Everyone is freaking out because some school employees handed out fetus dolls to students in a public school. The dolls are scientifically accurate yet they’re being called shocking and reprehensible.
The fact that so many people are taking a scientifically accurate fetus to be an anti-abortion message should tell you everything you need to know.
What the accompanying card said was all scientifically accurate. Imagine that, scientifically accurate description of human life is now off limits in school. Only liberal ideology is allowed, I guess.
What a country we live in.
Jill Stanek has more on this story.
May 27, 2010 at 3:47 am
Well, we'll have to agree to disagree, because when I look at a fetus doll all I see is an illustration of biology
While I don't have anything as cerebral in my vocabulary as "bull-puckie", I can say you are being ridiculously obtuse here. Human developmental biology IS "sex ed". ANYTIME you talk to a child about fetal development, you have to be prepared for the next question; how did the baby get inside mommy? If you want this discussion taken out of your hands and put into those of someone you know nothing about and gave no consent to, then that's your opinion. But you don't get to dictate to ANYONE else on this subject, and it has NOTHING to do with our stance against abortion. Apparently you're only up for picking fights with people so I'll just leave you to your charming steamy pearls of "bull puckie".
May 27, 2010 at 4:01 am
By that reasoning, putting a kid in a car seat is math education– because it raises the odds that they'll live if there's an accident, so they might ask you to explain "odds."
But you don't get to dictate to ANYONE else on this subject, and it has NOTHING to do with our stance against abortion.
Exactly why I'm against banning a physically accurate but not obscene doll with biology facts.
It has NOTHING TO DO with where ANY of us stand on the matter, except so far as it's being claimed accurate biological information is just propaganda for a political issue and thus should not be in the public sphere.
I'm darkly amused how fussed you are about a folkism and someone disagreeing with you here, and totally ignore people who actually are dictating what is allowed. Misplaced outrage much?
May 27, 2010 at 5:31 pm
To me, this is a Biology class prop – just like a skeleton, or a plastic dissected frog. "This is what a human fetus looks like". It's science, it's fact.
Should it be handed out to kids outside of a bio class? Well that is another question. If she put one on her desk and said, "Anyone who wants one can have one free." That would be one thing. But to hand out ANYTHING at a school without some kind of approval can get you into trouble.
The motivation of this individual was obviously to promote pro-life causes. I have no problem with it. On the other hand, I can see the beef from the schools point of view because, hey, if the teach was handing out a bunch of plastic dissected frogs they would probably also be saying, "Uh…are you feeling OK? This isn't Biology class." (Or how about a teacher handing out "regular" baby dolls? Surely that would raise some eyebrows as well.
OF COURSE, the motivation of the school is to stop it because of the Pro-Life VALUE that this information brings. And the point of the story is about how they are freaking out about it.
So while the school might put the kibosh on frog-distribution too, they certainly wouldn't call it "shocking and reprehensible". They call it, "odd" or something slightly less apoplectic.
May 28, 2010 at 12:37 am
I like stories like this. The crazy people on the news acting shocked and offended are doing their best to show the ridiculousness of the pro-choice argument. Oh the horror! This is what a person looks like when they are 12 weeks old! Cover my child's eyes! The biggest enemies of the abortion movement are science and truth.
May 28, 2010 at 2:01 am
Jimbo – exactly. You pretty much encapsulate the point here. I think everyone here agrees on the message. The point is HOW it is being delivered and by WHOM. And more importantly, is it being done without the knowledge of the parents? Some parents here are apparently just more responsible and cautious than others.
May 29, 2010 at 12:19 am
This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.