Blog for Choice

As our new President begins to dive deep into the numerous duties and responsibilities that we, the people, have bestowed on him through the democratic process, I turn my thoughts to the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The GOP has already begun pressuring President Obama to reconsider his position.

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to reconsider his support of legal abortions as anti-abortion activists arrived in Washington for a protest on the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling.

-The Miami Herald

Wexford Missaukee Right to Life marched this past Sunday to further their agenda against women (it's not enough that we have to look at their billboards plastered around the country every single day, or even watch them parade their agenda at the Greatest Fourth in the North). These are the kind of people who tell you that there is an alternative, adoption. I guess they just don't realize that there are thousands of children waiting to be adopted in the United States but nobody wants them. To every single person who wishes to overturn Roe V. Wade, I make this challenge: adopt one child from foster care.

Nearly One Quarter of Foster Care Children Are Waiting for Adoptive Families
In 1999, the latest year for which totals have been finalized, there were about 581,000 children in foster care in the United States. Twenty-two percent of these children -- about 127,000 kids -- were available for adoption.

Foster Care Population Down From 1999
Preliminary federal estimates indicate the foster care population decreased from 581,000 to 556,000 between 1999 and 2000. The number of children waiting to be adopted, however, increased to about 134,000 during the same period. Early estimates for 2001 show the foster care population marginally increased to 565,000.

-Adoption Institute

You don't have to tell me your excuses, I know that nobody wants those children. Those children are not perfect little infants. No, they are drug-affected babies, they are older children with behavioral problems caused by years of abuse and neglect, they are children with disabilities that require special care. Oh, so much easier to adopt an infant from some other country, sounds to me like participating in the baby trade, you know, trafficking in persons (albeit legal, it's still a little bit twisted).

President Obama, has stated in the past that he will not yield his position and I trust that he will not. My hope for the President and the new Congress is that they ensure the following:

-Fact based, comprehensive sex education
-An end to insurance discrimination for health services provided to women
-Laws to prevent the harassment and ensure the safety of health providers and their patients

Anti-abortion folk rely on fear and misinformation to bring more people into their fold, I hope that our elected politicians make their choices based on fact and their duty to uphold the civil rights of all citizens.

There's still time to Blog for Choice.