Am I getting too political here?

Perhaps this whole "election year" crap is pushing me to post more on politics than I normally would. I totally understand if you come here for other reasons and don't really want to read the politically flavored posts. There's little tiny blue words just below the title of each blog post which should usually be pretty accurate about the topics I'm broaching in each post---and I try to separate major thought paths into different posts---so you can more easily pass up a post you're just not interested in or ready to read.

That said, I've got another question to "the masses" who don't see things the way I do. First, I've got to define a couple of things about how I believe things should work. Remember in my last post when I quoted Thomas Jefferson? I use that quote a lot to test my position on things. Sometimes, I get in a frenzy about an issue and am tempted to be very gung-ho about passing laws limiting people's ability to do whatever it is I'm freaking out about. But I try to always come back to the question "Does it pick my pocket or break my leg?" That's my litmus test.

The other thing I need to be clear on is that I have a set of personal beliefs which do not match how I would vote. It is not my right to force you to act/believe/behave/ or otherwise limit your lifestyle choices according to my beliefs.

So, while I personally do not think I would ever have an abortion (and since I've never faced that quandry, how can I truly know???), I do not believe it's right for me to tell another woman whether she can or not. That said, I do think waiting until you're 7 months along to decide to abort is a bit ridiculous. Does that make me "pro-choice" because I believe in preserving a woman's right to choose? Fine.

The reason I went through all that (and I'm just waiting for the backlash it might bring....) is to ask this: Are all pro-life supporters also against sex-education in schools? Do all pro-life supporters believe abstinence-only education is the right answer?

I'm having trouble understanding how someone can believe we should not give information to young people about how to prevent pregnancy and also believe that the pregnancies that do happen should not be aborted. What is the rationale for this pair of beliefs co-existing?

For the record, I am the mother of a teen-age son. We had a very long, very interesting conversation about sex, body parts, pregnancy, birth control and abortion when he was about 10 years old. It's funny to me that I was so worried about doing right by him and making sure he was well-educated at the right time. How will I know when "the right time" is? How can I talk to my son about sex? What is the right information to tell him? Will I be able to talk to him about it?

In the end, the conversation came out of a mini-fig painting session and went from one bit of information to the next and so on. Then, suddenly, I realized he'd been asking questions, prompting the continuation of the conversation and I'd been talking so matter-of-factly---getting input from Randy when I wasn't sure of an answer because I only have a female perspective on things---and he'd been intelligently receptive to what I had to say.

I remember being told as a young woman that sex was for adults and that I thought, "If I have sex, that will make me an adult." And I know how I felt (later on) about treating my body and my self so lightly.

So, with Nick, I took a logical approach. I set some guidelines for, "How you'll know you're ready". First of all, I suggested he have enough money to treat his partner right:

• a decent place to be, instead of hiding in a car or hoping Mom and Dad don't come home early
• condoms for both birth control and for safe sex
• money set aside for the cost of an abortion, should his partner become pregnant and want to abort---he's responsible for that, he should help, if not pay for it all

Second, I suggested how he might know when he's ready to be more intimate with a specific person: if you can't stand before her (or him---I've always tried to be gender-neutral, so he feels no pressure to be what he thinks I want him to be) in the nude and accept---nay, welcome the lingering gaze of this partner, then you're not ready. You cannot truly be an equal partner in sex if you are too busy being embarrassed. And finally, I taught him the proper language for the body parts. If he cannot say the names, then he's not ready.

But that all brings me back to sex education in the schools. With so many families pushing for abstinence-only education, I gotta wonder what's being taught at home. Does that mean there's a young woman out there who's going to catch my son's eye...and she's going to know nothing because her parents felt the only education she needed was "abstinence only"? So when her hormones are doing what's natural, all she's armed with is "don't"?

Well, dear parents of my son's future girlfriend(s), be very clear that if I feel it's time, I'll make sure she knows what she needs to, to keep my son safe. If you don't want me teaching your daughter about sex, then whip out the banana and the condoms and have a good long talk with her. It's a good conversation to have and it builds a good bond, if you do it early enough. I know my son trusts me and knows I'll respect his questions, instead of shutting him down. Will yours come to you?