Now that a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion confirmed conservative Supreme Court members are using The Handmaid’s Tale as a user guide, a woman’s legal right to an abortion is being thrown out the window by a bunch of crusty old men. This has caused citizens of our already bitterly divided nation to be even bigger dicks on social media.
While your mom probably doesn’t need you to mansplain abortion to her (chances are she or someone she knows has had one), this hot topic is bound to come up over Sunday brunch on Mother’s Day. We thought it might be good to come up with a guide to discussing abortion with your family so you can have a civil discussion about the matter without offending your dear old mom.
Cover Photo: Misko Dvasia / EyeEm (Getty Images)
Guide To Discussing Abortion
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1. Explain That Slut-Shaming Is Bad
If you have conservative parents who still think it's the the 1950s, be sure to explain to them that a woman never "asks for it" simply by wearing revealing clothing. Seriously, you may want to consider putting them in a home now if they keep that shit up.
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2. Rape Doesn't Have to Mean Forced Birth
Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency. In fact, it is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked with family and domestic violence. So be sure to drive this point home to the folks. Using sock puppets might be weird but kind of fun.
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3. Abortion, When Legal, Is Safe
The majority of studies find that abortions are overwhelmingly safe and basically on par with a standard colonoscopy. That's right: an abortion is equivalent to having your anus irrigated. Prior to the landmark Roe v. Wade court decision, abortions were anything but safe. If you really want to drive that point home, grab one of mom's wire coat hangers. Again, the sock puppets might help out here.
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4. Are You Pro-Child or Just Pro-Fetus?
For all the fuss and noise conservative lawmakers make over the issue of abortion, it seems they care more about that cluster of cells over not just the life of the woman, but the actual kid once they're born. After that, it's pull yourself up by the velcro bootstraps! As George Carlin famously said, "Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers."
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5. Abortions Can Be Medically Necessary
Getting an abortion isn't like deciding to throw out an old T-shirt. And while it's always the toughest decision a woman has to make, it's not always up to her. In other words, her doc might think it's medically necessary. Pregnancy imposes significant physiological changes on a person’s body. These changes can exacerbate underlying or preexisting conditions, like renal or cardiac disease, and can severely compromise health or even cause death. So yeah, it's not always just some loose gal wanting to continue her life of debauchery, Mom and Dad.
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6. Your Tax Dollars Are Not Killing Unborn Babies
With the internet basically being a place for misinformation, porn and cat or dog videos, one can see where it's easy to believe Americans are handing their tax dollars over to Planned Parenthood to kill babies. Tell your folks to Google the Hyde Amendment, which is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.
