Short Response 11/8

Although I found all the readings interesting, I specifically want to address one of the readings in Listen Up.  Inga Muscio discusses her personal experience with abortions, which she is seriously opposed to. She begins by relating abortion tools to vacuum cleaners, which I found quite disturbing. Her description of her first abortion was absolutely terrifying. Not only was it physically painful, but it seemed to be emotionally damaging. Despite this trauma, Inga actually got pregnant two more times, which I found to be quite incredulous. Her second abortion was more familiar because she knew what to expect. Finally, for her third abortion, she decided to use herbal remedies and specialty massages to abort her child. Muscio wants a more informal discussion of our bodies and personal health to help us better understand what is going on internally. She calls for the destruction of abortion clinics and instead promotes organic abortions, stating " Abortion would be a personal, intimate thing among friends." This quote seriously disturbed me for several reasons. First, I do not think it is normal for a woman to have three abortions. I think many people can relate to getting caught up in the moment, but aborting three children because of reckless behavior is not only irresponsible but hypocritical. For her to be so opposed to abortion clinics after she used and benefited from their services twice is ridiculous to me. Secondly, her support of organic abortions seems very risky. I wonder if she took into account the fact that she had two abortions in the past, which probably had a significant effect on the success of her organic abortion. Thirdly, she feels that if organic abortions were explored than the debate over abortion would disappear. This belief is totally overlooking what lays at the heart of the abortion discussion, which focuses more on the morality of the issue than the technical methods used. Finally, her belief that "Abortion would be a personal, intimate thing among friends" just sounds so odd to me. No matter what your views on abortion are it should never be taken lightly, which is how this statement sounds. Her whole article truly put a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I am missing her argument, but I entirely disagree with most of what she wrote.