March 15, 2013 - This concludes Lindsay's storyline, marking the second time an abortion doesn't occur. One of the difficult arguments of the pro-choice movement is not to say that every woman should have an abortion but every woman should have the right to choose to have an abortion. And in this instance Lindsay chose not to abort.
Now, I don't want to oversimplify Lindsay's situation. Her pregnancy will likely be difficult as indicated, and I'm super vague about her job which could be a real big sacrifice for her to have to stay in bed during the later months of her pregnancy. The good thing is that she does have the knowledge to deal with having a child with dwarfism as it's something Linday herself struggles with daily. Faced with the prospect of giving birth to a child with disabilities, many women choose to abort. This isn't to say anything bad about disabilities, but raising someone with disabilities can require many sacrifices that women may not be prepared for or even willing to make. It's unreasonable to force anyone to take on such responsibilities when they weren't prepared for them (this extends to unintentional pregnancies as well) especially when the infrastructure isn't in place to care for people with disabilities already.
I intend to do much more analysis on this later point in the future. Right now I've only looked at cursory statistics and heard stories about how bad our country is at dealing with children with disabilities in the foster care system (or how much the foster care system is kinda failing overall). If no one is willing to provide the assistance that people with certain disabilities need, we shouldn't force anyone to offer that help at great personal sacrifice. But this argument is potentially only limited to disabilities that prevent ever achieving independence and autonomy, unfortunately even without such obstacles the world can still be cruel to people with disabilities.
Getting back to Lindsay, her disability is one that allows her to be about as independent as any person can be, but it still presents obstacles in her daily life that other people take for granted, such as her difficulty establishing friendships and finding a romantic partner alluded to earlier in this storyline. A part of the reason for wanting to have an abortion is her own feelings of not wanting to be in a world that treats people like her the way she's been treated and not wanting to make anyone endure what she barely endures herself. I won't say she has depression, but I tried to make it appear as if she set off some indicators for it. All this also isn't to say overcoming depression is easy, but it is doable (though again pretty vague in Lindsay's case). Lindsay may not like the world or even herself, but she can deal with that. Her viewpoints on what that means for carrying a pregnancy then become her choice. She can handle the sacrifices. She can handle the obstacles. And she can hope her child ends up able to stand tall.
If only every mother and child could be as lucky as Lindsay and her pregnancy, maybe the need for abortion providers would disappear. Unfortunately, I think many people are worse off than Linsay's situation which is why at least the option of early termination needs to be available.
Have a good weekend. More comics Monday.
-D
Now, I don't want to oversimplify Lindsay's situation. Her pregnancy will likely be difficult as indicated, and I'm super vague about her job which could be a real big sacrifice for her to have to stay in bed during the later months of her pregnancy. The good thing is that she does have the knowledge to deal with having a child with dwarfism as it's something Linday herself struggles with daily. Faced with the prospect of giving birth to a child with disabilities, many women choose to abort. This isn't to say anything bad about disabilities, but raising someone with disabilities can require many sacrifices that women may not be prepared for or even willing to make. It's unreasonable to force anyone to take on such responsibilities when they weren't prepared for them (this extends to unintentional pregnancies as well) especially when the infrastructure isn't in place to care for people with disabilities already.
I intend to do much more analysis on this later point in the future. Right now I've only looked at cursory statistics and heard stories about how bad our country is at dealing with children with disabilities in the foster care system (or how much the foster care system is kinda failing overall). If no one is willing to provide the assistance that people with certain disabilities need, we shouldn't force anyone to offer that help at great personal sacrifice. But this argument is potentially only limited to disabilities that prevent ever achieving independence and autonomy, unfortunately even without such obstacles the world can still be cruel to people with disabilities.
Getting back to Lindsay, her disability is one that allows her to be about as independent as any person can be, but it still presents obstacles in her daily life that other people take for granted, such as her difficulty establishing friendships and finding a romantic partner alluded to earlier in this storyline. A part of the reason for wanting to have an abortion is her own feelings of not wanting to be in a world that treats people like her the way she's been treated and not wanting to make anyone endure what she barely endures herself. I won't say she has depression, but I tried to make it appear as if she set off some indicators for it. All this also isn't to say overcoming depression is easy, but it is doable (though again pretty vague in Lindsay's case). Lindsay may not like the world or even herself, but she can deal with that. Her viewpoints on what that means for carrying a pregnancy then become her choice. She can handle the sacrifices. She can handle the obstacles. And she can hope her child ends up able to stand tall.
If only every mother and child could be as lucky as Lindsay and her pregnancy, maybe the need for abortion providers would disappear. Unfortunately, I think many people are worse off than Linsay's situation which is why at least the option of early termination needs to be available.
Have a good weekend. More comics Monday.
-D
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