So, I’ve been mostly out of it for the last 3 days with some kind of virus. And I couldn’t be happier to see RT doing just fine without me, although I got me a mess o’ potamia that piled up while I was out. While I was rolling around in my bed with a 101.3 fever, I had a lot of time to think about things. A lot. Of time. And although one of things was the WARM 101.3 jingle playing over and over in my head (aiieeee! make it stop!), one was about the whole abortion vs. forced birth debate that’s been going on for years in the US, brought to mind by reading stlo7’s post about his evangelical friend.

In particular, I kept thinking about the 2004 presidential debates, and how at the townhall-style one, a woman asked John Kerry his position on abortion. I remember wincing and thinking to myself “Don’t screw up!” (a common thought of mine throughout his campaign), and then he lumbered into his answer: “(pause)I deeply (pause) respect (pause) where you’re coming from (pause) on this issue.”

That’s a paraphrase, but anyone who saw the debate will agree with me that it’s pretty close to what came across. You could almost hear everyone writing off the coming answer as more “politician-speak”. So, with the best Monday morning quarterback intentions, and a lot of time on my hands, I worked out what I would have said to her.

“Before I answer that question, since this is kind of a town hall meeting, let me ask those of you here, I’m curious: How many of you want to see more abortions happen? Show of hands. Anyone? Ok, how many want to see fewer abortions happen? Yep, just about everyone. There’s about an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats here tonight, and I’ll bet some of you are surprised to see folks in both parties agreeing on this, based on what you’ve been told. You know what? I would LOVE for this country to be a place where there is NEVER a reason to have an abortion. But if we really want that, we have to go after the root causes: rape and poverty. The NRA has a saying: “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” We know from history that when abortion was illegal, abortions still happened, in back rooms and back alleys, and often killed both the mother and child. On abortion, I say, let’s stop hacking at the branches, let’s hack at the root, and put an end to the need for abortion, once and for all.”

I actually did the political cartoon at the top in MS Paint a while back. Anyone know anyone with cartooning skillz that wants to re-do it?