I'm pro-abortion. I'm in complete support reproductive justice, safe and accessible abortions being of a piece of that (along with health education, birth control access and variety, supportive adoption services, midwifery, etc). I'm anti-poverty, anti-abstinence education, anti-all-structural-oppressions and medical…

(Sorry, this post is really not directed at you, but at the thread generally. I just can't seem to post a response anywhere else, because technology, or whatever)

I am for abortion. I do want it as a possible outcome. I dont find a single thing wrong with abortion. I don't find it any more awful than any other type of medical intervention.

I understand what you probably mean — it's what most kind, pro-choice people mean when we say "no one is pro-abortion," which is to say that prevention is much more ideal, and we're not actively trying to drive up our abortion numbers or anything. I just get rankled as sometimes I feel like that line is a compromise…

"Second, is anybody really ''for'' abortion? I really dont think anyone likes it, or wants it as a possible outcome."

I am.

"I really dont think anyone likes it, or wants it as a possible outcome. "

I do.

"Of course no one is pro abortion"

Um, why? It's maybe not ideal just because there is a slight risk of complication, but I consider myself pro-abortion in the same way I'm pro-birth control. I feel like the "Well, no one LIKES abortion..." mindset is giving too much credit to the anti-scientific "well, maybe fetuses…

That's a totally consistent, normal, rational belief. It is certainly arguable, but its not questionable in the way that claiming the sun revolves around the earth is questionable. Not only is it not in the same ballpark, its not even the same fucking sport.

There has probably never been a moment of Michelle Bryom's life where she wasn't victimized—either by a family member she should have been able to trust or by the system that should have been there to protect her.

As a criminal defense attorney I find this truly appalling.

So you have a woman who's abused by one man growing up, then by another man she married, and then finally gets exonerating evidence excluded on a technicality by yet another man, who then sentences her to death.

Where you live and the particular police culture and system also make a big difference.

We ran into this discussion on my neighborhood mailing list in our city. We have a ordinance where the cops are allowed to moonlight as security police - using city issued uniform, gun and police car. Works okay on a freelance basis for events and small businesses who need crowd control, but recently, the police got…

This is how my classmates (in a forensic psychology program, dealing with POC's who may have been abused by cops, or see them in that way) feel. This is how they act and we have several people who have worked in law enforcement in the program and they say the same thing "if they are nervous, they have something to…

THANK YOU! Unfortunately, I have had AWFUL experiences with cops. One of the most traumatic was when my mom, freshly beaten by her alcoholic, knife wielding, ex-husband (who had a restraining order against him, mind you) was savagely talked down to by two policemen. They actually asked her for her papers FIRST (we're…

I'm a white woman, raised in the suburbs. For about a year after I was raped at gunpoint in my home, I thought the police were pretty awesome. They were consistently solicitous and gentle and kind during the investigation and they caught the guy, who is now in prison for 117 years (I wasn't his first or last). They…

I'm fairly neutral on them myself, even though I've had some bad experiences. I believe they're *overall* a necessary, "good" force for society, but I almost know no one that doesn't have a horror story or two with them. Some of it's certainly biased I-didn't-like-getting-in-trouble stuff, but I do believe abuses are…

THIS.
I'm a white, straight, working class girl who stays informed about stuff like this. I've had both positive and (mildly) negative interactions with the police, and I can definitely see how obviously race/gender/class played into each scenario. The people I interact with since I've emigrated are now mostly middle…

On a more serious note, this reminds me of a Facebook post about a cop I saw once.

THIS. THIS. THIS AND THIS A MILLION TIMES.

Why shouldn't I be afraid of police officers? They have both guns and a system that will back them up if they do something wrong. You and your husband may be faithful employees, but others aren't, and they're scary because ordinary citizens don't have much recourse against them. It's not just a handful of the largest…