to abortion and would be thrilled if it were banned. Amway Guy has no plan for preventing un-planned pregnancies.

Pro-Life
What exactly does that mean?
Amway Guy won't elaborate.
He won't tell us, but he'll sing like a canary when it means he gets an endorsement potentially worth thousands of votes and even more in terms of campaign dollars.

Right to Life of Michigan, for example, has strict criteria for endorsing candidates, and the group isn't averse to "parsing" the issue.
To get Right to Life's endorsement -- as DeVos did months ago -- a candidate must "be pro-life with no exceptions other than the life of the mother."
Incest? Not an exception.
Rape? Not an exception.
Health of the mother? "Nope," says Larry Galmish, who heads the Grand Rapids-based group's political action committee. "When you get into health, you can make exceptions for a broken fingernail."
-snip-
DeVos filled out the group's extensive and "confidential" questionnaire, and submitted to a lengthy interview before getting an endorsement, Galmish said.
But Galmish does say that "we endorsed Dick DeVos early and we found him to meet all the criteria we have. We have no questions," about his position on abortion. (Detroit News 7/22/06)

But that's not the end of the story. Just a couple weeks ago, while being interviewed on Michigan Catholic Radio, Dick DeVos mentioned that he'd be "thrilled" if Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Associated Press 10/13/06)