An Open Letter to Pro-Lifers who Hate Babies
Dear Pro-Lifers who Hate Babies,
Your position does not make sense. If women do not have abortions they will have....BABIES!!!! Yes, BABIES! I am aware that babies make loud noises and sometimes even distracting smells. But, alas, they are the product of NOT HAVING ABORTIONS. Let me outline a few things that you might have to change now that you have begun to understand that spreading the anti-abortion message means that there will be more babies around:
1) You can no longer condemn parents of crying babies, either by making *tsking* sounds, shaking your heads, or muttering under your breath.
2) If you happen to be a conservative theology professor, you can no longer forbid the presence of an infant in your office hours. Guess what? Your student didn't have an abortion. Now she has a baby whose daycare is over before your office hours. Throw a blanket on the floor and shut up about it!
3) Catholic universities (such as the one I attend) cannot forbid babies from entering buildings because they are crying. Babies cry. It's cold out. Babies need to be warm. Deal with with.
Thank you for attention,
Me
(This letter brought to you by frustration with those who crap on students with babies.)
Your position does not make sense. If women do not have abortions they will have....BABIES!!!! Yes, BABIES! I am aware that babies make loud noises and sometimes even distracting smells. But, alas, they are the product of NOT HAVING ABORTIONS. Let me outline a few things that you might have to change now that you have begun to understand that spreading the anti-abortion message means that there will be more babies around:
1) You can no longer condemn parents of crying babies, either by making *tsking* sounds, shaking your heads, or muttering under your breath.
2) If you happen to be a conservative theology professor, you can no longer forbid the presence of an infant in your office hours. Guess what? Your student didn't have an abortion. Now she has a baby whose daycare is over before your office hours. Throw a blanket on the floor and shut up about it!
3) Catholic universities (such as the one I attend) cannot forbid babies from entering buildings because they are crying. Babies cry. It's cold out. Babies need to be warm. Deal with with.
Thank you for attention,
Me
(This letter brought to you by frustration with those who crap on students with babies.)
posted by Wild West Intern @ 12:57 PM
13 Comments:
At 23/12/05 06:21,
Kate said…
Sounds like you need Feminists for Life ( http://www.feministsforlife.org/) to come to your campus and give their talk on developing prolife (that is, pro-baby/pro-mother) campus policies!
Unfortunately, many Catholic schools don't live up to the name anymore.
At 23/12/05 07:41,
Anonymous said…
You are correct.
A society that has zero tolerance for a crying babe is a society with a death wish.
At 23/12/05 09:57,
Cin said…
Sorry, Colleen, but babies belong almost anywhere Mommy goes, for the simple reason that small babies need Mommy for nourishment.
I don't know about this blogger, but many moms nowadays breastfeed their infants.
I have two kids; both were breastfed, and I never, ever used bottles. I brought them many places, and they were hardly ever a distraction or problem.
As for babies not belonging in office hours -- three of my profs were new moms, and often brought baby to office hours (in a play pen) or even to class (in a play pen or baby sling). One used to even discreetly nurse in the sling during class!
Until we accept babies in public places, young women will never achieve true equality.
We're here. We breed. Get use to it.
Keep up the good fight, and keep bringing that baby with you!
At 23/12/05 11:22,
Anonymous said…
We should support women and children but abortion is wrong regardless of what policies exist for the care of children just as not supporting mothers and children is wrong regardless of what policies we have concerning abortion.
At 23/12/05 11:53,
Anonymous said…
Dear You,
You have a deal. Thank you for bringing new life in the image of God into this world.
I promise not to give you a hard time if your baby cries, or even if your baby is a bit stinky. I have two girls of my own, and I changed their dirty diapers and fed them, and comforted them when they were crying.
Some day, I may be a grandfather should the good Lord will it (but please God, not yet!).
All I ask is that you put up with my making silly faces at your baby and funny noises trying to get your baby to smile. Smiling babies light up a room brighter than a 500W flood light.
At 23/12/05 21:11,
Wild West Intern said…
Reading this post again, I understand why everyone assumed that I am a mother who was not allowed to bring my baby to campus.
Actually, I am a graduate student (and a feminist) and I was dismayed at the way one of my students had been treated. She needs support as a young mother in college, and she deserves respect for her commitment to herself and her baby.
As for my own policy...I ask students with children about their kids regularly. I tell them that I would love to meet the baby. When need be, I throw the blanket down on the floor of the office.
I'm used to having babies around in an academic setting, but only where my fellow grad students are setting the rules...several of my classmates are balancing doctoral studies with parenting. It's not uncommon to have a little person toddling around our offices.
As far as babies in the classroom...it is a tough call, I grant that. But I immediately have the image of one of my classmates as a new Daddy with his infant son strapped into a snuggly standing in the back of a lecture hall. He didn't do it all the time, and he stepped outside when the baby cried...and we had to hide it from the administration. But there was something reverent and magical about having a new life present in a classroom.
My main point was that it is ironic when pro-lifers are so anti-baby.
And my feminist sensibilities argue that women who are raising children deserve to be supported in their decision.
I also guess, as a therapist in training, that it takes a LOT to raise a healthy child. And that incorporating children to some degree into the workplace makes for a healthier lifestyle for parents and babies. And babies grow up with groups of adults around them who love and care for them. The village thing, I guess.
Finally...I am pro-choice. And what this post spoke to was about choices. Women who choose to have babies deserve support.
At 24/12/05 07:12,
Kate said…
I'd say that the better we give support to women with babies, the more women will make that choice to have their babies. Abortion is no choice at all (and this is reflected in the reasons that women cite for their abortions - finances, lack of support from family and the father, lack of emotional support, and educational and career ambition.) Abortion is a symptom of a societal ill...which is why true feminists should be pro-life, rather than compromising with an anti-mother, anti-woman society.
At 24/12/05 18:13,
Anonymous said…
I love babies and they don't always cry.
At 24/12/05 18:13,
Anonymous said…
I love babies and they don't always cry.
At 27/12/05 11:32,
Fredi said…
I'm not a mother, but when I was in grad school I had friends who were, and they brought their infants to class regularly.
Babies in class weren't forbidden in my secular public university (either of them I went to) and as such it was a non-issue. However, housing for single mothers was a big deal.
Feminists for Life is a great resource to deal with this, and I agree that it is ridiculous to not allow babies were they are not indangered.
At 28/12/05 09:39,
Cin said…
Colleen: please, no ad hominum attacks. Just because I disagree with you does not mean I'm childish.
Now, to the meat of your response: of course you don't keep a wailing infant inside a lecture hall. You take them out, and when they settle, you go back inside. I was not suggesting that wailing babies should stay inside a lecture hall.
That being said, it is a biological fact that babies need their parents, and breastfed babies need their mothers.
It is also a fact that reproduction is part of many young women's lives; not allowing them to bring their infants into their daily lives effectively means excluding the mother.
I beleive in walking the talk. If you're a feminist, then you need to support women in a practical way. What's more practical for a young mom than accepting she sometimes needs to bring baby along?
One more thing: babies who are breastfed, in my experience, don't tend to get into the wails. Tiny babies tend to cry when you've missed their hungry cues. BFing moms tend to catch those cues before the crying starts. (Of course, the exception to this is a colicky baby -- during colic, you really are stuck in the house!)
At 6/1/06 07:36,
Anonymous said…
I am a professor, and I have never seen a student bring a baby into my classroom or office.
I reserve the right to expell any student for a class session who is causing a distraction.
Having a crying baby in class would be about the same thing as playing a radio, or a video game- a distraction and that student would be expelled.
And yes, I HATE babies and am PRO ABORTION. Call my if you have a problem with this. (804)317-0244
At 16/3/06 16:56,
Anonymous said…
No woman should be Pro-Life! You can CHOOSE do whatever you want to do... but keep your views to yourself. How would you like to get knocked up and have NO CHOICE but to be the human host of a growing parasite? Ladies... keep your options open.
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