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The kids are playing in the basement. They have a few friends over, so, it's pretty loud down there. Dawn's sister, Deanna, is down there, keeping an eye on things. She's got a ten year old boy named Victor, a rather large, football-sized chap. The loudest booms on the floor in the basement would no doubt be him.
"Never quiet around here, is it?"
Dawn smiles. "I don't even know what that is." We're both parked on her couch. She's buried under the family English sheep dog, Goober, who's usually found flopped all over the place, a sea of gray, black, and white hair. I don't think I've ever seen Goober's eyes. He's a very friendly, well countenanced dog. "This is actually a dull moan."
"I see."
"So, tell me what happened now?"
"Carolyn had a meltdown today. Her weight issues, the failure to conceive, it's finally gotten to her. At 12 noon, she burst into tears, and told me to leave the room, after I tried to help her off with a blouse that got stuck up around her head. It was kinda small. She was trying it on. She cried for two hours. We went to Veterans Park and walked a couple of miles-"
"Nice day for that."
"But, she's still very down about it. She went in, and fell asleep, and I decided to come over, because I needed to get out of the house myself."
We're watching basketball on TV, sort of half-heartedly. It's the only sport Dawn likes, college basketball, and we're in the middle of March Madness. "She's been very stressed lately. You could hear it over the phone."
"It's that noticable?" I ask.
"Sure is. Job, bills, and on top of that, the baby thing. My sister went through that, not Deanna, the other one. Denise. Years and years. She couldn't afford to adopt, so they just accepted it and moved on, but it's heartbreaking."
That it is. More than so many of us will ever know.
"And then there are those who go in and have an abortion like they're going into KFC for a bucket of Extra Crispy," Dawn says, peeling a Clementine.
"Yep. Like John F. Kennedy said, 'Life is Unfair'."
A minute or so passes. Goober gets up, and goes to his water bowl in the kitchen. "I don't like it."
"What," I ask.
"Abortion."
"You mean, abortion on demand, and not to save the life of a mother, or incest, or anything like-"
"Right." Dawn looks searchingly into my eyes. "Abortion on Demand. Big Macs on Demand. Mutual Funds on Demand. On Demand. Play God on Demand." She keeps looking in my eyes, for some sign, obviously, that I understand her viewpoint. Republican versus Democrat. "I think it's wrong, George. It's wrong to do that. What kind of person does that?"
I sigh. "Usually a troubled person, a young person who didn't know what she was doing. And, of course, there's the kind of person who's doing it because she's not going to let anything get in the way of her lifestyle."
"Thank God that's not me," Dawn says softly. "Millions of couples who want to adopt, and can't, because of the government agencies who can't walk or chew gum at the same time, and you have people just going in and aborting their babies."
"I think it's murder, no matter how you slice it." I truly believe that.
Dawn turns her head sharply. She seems surprised. "You're Mr. Crusading Liberal."
"Yes. But, let's call a spade a spade. The heart of the fetus is beating. It's beating because it's alive. You have chosen to snuff out it's life, for whatever reason beyond the reasonable, what does that make you?"
Dawn looks at me, and smiles.
"Pro Choice means you're choosing to snuff out something that's alive. All this debate about what constitutes a living thing is complete, utter, total bullshit. Abortion is murder. Period. End of discussion."
"Wow."
"Now, do I think it should be proscribed? Outlawed? No."
Two surprises in a minute have shaken Dawn just a tiny bit. "Okay. Explain."
"I think that the problem in the first place was that it was outlawed. That such a stigma was attached to it by the Church. That you had women in trouble going to some quack pervert wielding medical tools on a back staircase, and leaving her bleeding to death."
"Right."
"The Church made it doubly difficult for you if you decided to carry the pregnancy to term. You had to go to some far away place on the down low, and have it and put it up for adoption. Religious institutions in America have traditionally treated women barbarically, anyway. That's one of the reasons people would opt for abortions after Roe/Wade. Actually, the numbers of abortions have decreased in recent years."
"Not enough."
"The best way is for abortion to be shunned as an option, instead of criminalizing it. Once you criminalize it, you make a new cottage industry for Organized Crime. The right people in this society have to set an example for others to follow, to make abortion the un-socially acceptable option. As long as you have self-righteous demagogues screaming about it, this isn't gonna happen. For this change to occur, it's gonna take years."
"I have what I feel in my heart," Dawn says. "Abortion is wrong."
"I understand your heart. Perfectly."
Dawn's sister, Deanna, has come up the stairs for something to drink. She's about three or four inches taller than Dawn, but has the same gloriously curly hair. She's also got wide rimmed eyeglasses. "So," she mutters, as she raids the refrigerator, "I hear you're going to school, for massage therapy?"
"You did hear correctly."
"Would you like a volunteer?"
"I already have a raft of them, but if you're offering, then, I do thank you."
"I mean, like, right now?"
"Look, I've only been in school a week. I don't know much at all."
"That's okay." Deanna sits on the lounger facing the couch. "I don't mind. I trust you."
"And," I say, with a bit of trepidation, "what did you want me to do?"
"How are you with legs?"
I smile. "Ordinarily, I love legs."
"Good. Could you give me all you know and rub my legs? Not my feet, the last thing you want is me taking off these boots, but my legs?"
"I guess." Seems everywhere I go someone wants a massage. Dawn looks at me, and then at her sister, and rolls her eyes upward. "Here, can you lie face down, or rest your chin on the pillow?"
Deanna turns over. "Like this?"
"Yes." I come over, and begin with techniques I learned last week in class. Small stuff. Deanna moans with delight"
"How about you?" I ask Dawn.
"It's okay, I'd just rather watch right now."
"Chickenshit!" admonishes her sister.
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Posted by Knoxxie03 on 2008-03-23 18:18:18 | Rating: | Views: 75
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wonderful story. Gets to the heart of the matter.
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Posted by crydun2004
on 2008-03-24 19:03:04
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There's a friend of mine in Pennsylvania who has a bumper sticker on his car that has the word 'Abortion', with the letters 'b' and 'r' crossed out. Replacing them are the letters 'd' and 'p'. Adoption.
Very clever. I'm in wholehearted agreement.
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Posted by Knoxxie03
on 2008-03-24 22:09:28
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I thought I was the only 'liberal' who was opposed to abortion. It usually surprised people. I'm against abortion for the same reasons that I support same sex marriage, I think it's a matter of human rights. In this case rights for the unborn child.
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Posted by hairytoad2005
on 2008-03-25 03:44:59
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Meanwhile, find another Liberal who thinks THIS way: I believe in personal responsibility. I believe that you make your own breaks in life. I think that my life, the way it is now, is not the fault of Society, or of George Whisky Bush, or of impressarios feeding me boy bands or mindless, untalented bimbos who lip sync, but of the choices I made, many many years ago. I make no excuses, or apologies.
I think that aborting a baby just because it interferes with you gearing up for a 5K run is not only irresponsible, but immoral and reprehensible as well. Yes, you made your Choice. Who does that reflect upon?
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Posted by Knoxxie03
on 2008-03-26 22:23:35
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Yep. That's unconventional alright.
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Posted by hairytoad2005
on 2008-03-27 02:36:10
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