It takes two: But somehow, US legislators hide the other behind a curtain

     This newsletter is about something that should be of concern to everyone. But, to discuss it, I will be jumping over a topic that is of great controversy within the US. It is an important topic and I have very firmly held opinions. Others have very different firmly held opinions. It just isn’t the focus of this newsletter. Discussing controversial topics is something that people should not shy from but my newsletters are written primarily to inform of basic issues.

     So, I jump over a very important period of time. And here we are with an undesired pregnancy. At this point, there are a lot of states and legislators who feel that they should direct the outcomes.

     Ideas & Interpretations is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Although all will receive the postings, paid subscribers get the warm cuddlies that they are helping me to continue on.

Some Basic Facts

     For a pregnancy to occur (at present, cloning or asexual reproduction may not always stay within the realm of science fiction) it requires an egg and a sperm. One comes from a person who has the genetic capacity to produce eggs. The other comes from someone who has the genetic capacity to produce sperm. We call these women and men though genetics are not always so simple (but 99.99+% of the time it is).

     A journey is started when the sperm encounters the egg. At what point the result is called this or that is not the focus of this newsletter. It has happened and an end result occurs. What happens then? At this point, there is a fertilized egg. It is estimated that between 50% to 70% disappear before they are noticed by the mother or a pregnancy test can come back with a pregnancy verdict. Beyond that point, it is considered a “pregnancy”.

Now that it is a “pregnancy”, humans start making decisions

     Once a pregnancy is known, people start having opinions about it. Some love it. Some fear they will not be a good parent. Some never wanted it. Some others feel that it has been decided by fates beyond the control of humans. For some, it was violently forced upon them. Unfortunately, many who feel “it was meant to be” decide that they want to control the pregnancy and the mother. Yes, I said the mother — the (mostly male, but not exclusively) legislators decide that they know more than the mother, doctors, and the universe what is best. AND they almost always neglect the participation of the father in the event even though IT TAKES TWO to start the journey.

Consequences and Control

     50 to 70% of the fertilized eggs disappear before they can be counted within the group called pregnancy. Does that mean that nature, and the universe, has given the fertilized egg a pass? No, in the first trimester another 10% to 20% cannot continue to make the journey towards the outside world and are taken away. But, once it is officially a pregnancy, some legislators want to control the woman (never the man) for what nature has decided — it makes no difference to their legislation how, or for what reasons, the journey has been launched.

      What if the mother (or the father — in this situation, the man does often make the decision; I know of several abortions that were insisted upon by the man) decides it is best for the fertilized egg to not complete the journey? This often falls into the same laws that apply if nature/the universe/God has made that decision. Once again, such legislation is pointed towards the woman and NOT the man even though IT TAKES TWO.

Some of the various out-of-balance legislation concerning the journey of the fertilized egg.

     Once considered pregnant (even earlier if one counts “morning sickness” and similar bodily effects), the woman is the entire universe of the fertilized egg in transit. As I understand it, rabbinical scholars consider the egg in transit to be an integral part of a woman and not a separate object. It is also true that, in many cultures with high infant mortality, even after escaping into the world, a child is not named for a year or two as something that is part of the family for so short of a period of time does not need one. Those items of information do not sway the opinions of those who feel they should control the woman’s body.

     In the US, many government entities and courts feel that the fertilized egg, independent from the mother, has individual rights that are considered to be more important than the rights and safety of the mother. They give themselves authority, and control, over the woman carrying the fertilized egg in transit once it can be defined as a pregnancy. (There are some outliers who want to define even earlier in spite of the very high spontaneous abortion rate.)

     Mostly, these controllers of women want to make sure that the mother does nothing to stop the journey of the fertilized egg. Prevention of undesired pregnancies is not of importance, consequences of forced pregnancies is not important, the likely future situation of the escapee at the end of the journey, and the health of the mother and fertilized egg are not important. The journey MUST continue! And that’s a problem in many different ways.

     First, is the reality that 10 to 20% of the journeys are stopped by the universe with no direct interference from anyone. But, once recognized as a pregnancy, it is the responsibility of the mother (the father is kept behind the curtain) to keep the journey going and can get into severe trouble if the universe decides differently and spontaneously (as part of that 10% to 20%) end the journey. The choice to terminate this particular journey is removed, regardless of the impact on the woman, her life, and future. The choice is also made by those outside sources not taking into account the future stages of the fertilized egg.

     Secondly, the journey is easy for some women. For other women, it is very hard and there is need of all kinds of support — financial, medical, social. But that’s not important to the controllers. Only the journey matters and the woman (not the man) will be held responsible even for consequences directed by the controllers.

     Thirdly, once the fertilized egg has moved out from the warm comfort of the woman into the harsh, cold world, the controllers don’t care. And that’s a huge problem since the controllers are making sure the consequences will happen if the fertilized egg is forced to continue to move into the outside world.

What about the man, where is he?

     Back to that second half (the sperm) of the start of the journey of the fertilized egg. There isn’t much special during the period before the fertilized egg makes itself known. But once it makes its announcement, the mother faces momentous things in her life. Most of the time, it is hopefully a joyful discovery. But not always and, when outside groups take control of her and her body, choices become fewer and more dangerous.

     What about the man? In my opinion, he should be informed. Past that, the mother should be making all final decisions. Should the man be part of this journey? Was his part an unwanted, perhaps forced, event upon the mother? Will the man be a welcomed and supportive part of the journey?

     At this point, those who want to control COULD be of assistance. Once identified, the male-side-of-the-journey should be required to financially support. If his part was forced upon the woman then I think measures should be taken such that this never happens again. Prison or castration. At all times, the mother should be in control of her own body and her own decisions.

When control of her body is taken, all support is mandated

     Even though not desired, if an outside group does make decisions of control over the woman then they must also commit to support of the mother during the journey and after the possible entry into the outside world. Anything else is completely immoral according to both explicit and implicit standards of society. Aside from the remembrance that a man is also (perhaps exclusively) responsible for the start of the journey, this is the primary point for this newsletter. One can swipe from the comics as “with great power comes great responsibility” but, in any set of words, control must be teamed connected to support.

The community, or village, is there to support

     The group of people, with final responsibility, is the community. The village should be in full support of the journey, if desired, within the mother. And, the village should be supporting of those who recognize the completion of the situation which includes the mother and the originator of the sperm. The journey of the fertilized egg started with a man and a woman and, with the woman’s body being that which is most directly affected, the continued participation of the man, and the surrounding village, should be the primary source of support of any needed nature.

May the Circle be Unbroken: full cycle cost analysis

     There are a lot of circles, or cycles, in life. The "Circle of Life" which moves between birth to death back to birth. The "Carbon Dioxide" cycle has CO2 arising from combustion (burning) of materials and then being trapped by living plants to strain it out of the atmosphere but providing the possibility of going back to the atmosphere when the "storage" is burned. Number three is a more "macro-" (big picture) view of recycling and reuse (as talked about in my other blog The Houseboat Philosophy). A fourth (which is the primary focus of this blog) arises from manufacturing. There are others.
     Manufacturing starts with a plan. The plan is based around a finished product. In order to complete the plan, there is a need of a list of components. Each component may be composed from individual parts, and the parts will be created from some original resource. Beyond the list of components, there is assembly/manufacturing, and then sales and distribution.
     The parts that occur between the harvesting of the raw materials and the sales and distribution are typically considered a "normal" aspect of business. A company may outsource (farm out, sub-delegate or sub-contract, etc) parts of the work but all of the parts, whether done directly by the company or not, are part of a "normal" manufacturing process. For many companies, this is the end of their process. However, it is not the end of the cycle. A cycle does not complete until everything is back to the beginning (though rarely EXACTLY the same for the next cycle).
     What does an incomplete cycle look like? With the CO2 cycle, we are seeing the effects right now. More absorbers (plankton in the ocean, trees and other plants on the land) are being displaced while historical (fossil fuels and some current biofuels and other combustibles) "fixed" carbon dioxide is being released into the air.
     In the case of a manufacturing cycle, the direct effect of not completing the cycle is pollution. If the company does not take care of it -- making it part of the product cost -- then it is taken care of by the taxpayers. This is a prevalent form of corporate subsidy -- and part of the reason why environmental laws and protection agencies are needed to prevent some corporations from offloading their costs to the general population.
     What methods are used for handling pollution? Recycling is certainly one method. Containment is another. Unfortunately, ignoring it is another common method which causes other, less direct, costs for health and medical treatment and loss of productivity for farmers, fisherpeople, and others who work within the global environment to produce food or provide recreation. Reduced fishing yields, enormous islands of plastic in the ocean, and a hazardous cycle of needing increasing amounts of pesticides/herbicides/insecticides to maintain crop production levels act as hallmarks of improperly handled pollution.
     In 1900, there was probably more pollution produced per person than there is now. However, since the population was approximately 1/5 of today's population, the total amount of pollution was less. Pollution was more concentrated around industrial areas. This created "dead areas" but, outside of the industrially concentrated sections, nature could largely handle the edge conditions and there were still areas which were able to be self-sustaining. With today's population and the spread of urban areas, there are few areas where nature is able to keep up with the demands upon the ecology.
     If a corporation is to sell products according to a full cycle cost analysis, then all must finish (for the single cycle) in as close to an original condition as possible. That extra cost is added to the price and the company takes on the responsibility for taking care of the pollution and side-effects of harvesting resources. Otherwise, the general populace pays the cost via taxes and deterioration of health and the environment. In either case, the cost exists.
     What other circles, or cycles, are important within your life? What happens if the cycle is interrupted?