gbaji wrote:
I seem to recall that the whole unfairness of a congress made up mostly of men passing legislation about abortion was brought up fairly front and center the last time we had an abortion thread. And I'm pretty sure it was more than just one or two people arguing that since it only affects women then men should not have any say in it at all (even legislatively). Said opinion was generally disagreed with by the board as a whole as being ridiculous (and frankly unworkable in any real legal system), but it is an opinion that crops up in this subject with sufficient frequency to make note of.
Well, no one wants to make men feel like their thoughts and opinions don't matter, but this is the sort of legislation that has a far greater impact on women and that's why you will get folks asking you to step away from the table.
Being raped is traumatizing. It's just one of the most awful things that can ever happen. Ever. Mostly because often it's by someone you know and are supposed to be able to trust. Partly because feeling defenseless and powerless in any way breaks the human spirit. It's not something that the vast majority of men have had to deal with on the receiving end, and that's why when one of you trivializes it in any way, women react strongly. It's because we really feel that you just don't understand.
Besides that aspect, if I get raped, and as a result get pregnant, that's an issue that's happening to me. Only me. Not you, some random guy probably halfway across the world that I've never met. Why should your opinion on what I do after that matter?
If your opinion on what I will do in this specific instance doesn't matter, why should your opinion on what I can do on the issue in general matter?