Wednesday 5 November 2008

Obama Wins

The USA presidential election has voted Obama as the 44th President of the USA. I hope it is a good sign for peace, a good sign of elimination of racism too...

Too bad that his grandma can't share the victorious moment. For me, her role was perhaps greater than Obama's mom. Actually both grandparents are great, they were transformed from a couple who oppose their daughter's marriage with a black man into a loving and care grandparents. I'm sure it was not an easy task to do.

I'm not really picking a candidate like other Indonesians. I think that the USA presidential election is not my business, but I do want the war to be ended.

What is worrying me is that a note in my friend's Face Book said that Obama is supporting abortion. Will he continue to support the abortion of unborn babies?

Everytime a new leader is chosen we are expecting changes, but the system is sometimes too difficult to set into a totally new system...so let's hope this one will do a better stand for the world's peace.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Retty,
I'd like to comment on what you call "abortion". Using this word implies that it can only be a criminal act. Such an interpretation neglects the right of women to their physical and moral integrity. Take the case of a woman who has become pregnant as a result of having been raped: in this case, one should speak of "voluntary interruption of pregnancy", rather than "abortion". It is hight time that women, who are fighting for equal rights on so many other fronts, demand the right to their physical and moral integrity, AS DETERMINED BY THEMSELVES, and not as dictated upon by their family, friends or people of influence in their society.
Regards,
JJS.

Retty Hakim (a.k.a. Maria Margaretta Vivijanti) said...

Thank you Jean-Jacques. In Indonesia we use several words for this action of interrupting the pregnancy;aborsi, pengguguran kandungan,dikuret. When I wrote this post I did not actually think of it as a criminal act, it was merely the translation of "aborsi" in general. Perhaps you are right,rethinking about the word "aborsi", it would have a higher tendency toward a criminal act, although in Bahasa Indonesia it has two meanings: criminal act, and legal act ("aborsi kriminalis", and "aborsi legal"). When I wrote this post I did not actually think of it as only criminal acts...

I am pro life, and I'm not supporting the pro choice action, but I do understand the difficulties faced by rape victims, or for those who acknowledge that her baby will have physical and/or mental problem. Perhaps my stand for pro life is mostly created by the Catholic Church. But really, my empathy for those who struggle in their heart to decide for the future of the little creature in their womb is also sincere.

I was experiencing a little bit of that moment when the gynaecologue told me there would be a possibility to have a down syndrome baby (he was wrong, the test gave a high result because it was going to be a twin birth). It was a short period of confused feeling, but it also gave me the experience of having the struggle...

Yet, there are a lot of children in the orphanage here who are the result of unsuccessful abortion...

I think I should think deeper into my heart before writing more on this issue...