ADVOCATE TALKING POINTS ON SSM: Elizabeth Marquardt responds

David and Tom have already responded admirably to the ridiculous "talking points" suggested by the Advocate when people challenge SSM for denying children a mother and father. Let me just say that when I read:

"For example: Birth can be a dangerous process, and sometimes mothers die from complications during childbirth, leaving children and widowers behind..."

I got sick to my stomach and I'm still seriously queasy as I write this. Maybe it's because I'm 4 weeks away from having another baby and the risks of childbirth are much on my mind. Maybe it's because I just read another give-the-man-a-Pulitzer column by Nicholas Kristof about the tragic circumstances in which so many women and babies around the world suffer and die in childbirth. But for some cheeky 18 year old intern to tell me, or anyone else, that birth is a "dangerous process" and the resulting deaths that sometimes occur should justify SSM makes me want to slug him, frankly.

Women very much hope to avoid dying in childbirth. They do everything they can to avoid it. And most decent people recognize it as one of the greatest tragedies on earth when it happens. By comparing it to SSM you're either saying that SSM is also one of the greatest tragedies on earth -- which I doubt is this kid's argument -- or you're saying that death in childbirth can be likened to adult choices made under no duress about how they would like to arrange their lives and bring children into the world. It's a lousy "talking point" and a rotten thing to say.

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posted by Eve at 4:02 PM | link

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