I assume that most of those who have an account here are pro-choice regarding personal euthanasia, suicide, or catching the bus, as people say here. What about other topics - abortion, guns, education, military draft, euthanasia (for others), medical procedures (anything from prescription medicines to surgeries), vaccines, covid mandates (intentionally including this as a separate category to vaccines and medical procedures), procedures to change gender (surgery, hormones), mental health'care', the ability of children to make decisions, illicit drug use, criminal 'justice', self harm etc? Feel free to chime in on any topic not mentioned as well.
Curious to see if the pro-choice belief stops at the right to die, or if it does not, its nuance amongst the topics above.
Kindly refrain from making personal attacks on members based on any beliefs they may share in this thread.
Edited to add topics as I think of them.
abortion: living women mean more, way more, than a bunch of cells not yet having a self-concept. and like, abortions are already emotionally painful. if someone wants to do this it must be becuz the other way round is worse. like people commit suicide becuz living is worse off.
guns: I'm kinda torn between Black Panthers and gun control. like, once BIPOC people are armed, right wing shouts gun control. smh. and I've learnt too much from life why prohibitions don't work. you can't kill an intention. but in the very least, police should not carry guns. not that policing should exist anyways. there's not all that much violent crimes, so if po-po really needs to stop some super violent situation (where, honestly, *deescalation* works better than threats), they can throw their baton from 10 feet away. lol. I promise this'll significantly lower incidences of direct, physical police violence. gunshot, you just pull the trigger. hurling batons all day? that's too much effort.
military draft: okay, do you listen to SOAD or Testament?
"utilizing drugs to pay for secret wars around the world, drugs are now your global policy, now you police the world".
"and what about the CIA? what the fuck is their real job anyway?"
"why don't the president fight the war? why do they always send the poor?"
they've put it better than I could. and you know, much of the poor are also Black and brown people.
medical procedures: too much ableism in every part of medicine and not enough informed consent. also, gotta need more methadone, suboxone, naloxone access. needle exchanges, hep C testing. we are still largely under-served.
first time reading Rx info on my bupe and it said something like "do not give this to dope addicts". I got a million question marks flying around my head and crashing into one another. this is a medication that can ease withdrawals and/or treat opiate addiction. now don't give this to opiate addicts??? who am I??! who needs this stuff if they aren't an addict??! (suboxone, aka. bupe, makes you throw up like shit if you're opiate-naive.) if anyone's still selling their methadone on the streets it means we're underserved by clinics. or becuz clinics force you to be sober instead of allowing your own management.
vaccines: if you ain't getting your kids vaccinated you're anti-kids. nuff said. ('cept there are circumstances of predictable allergies and other conditions interfering with vaccination. in this case only herd immunity will protect these people. measles are getting worse each year and polio is coming back… how many more iron lungs are we gonna need?)
and be warned of your "freedom" cuz now I know you watch fox news and I'm leaking it. /s
trans medical care: I need it. period. but I get paranoid knowing therapist sessions can feel like fucking exams. like you gotta need to "prove" your gender to them. well, if doc can prove their gender to me I'd just use the same words back to them. 'cept they can't. no one could.
anyways I prolly already said too much. but I'm morbidly curious about another thing. what's everyone racialized as here? a lot of these forums can be 99% White and that's sadly just excluded everyone else from these spaces.
Such circumstances would be seen as abhorrent if they were perpetuated by anyone other than our "healthcare heroes." I have nightmares from seeing what happened to loved ones in mental health facilities, many people I know never regain their sense of self after being locked up in those modern day asylums. One of my family members became abusive, violent, and caustic after her stint in a ward, and she remained unhinged until her death. Yet, this is seen as a helpful medical intervention instead of a human rights violation.
or being thrown into the "the hole". sectioning simply needs to stop. it's one of the worst ways they abuse someone. doesn't de-escalate anything. person gets more frustratedly violent cuz it's non-communicative. they ain't heard nothing from me kicking at bare walls yet, so, must kick harder.
and I got fully convinced about this shit being traumatizing after I discovered we had a new alter right after that experience. that's enough for a testimony.