Unconsionable - Mary Cheney is Pregnant

Mary Cheney is pregnant. The Conservative firestorm has begun.

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America calls the pregnancy “unconscionable”. I firmly believe that Janice Crouse’s statement is “unconscionable.” What right does she have to decide whether a pregnancy is conscionable or unconscionable? What right does she have to be part of a group that promotes allegedly narrow-minded thinking and outright discrimination against other humans? I really do not have the answers to those questions. Janice Crouse, and others like her, have the right of free speech, and she does have the money behind her of other allegedly narrow-minded people so that her voice (not necessarily a wise voice) is heard over the voices of others.

Janice Crouse also made the following statement: It’s very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father.

Why? My sister raised her two children on her own after her husband left her. They grew up just fine without a father. He was a peripheral presence in their lives. My sister taught my nephews about love, respect, the difference between right and wrong, and the acceptance of responsibility. She did a fine job. Both my nephews are currently on the road to serving our country. My own father was a peripheral presence in my life. My mother taught my siblings and me the same thing my sister taught her children. My mother raised us, not my father. He worked for a living. He provided the home. He was a distant figure in our lives. He was not integral to who we each became as adults. A father is not a necessary figure in a child’s life. A mother is not a necessary figure in a child’s life. Love is the necessary figure. Has Janice Crouse considered the fact that some fathers physically abuse their children? Has she considered the fact that some father’s sexually abuse their children? Has she considered the fact that some mothers do the same thing? I really do not think so. Her statement appears biased, and based on limited information, rather than factual information.

The thing that bothers me most about Janice Crouse’s statements, and other individuals like her, is the fact that they willingly discriminate against people. Consistently, the conservatives deny equality to people. Consistently, Janice Crouse and other like-minded individuals, feel that their views should take precedence over the views of others. It is the year 2006, and yet we might as well be in the 1800s when women had few, if any rights, African Americans were fourth-class citizens, and the idea of equal rights was nothing but a dim illusion not likely to happen any time soon.

Discrimination is wrong, no matter how you color it, and no matter how a person justifies the discrimination. Mary Cheney and her partner have just as much right to have a baby, as Janice Crouse, as any Conservative, and as any human does. To call a pregnancy ‘unconscionable’ is a matter of free choice, but to promote discrimination, to promote the denial of equality, is the truly unconscionable act.