Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Know Your Status!!

Today is Worlds Aids Day! It was estimated that at the end of 2009 33.3 million people were living with HIV. Those numbers are startling! I encourage everyone to spread the word through all of your social media outlets. Know your status, go get tested!!

Men In Abortion Pt. 2

My previous post addressed the concerns and the choice of the man surrounding abortion. In continuation of my last post, where does the accountability really fall in pregnancy prevention? This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed among our youth and within our communities! "He said he put on a condom" is what I hear in my community and among women I talk to. If any of you talk to young people, we see and here it everyday. So my question is, if we deny men of making the final decision on whether we chose to continue or terminate our pregnancy, why do we put the initial decision of whether or not to use a condom in their hands? This was another discussion that we had on the T.V show as well. There's this stigma associated with women carrying condoms. Why? Should we not want to stay protected just as well as the man does? Or is that we are conditioned to believe men control and make the decisions regarding sex? Which ever you believe suits the best, should we be leaving the decision to use a condom in the mans hands? We are the ones that have to face the decision on contiuning a pregnancy or not right?

Some of you may be thinking that these questions are silly and rhetorical. But the reality is that our young people experience these circumstances on a daily bases. It is the majority of our young girls who are being conditioned to leave the decisions surrounding sex up to our young men and when pregnancy happens, their left alone to make the decision. This NEEDS TO STOP! But sadly, without proper education, this will continue to affect our young women of color on a daily bases.

Men In Abortion Pt. 1

As most of you may know, the Leadership group has a live show that we tape monthly and it airs on CAN-TV. Well this month, one of our topics was "men in abortion". We discussed it from all angles. From financial contributions to physically being there at the appointment; to emotional support before, during, and after the procedure, etc. But what it came down to was ultimately, it is the woman's decision to either continue with or terminate her pregnancy. But why? It took two to get pregnant, so why does it only take one to make the decision? One of our discussions was regarding the choice of the man in this decision making process. Does he indeed have a choice in this matter? What if he wants her to terminate the pregnancy because he isn't ready or vice versa? Shouldn't we respect and honor his decision just as much as hers? This particular discussion got me thinking. As a social justice person who is very much involved in the pro-choice movement, am I being biased? Am I denying and disregarding a man's decision to choose or not choose abortion? Hmm....

The reality is, as the old saying goes "momma's baby, daddy's maybe". The woman is the one who will have to give birth; which can potentially be life threatening, definitely costly and very much so demanding in every aspect. I'm not saying that men don't have a say in this process. They're opinion should definitely be considered and respected. All I'm saying is men should understand that whether the woman chooses to continue or terminate her pregnancy, this is something that directly affects her body not his!