The state of California has often provided examples of outrageous liberalism, especially when it comes to social issues. This is the case even more specifically when it comes to abortion. The new state budget was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on the morning of June 20 and went in effect just last week on July 1. It had some rather bizarre inclusions, perhaps most notably the 40 percent increase for abortion funding. As Breitbart mentioned in “8 Crazy Things in Jerry Brown’s New California Budget:”
More Funding for Abortions – One of the most controversial aspects of California’s budget is the substantial amount of taxpayer funding for “pregnancy termination services.” This year’s budget provides for a staggering 40% increase in the reimbursement rate for abortions in the MediCal program. Well over $5 million in taxpayer funds is set aside to fund abortions. Sick.
It is “[s]ick” indeed. And what is even more so is that people who are actually sick, with real illnesses may be denied care. As abortion “services” increase, overall Medi-Cal services will be cut by 10 percent. Pro-life outlets, such as Live Action News, have commented on this preposterous state funding plan.
Sadly, it’s not so surprising that a state as liberal as California would be so focused on abortion, from its laws to its funding. For Americans United for Life state rankings for 2013 and 2014, California was listed as the 49th best state, or more aptly, 2nd worst, when it came to protecting life. It does not make it any less tragic, however, especially for those pro-life Californians who are being forced to fund abortion against their deeply held moral beliefs.
Governor Jerry Brown claims on his website, as one of his issues, “8. Fighting to Protect Civil Rights” that he has “also been an uncompromising champion of a woman’s right to choose[,]” and says that he “will continue to do so as Governor.” The governor certainly has shown how much he supports “a woman’s right to choose.” At the end of last year he signed a bill which would permit non-physicians to perform abortions, and for reducing health standards for abortion facilities. In his warped mindset, the governor claims that these laws would “support the health and well-being of women.”
What is even more warped, however, is that it is no secret that the governor was Jesuit educated. This background information is available on his website, his Wikipedia page, and in articles about the governor. His high school, St. Ignatius College Preparatory has a page “Jerry Brown’s Class of ’55 honors him by creating fully endowed scholarship.”
As one of those articles, from The Los Angeles Times mentions:
The governor also made references to his Jesuit training and his family’s political history.
“By the grace of God and habits of perseverance instilled in me by my family, the Dominican nuns and the Jesuits, I am here and ready to go,” he wrote.
Well, surely Brown missed out on a major point: that the Catholic faith, including the Dominicans and Jesuits, involves a “perseverance” of being pro-life. And one such notable example of a Jesuit is Pope Francis. The Holy Father himself is certainly a pro-life champion. And, especially considering that the governor intended to become a Catholic priest at one point, he should be too. In fact, all Catholics should be pro-life, but those who have the privilege of holding public office should be using their faith as a motivation to protect the unborn, especially when they have such great power to do so.
It is a moral evil for a state leader to tax his citizens so that unborn children will never get the chance themselves to become Californians. They will never get to live outside the womb, never mind receive benefits from a state budget. No, the budget of a state which was to be theirs instead funds their death.
It also reflects the “quick fix” mentality of abortion, which is at its core selfish and a rejection of personal responsibility, and perhaps worst of all, that some are regarded as not worth being allowed to live because of a “choice” their parents make. As Becky Yeh points out for Live Action News:
The California Department of Health Care Services states that until Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives, or LARCS, are widely utilized, the increase in abortion funding ensures that abortion is easily accessible. A lack of abortions funding will result in “ongoing expenses for years,” the report said. This is likely due to the fact that unborn children are cheaper to terminate than to raise.
All this is made worse in that Governor Jerry Brown considers himself a man of faith. I myself was Jesuit educated. Such Catholics care deeply about social justice. But, apparently some of us have forgotten that social justice is intended to benefit the least of us in our society, including and especially the unborn. Jesus says that whatever we do to the least, we do to Him. A Jesuit in office should be something pro-lifers celebrate. Instead, the unborn of California must literally pay with their lives while the man who runs a state they will never get to call home clearly has such an obvious conflict of faith.
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 8, 2014 at 8:10 am
The established rights earned by women, should not be compromised by anyone. The decision to bring a pregnancy to term is that of it’s ‘womb-owner’!
Not every sperm needs a name either!
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 10, 2014 at 3:02 am
You never “earn” the right to cause the death of another person inside of you. Women almost always consent to the act which resulted in the pregnancy. Biology dictates that sex can and does create babies and that the woman is the one who carries the child.
Also, where on earth did you get the notion that anyone ever said that sperm is named?? To suggest that pro-lifers are of such a mindset is ignorant and sickeningly so…
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 10, 2014 at 8:13 am
Rebecca, By “earned”, I’m referring to the legal Right that Roe v Wade afforded women of this country. A Right earned through wrangling against patriarchal stereotypes, whom would prefer to keep women subjugated to male authority.
As for the naming of EVERY sperm. That was sarcasm!
Your points are valid regarding the consensual aspects of the sex act, and that is the beauty of birth control medications, but not every encounter is planned, or consensual, so means are available to deal with that.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 10, 2014 at 11:33 pm
And the shameful thing about Roe v. Wade is that it actually makes the female fertility a disease, something to hide. Why should women have to do that in order to be equal? Abortion masquerades as something to be a sense of feminism and female power but is quite the opposite.
And thank goodness it was sarcasm… Some would not be though.
That is true, though is a small minority of pregnancies, which abortion advocates will try to use as an exception for support for abortion.
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 11, 2014 at 9:06 am
Respectfully Rebecca, I don’t think the decision on Roe v Wade infers that pregnancy is a “disease”, but it most certainly is a condition. One that may, or may not be welcomed upon the unprotected participant.
And YES, I agree that people should practice all human activity with measured safeguards. One wouldn’t attempt to bungie-jump without adequate gear.
However, the intrinsic nature of humans is what we’re up against as well. It’s not just a Liberal vs Conservative issue, but more, an Intelligence vs Ignorance issue. Sadly, there are far more of the latter than we would care to realize.
Religion does play an important role, but there are many whom are without religion, and it shouldn’t infer that they can’t be just as judicious as those who practice a different faith.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 15, 2014 at 4:00 pm
Fair enough. We do seem to disagree. But it is a condition which one almost always consents to. And to stop, other than through birth or a tragic miscarriage, means someone else has to die. This is an innocent, defenseless and vulnerable person who unfairly has to pay for the consequences of others. And I don’t know if you meant your point in such a way, but it absolutely is an “Intelligence vs. Ignorance issue.” The ignorance here is with regards to the humanity of the unborn, or to facing consequences.
And I only bring religion into it because Governor Jerry Brown is a man of faith who should know better. I have also written for Secular Pro-Life Perspectives before, an organization which is full of agnostics, atheists and humanists. I bring this up not to tout my credentials, but because I vehemently stand by that this need not be a religious issue, except when it comes to those who claim to have faith and therefore have no excuse not to know better.
Comment by VMWH on July 15, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Frequently enough, Rebecca, the pregnant woman has NO say in the conception of the child she is carrying either. LEARN that and grow a bit of humanity.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 15, 2014 at 10:55 pm
I’m very curious as to how frequently you think that actually occurs? Women having no control in conceiving children. I’m genuinely curious.
And I absolutely have humanity. I have humanity for the unborn children, but also for those who conceive them. This may sound tough, but sometimes showing humanity to someone is by allowing them to take responsibility. And here is where that isn’t so tough after all. Pregnancy centers give so much love and support for the mother while allowing her to keep her child. And, being pro-life is actually pro-women, especially considering how harmful abortion ends up being for women…
Comment by Karmasue on July 29, 2014 at 4:38 pm
And are you a death penalty advocate, Rebecca? Did you vote Republican in the 2008 elections, even though thousands of people were getting killed in Iraq?
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 31, 2014 at 8:01 pm
I am a moderate supporter of states choosing to use the death penalty. While some would point to this being a hypocritical position, which I can see, the unborn child is completely innocent while the person being executed has been found guilty of a crime. I was not old enough to vote in 2008. I would say I wasn’t a Republican until 2009 really. But one does not need to be anti-war to be anti-abortion.
Comment by Karmasue on July 31, 2014 at 9:05 pm
But one does need to be consistent if they insist that they are pro-life even to the point at which they call a zygote a life, but does not extend that pro-life to a mother who might will live if she gives birth, or to someone who has been convicted of a crime regardless of the fact that innocent people have been convicted and sentenced to death.
If you are going to play God, you need to think about who and why you are judging.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 31, 2014 at 9:49 pm
In no way do I claim to be playing God. The main difference I see with the death penalty is again, the innocence factor. It is a terrible tragedy that some actually innocent people have been executed because of a misuse of justice. The unborn child never gets a trial though and yet is always innocent. If it’s anyone who plays God it’s the abortion industry.
Comment by Karmasue on July 31, 2014 at 10:30 pm
There is no abortion industry. There are doctors who perform abortions, often to save a life. But you have decided to let the mother die.
You would take that decision from the victim of rape or incest into your own hands because you believe you know what she should do.
I am pro-choice, not pro-abortion, and hope I would never have to make that decision. But if I did it would be between me, my doctor and my God. And not based on what someone else thought my choice should be.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on August 3, 2014 at 12:20 pm
You’re free to disagree with me and it definitely seems you’re going to, but you may want to do so somewhat more intelligently.
To say that there is an abortion industry is actually a pretty objective term. Planned Parenthood, for instance, is in the abortion industry. They may perform the procedure because they believe doing so helps women, but it doesn’t change how they charge and bring in money for it.
In the instances where a mother’s life is in danger from the pregnancy, doctors will perform life-saving treatment, which is actually not a direct abortion. They may perform an emergency c-section for instance, which tragically but indirectly may cause the death of the child.
Even an organization which supports abortion, the Guttmacher Institute, links to an article that shows the overwhelming percentage of reason given is not to directly save the life of the mother. You may want to do some research and get your facts straight then before making such claims.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3711005.pdf
And some pro-lifers are in favor of the rape exception, others are not. Do some research on that too. Seriously, it’s quite compelling and heartfelt.
Go ahead and make such comments about it being between yourself, your doctor (who oftentimes is not the one performing the abortion) and God. God will still of course love you no matter what, but that does not mean we need to say that He supports abortion.
Comment by Karmasue on August 3, 2014 at 4:34 pm
From your “you’re free to disagree with me” lead-in to your “God will still of course love you no matter what” finish, it is apparent that you are some twenty-something know-it-all with zero life
experience and a self-righteous attitude.
It is also obvious you know nothing about
the wealth of health benefits that is Planned Parenthood. And if you think they are in the “abortion industry” then you also don’t comprehend women’s health
issues. Research it.
Women have abortions for reasons you would not only never understand, but are none of your business. And keeping abortion legal means keeping it safe. Without a safe option they end up resorting to
butchers – real butchers – to help them. But like Hobby Lobby, you and a bunch of morally superior right-wing nut jobs are bound and determined to force your
religious beliefs on women you don’t even know. What you just don’t get is that making it illegal won’t stop anything. It will just send them back to the
butcher. We’ve been down that route before.
And I don’t care what other pro-lifers are “in
favor of” because it is irrelevant. I’m in favor of you staying our of other women’s uteruses. I’m in favor of Planned Parenthood staying open and available
to help women with their extremely complicated, stressful and unrelenting
health issues, including providing information and safe access to abortion. The
best way to protect the fetus is to promote the health and well-being of women, not to impose martial law on their bodies.
Margaret Sanger said, “No woman can
call herself free who does not own and control her own body.”
And you know nothing about what my God
supports. We obviously don’t have the same one.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on August 3, 2014 at 4:50 pm
Well actually nothing is clear considering you know very little about me and my life, including unpleasant life experiences.
You’re just going to think that you’re right and that comments I mean genuinely and with no disrespect (I really do mean that God will love you no matter what) you take offensively. It’s really not worth continuing to further argue with you.
Margaret Sanger was also a eugenist and racist so…
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 31, 2014 at 8:01 pm
I am a moderate supporter of states choosing to use the death penalty. While some would point to this being a hypocritical position, which I can see, the unborn child is completely innocent while the person being executed has been found guilty of a crime. I was not old enough to vote in 2008. I would say I wasn’t a Republican until 2009 really. But one does not need to be anti-war to be anti-abortion.
Comment by VMWH on July 12, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Pregnancy is a life and death condition, Rebecca. Until the advent of modern medicine many women died of childbirth either directly from the bleed out, dirty birth conditions etc during or after the delivery or of too many pregnancies too soon. Had my daughter who was born in 1968 been born in 1868 neither of us would have survived as she was a dangerous breech birth. Had my sister’s son been born in 1856 instead of 1956 they both would have been dead for the same reasons. This kind of death still takes place with great frequency in second and third world areas.
Pregnancy is also extremely destructive to the body of the mother. I will give you examples of some of the mildest destructions of the mother’s body. We diaper our infants and because we gave birth, in my case twice, as senior citizens we have to diaper ourselves because our urinary systems never return to what they were before pregnancy. We have circulation problems like varicose veins in our lower extremities. Many women because of pregnancy end up with early osteoporosis and many girls who are pregnant too young end up with very fragile bones because WHEN we are pregnant any nutrition we take in goes to the fetus first. The relationship of the fetus to the mother is totally parasitical. It does nothing for the mother except physical damage and everything for the fetus.
That is why God gave us “motherlove”. It overwhelms all the damage pregnancy does to us and helps us to love and cherish our living children either in spite of what their births did to us, or perhaps because their existence makes our physical sacrifices in carrying and giving birth to them worth it. But pregnancy IS A serious life and death health issue FOR THE MOTHER.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 15, 2014 at 4:00 pm
Okay, be that as that all may, none of that warrants the death of an innocent, defenseless and vulnerable unborn child, who had NO say in being conceived.
Comment by VMWH on July 12, 2014 at 11:47 am
I pray to God, Rebecca, that you do not have to learn by experience that your primary premise that “women almost always consent to the act” has its serious exceptions. Keep in mind while you are making THAT point, that women almost always do their healthy best to carry every healthy pregnancy to term. Abortion is for the exceptions. Exceptional economic situations, exceptional health issues, exceptional fetal pain health or death issues, and exceptional criminal actions.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 15, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Let’s not bring personal experiences into this. Here is hardly the place to do so I think. But your point, I’m afraid, illustrates what the abortion lobby likely wants people to think. The abortion industry claims that no women plan on having abortion and such, yet the abortion industry certainly does such planning. Also, there is no such thing as an “exceptional… situation” which warrants a death. Your claims also disregard those women who use abortion as a form of birth control, or that abortionists have signed off the procedure under the guise of mental health when it came to young pregnant women wanting to attend rock concerts…
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 15, 2014 at 5:21 pm
If the pregnant woman wishes to end her pregnancy for ANY reason, she should always have that Right!
You won’t allow another woman to chose for herself, as long as you maintain that murder is in the mix, and that’s just your opinion.
Before birth occurs, the fetus is the sole property of the mother….PERIOD!
Freedom isn’t free, as so many say.
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 15, 2014 at 10:57 pm
And that is one more reason why abortion is like slavery in so many ways. Just like the black man or woman or child was regarded as not human but as property, so is the unborn child in the womb.
It is NOT just my opinion that abortion is murder. We’re all entitled to our opinions, but that a new human life begins at conception is a FACT.
Comment by Karmasue on August 3, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Right! Bearing a child alters a woman’s life more than anything else. Other
women’s rights are hollow if women are forced to be mothers. Being born
is a gift, not a right. People don’t ask to be born, and some even wish
they weren’t.
Comment by Didaktikos on July 8, 2014 at 8:50 am
Abortion apologists may euphemize about “terminating pregnancy” and “reproductive health,” but women who’ve seen the babies in their wombs know they’re not looking at a “clump of cells.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKKnCtNeRU#t=12
Kathleen Eaton, founder and CEO of Birth Choice Health Clinics in Southern California [ http://www.birthchoiceclinic.org/ ], writes:
“Historically, only 30 percent of our abortion-minded women changed their minds. However, by introducing women to their babies through ultrasound, more than 72 percent choose life.”
Informed choice: the bane of Big Abortion’s existence.
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 8, 2014 at 4:44 pm
What’s your point, M Didaskolos?
You, nor I, may ever know what circumstances provoke a woman to choose abortion, but the law stands, that a woman who wishes not to take her pregnancy to term, may abort it…. PERIOD!
Comment by Rebecca Rose Downs on July 10, 2014 at 3:02 am
Doesn’t make it right though.
Comment by M Didaskalos on July 10, 2014 at 10:29 am
And every pregnant woman should have (according to the burgeoning number of laws limiting the obfuscation and misinformation of the abortion industry) the right to know and see who’s in her womb before she aborts him/her. The Planned Parenthoods of the world have fought every informed-choice law on the books (e.g., Minnesota’s Woman’s Right to Know law — http://www.health.state.mn.us/wrtk/handbook.html– which PP fought for 9 years).
According to the “Induced Abortions in Minnesota,
January – December 2013: Report to the Legislature” — http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/abrpt/2013abrpt.pdf — these were the most common reasons women gave for their abortions (more than one reason could be given):
• Less than 1% for rape, incest (consistent with past years)
• 69% “does not want child at this time” (up 2% from 2012)
• 27% economic reasons (same as 2012)
Comment by MarcoPolo on July 10, 2014 at 11:24 am
The poll results seem sufficient enough to support the decision each woman will face.
Economics plays heavily in times like these, and thankfully, the authority of decision making falls upon the woman, and not outside forces.
Autonomy is essential to a free society.