Saturday Potpourri: No Girls Allowed

I can't express how happy I am that I'm taking Monday off in order to have a day to just work on projects and other things that need working on. Our house is now clean, and tomorrow we're having friends over for dinner (Menu: shrimp/mango ceviche and chips,black bean soup with chicken sausage, fresh baked bread, Mexican chocolate and sopapillas, all from scratch/homemade). We're making Thanksgiving dinner at Dan's parents' house and finalized the menu last night. I fixed the vaccuum. Monday is going to be just me at home at least part of the day, since Dan's off for the whole week and will spend Monday in the lab working on a project for school.

This week's awesomest thing was observed during our grocery shopping trip this afternoon; I spotted in the freezer case something called Men's Bread. Because everybody knows that one can (and should) make a food product designed just for men (or ladies). Seriously, wtf? Bread...for men. Hm. I guess chicks just can't handle its masculine goodness.

A few days ago, I learned about a disturbing initiative that people here in Colorado are trying to get on the ballot, one that would define a fertilized egg as a person in this state. Because that's a good idea. It sure would make IVF a lot more difficult. Great plan. It's a slippery slope argument, sure, one that could or would eventually lead to the illegality of abortion, and possibly some forms of birth control (hormonal birth control prevents ovulation and sometimes implantation, so if a fertilized egg were unable to implant because one is on the pill, the argument could be made that one is killing a person. Also, an IUD prevents implantation, not ovulation). I don't talk much about my political views on this blog, and I do respect the position of all life being sacred, but personally I'm staunchly pro-choice and would be extraordinarily unhappy were this to get on the ballot here and pass. There's no reason for this other than to take that step toward taking control over women's bodies away from them and into the hands of people who want that control.

While I consider a fertilized egg (and therefore, one that has implanted and started to grow) the potential to be a person, in my opinion, a fetus doesn't have personhood until it is able to live outside the womb (whether that be with medical assistance or not). I know that line is earlier these days than it used to be, but perhaps the easiest way for me to classify it is to say that I believe personhood begins and ends with brain activity. Brain waves detectable? It's a person. No brain waves? Fetus or vegetable, there's no person there. Hell, once upon a time even the Catholic church didn't consider a fetus to be a person with a soul before "quickening" (meaning the mother could feel the fetus moving). Until and unless they make artificial wombs that can grow people from fertilized eggs to viability, I don't think a fertilized egg should have legal personhood - to me, the health and welfare of the mother always trumps that of the dependent fetus. It's her body, it's her choice, and in my opinion there's no reason other than the aforementioned control of women's bodies to classify a fertilized egg as a person.

OK, off the soapbox now. My kitty is sleeping beside me, snoring lightly, and my belly is full of dinner (turkey burgers, potatoes, and califlower crack (tm Monkey). I got to make myself a white Russian, something I've been craving for a few weeks now, and I'm more than happy to be sitting at home, working on projects and hanging out with Dan. I loves me some Saturday.