After days of anticipation, Ryan has finally done it! Today, he’s the one calling the shots, and it’s little surprise that he’s chosen sex as the topic of conversation. A cheap shot to boost his own ratings? Maybe.
On this week’s episode, we’ll be taking a hard look at abortion, sex education, and we’ll take another jab at Mike Huckabee. Seems I’m never at a loss for words when it comes to this man.
Ryan Harkness and Jacob Fortin are both writers and comedians, as well full time godless heathens.
First!
But seriously, probably my favorite episode thus far! Had a few good laughs, which in my opinion is the best thing about these Podcasts; you guys raise serious issues and discuss it on an intellectual level while keeping things light and humorous
As for the actual subject matter, as a teen myself I agree that sexual education and awareness needs to be improved BIGTIME. I think I had maybe 2 hours worth of sex-ed in like Grade 4 or 5 when we were all nervous and giggly and too immature still to take any of it seriously, and I don’t remember a single thing from it. There wasn’t anything during later elementary school or high school where it actually matters and teens are becoming sexually active. (The health compenent of Phys-Ed basically consisted of only “drugs/tabacco effs you up, so don’t do it kids.” and nothing else.) Let’s face it, you really can’t stop kids from having sex. But you CAN educate them about safety etc, and it baffles me as to why it isn’t being done.
And on the abortion matter, I’ve no doubt that the rate of teen pregnancy is as high as you guys are saying. I have a friend who’s had an abortion, and of course she tried to keep it hush-hush because there is so much discrimination (I only found out by accident… the ex-boyfriend thought it’d be a great idea to start telling people as form of revenge. Real nice.) but my opinion of her has not changed, we need to be realistic. To be blunt: shit happens. People need to have OPTIONS to choose from with regards to how to deal with such problems. What is worse; removing the potential of a clump of cells to form into a human, or destroying TWO lives (mother and child) due to perhaps financial situations, discrimination from family/friends, etc. Which brings me to a small point: either way you decide to go, you’ll be discriminated. It’s either ‘She had an abortion’ or “She had a baby at 18″ (for example.)
Anyways, there’s my essay of a comment. I enjoyed the show, keep up the great work!
LOVED it. Ryan is the new HOST.
Have you guys seen this site?
http://www.abortionincanada.ca/
The way they twist the poll results makes me want to do some post-birth abortions.
On the subject of sex-ed, I got lucky. In grade nine or ten I had a super awesome feminist gym teacher who taught us nearly everything, even told us about getting an IUD, and how her son had been conceived days after she stopped taking the Pill. I think I had another class that taught sex-ed, but it was my gym teacher sitting with us on the wrestling mats in the mezzanine and answering our questions with way TMI that really stands out.
Congrats on putting out a +40 minute podcast in under a week, great job guys!
Solid show, as usual… don’t really know what more to say about it :-p
You guys are a great team radio wise, and at most times also content- and opinion wise. You seem to function well together.
Great show guys. I’m putting in my vote for Ryan having his own show every once and awhile
The Huckabee part needs to be clarified. He doesn’t believe that all forms of the pill need to be banned. There are certain birth control pills that still allow for the egg to be fertilized, but then that fertilized egg is passed out of the woman’s system, thus killing the fertilized egg, which he believes is a human life. Not all forms of the pill do that, but they’re out there. Based on his pro-life beliefs, I think this is acceptable, but I’m not sure if it should be legislated.
What’s the big deal with abstinence? Studies have shown that the pill, condoms, IUDs, etc are not 100% effective (the pill is the best at between 95-99.7 depending on who you’re asking). The only way that you can be 100% sure you’re not going to get pregnant is to NOT HAVE SEX. It’s not rocket science
As for abortion, I’m not sure if you guys have kids or not, but I’ll share a little story of when my wife and I found out we were pregnant. We went into the doctor’s office, she confirmed that we were pregnant and wanted to check the baby’s heartbeat. She couldn’t find where the baby was on the sonogram, so she decided to do a quick ultrasound (she had the device in the office). Hooked my wife up, and after a few minutes we saw our baby, and a little light was flashing on the screen. The doc says “that’s the baby’s heartbeat.” We were less than two months along, but let me tell you, anyone who can deny that the ‘mass of cells’ in there isn’t alive is just wrong. It’s doing stuff on its own, its heart is beating on its own, its growing on its own. It’s alive. And just because someone makes the mistake of having unprotected sex or even gets pregnant while on the pill is no reason to make a second mistake and take the life of their unborn child. There’s millions of people that can’t get pregnant and want to adopt. It’s just silly to think that you don’t have options outside of an abortion.
Ben says:
What’s the big deal with abstinence?
The deal isn’t with abstinence, it’s with abstinence-only. Teenagers are kids suddenly thrust into adult bodies, and they need to know how to deal with it, not just to not deal with it. I myself remained abstinent throughout childhood and well into early adulthood, but because of what I knew, sex wasn’t a scary thing, or something with the allure of the forbidden. If I’d had abstinence-only education topped off with a religious fear of masturbation, I know I would’ve had sex with someone be the time I hit fifteen.
People are going to have sex. Give them the tools, mental and physical, to deal with it, and we’ll see fewer pregnancies (and abortions) and fewer ugly relationships based solely on sex.
Abstinence-only I’ll agree with. Maybe I misunderstood what was being said in the podcast. People do need to be educated on what their odds are with other forms of protection. They should also to be forced to watch that new reality show “Baby Borrows” on NBC. That show is genius
“Want to have sex? Here’s what having a kid is like. Enjoy.”
On birth control and Huckabee:
Unfortunately, if Huckabee can call for a ban on hormonal birthcontrol on the basis that it ‘aborts’ fertilised eggs, he can also extend that to the other most effective forms, IUDs, the Depo shot, Nuva Ring, and the Ortho Evra Patch. With doctors unwilling to sterilize people who haven’t had their 2.5 kids, and even unwilling to implant an IUD due to ’size’ issues in those who have never been pregnant, what we need is more, safe, available birth control, not less.
On top of the fact that effective birth control prevents future abortions, there are women who take hormonal birthcontrol to deal with other problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, and many other conditions.
Lets think about the life that’s already here before we give superior rights to the potential for life.
Continuing on birth control and Huckabee:
Not all birth control pills allow for the egg to be fertilized. This is what he wants banned, not all hormonal birth controls.
What do you mean by ’superior’ rights? Shouldn’t they both have the right to live? Even if you get pregnant on the pill or whatever, you knew the risks (ie, 95-99.7% effectiveness). It’s called being responsible for your actions, something that is severly lacking in the US nowadays.
The first page I linked to allows that the most effective temporary birth controls are contragestive, as well as contraceptive. What will he want to do about those? What will he do about developing more, non-contragestive birth control? Will the American people just be asked to not have sex?
I understand that you are not speaking for him, merely clarifying, but even with the clarification I find it unacceptable. I haven’t found any other source claiming that only some types of the Pill cause abortions, only that sometimes the Pill will cause an abortion, and that low-dose pills allow for more frequent ovulation than high-dose.
When my right to control my body and what is inside of it is taken away from me in favour of a parasite that will be resented and hated for it’s intrusion, it’s rights have been held superior to mine. My right to sanity is also at stake, because I do not believe that it would survive bearing a foetus to term. My body would be forever changed in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways, undoing years of coming to accept myself as myself.
No, I don’t believe that a foetus has a right to life until it can live on it’s own.
“control my body”
Guess what? Down to a DNA level, that’s not your body. It’s a new life. You knew there were chances when you had sex (0.03% to 5%), right? (I know this isn’t “you” on a personal level, just the collective “you” of society/humanity/whateverness :)) So now that the person is pregnant, they’re just trying to deny the responibility they have to that life.
“parasite that will be resented and hated for it’s intrusion”
we’re not talking about leeches here, we’re talking about human life. and just b/c it might be resented by it’s parents doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there who would love it. you say that it doesn’t have the right to live. do yourself a favor. go to any OBGYN and ask if you can sit in on someone’s ultrasound. you wouldn’t be able to deny it afterwards.
“my right to sanity is at stake”
http://www.abortionfacts.com/reardon/after_effects_of_abortion.asp
scroll down to “Psychological Effects of Abortion.” looks like abortion isn’t a great pyschological alternative.
Jacob, I know you love my posts, so I thought I’d pitch an idea to you for your next show: Have a woman who had an abortion on to talk about the experience. I’m sure it would prove enlightening to your pro-choice readers and listeners.
Ben, that would really not be advisable. The women I know who went through it are not about to come on the show and talk about their experience, generally because it was not an easy one to make. Despite the fact that a few may benefit from listening in on her experience, I nevertheless feel it would be aggrandizing a decision that was made in private.
You have to understand that I’m not trying to convince people to have abortions every time they are pregnant. I am simply deffending a person’s right to CHOSE what they decide to do with their life, and their bodies. A “pro-lifer” is not interested in choice, but rather intersted in defending their belief in when human life begins.
There is one crucial point you must consider: Any time you make something illegal, there are consequences to those that break the rules. What would you do to those women that chose to terminate their pregnancies? Jail? Fines? People have abortions, regardless of your blanket morality; just as people do drugs regardless of legislation. Any time you ban or make something illegal, you do not eliminate the cause: you only create criminals out of victims.
Making abortion illegal is senseless, and unfeasible. Admit to yourself that life is not some sacred and holy firmament that you make it. And if it is, concentrate instead on the 25,000 kids that die of starvation every fucking day. If adoption was really an option, and there were enough parents to love and take care of them, unplanned births would never be an issue. Unfortunately, we live in a world that is separated from our particular fanciful ideologies.
Thank you Jacob.
I’m leaving on a short vacation, so I only have time to respond to Ben with the fact that I trust web pages sponsored by the prolife just as much as those sponsored by the rabidly prochoice. Both will tamper with the evidence to support their motives. Citing neutral websites like http://afterabortion.com will gain my trust much faster.
Jacob and Ryan,
Loved the idea you put forth on a conference a few podcasts ago. Definitely see a need to get organized. What topics will be discussed, who will you invite etc? I hope it won’t be a ‘preaching to the choir’ conference or an atheist fundamentalist rally, but rather something that will garner support of people who don’t think about their atheism, but who are concerned about religious influence in their lives. I would hope it would lead to the formation of a strong Canadian national organization whose mission is to counter the influence of religion in Canadian society.
Thanks for the great Podcasts. Don’t give it up like Dogma Free America did after 50.
Ryan and Jacob,
You wanted to get your listeners more involved in your podcasts, perhaps to ask questions that you would endeavour to answer. Here is my first question:
Some people of faith have deep positive feelings that they want to share with others. It is unlikely that reason will shake them from their dogma – emotions can be stronger than reason. Not everyone is as intellectually involved in their view of faith or lack of faith. They don’t see beyond their emotions. What kind of ‘secular spirituality’ can be offered to these people to not rob them of their positive emotions, while grounding them in reason?
Cheers, Norm
Ottawa
“life is not some sacred and holy firmament that you make it”
I haven’t mentioned religion once in this discussion. My arguement can stand fully without it. But I’m glad you admitted that it is, in fact, life, and whether it is ’sacred and holy’ or not, that life still has rights. People do have the right to choose what to do with their life, and their bodies. But that tiny life inside them does not belong to them, nor is it their body (check the baby’s DNA). The real choice they should have made was to realize that their actions have consequences. Is that night of passion or whatever worth a 0.3-5% chance of getting pregnant? Not a chance I would take.
Your argument of legislation doesn’t make sense. Yeah, people would still have abortions and do drugs with legislation. Should we not outlaw murder on the same grounds? Shouldn’t the laws of the land represent the people of the land? And who’s the victim in our ‘pregnant person’ situation? It’s not like they had sex on accident. I understand there is situations of rape and the endangering of the mother’s life, and those are certainly difficult decisions to come to, but to say otherwise that you’re a ‘victim’ of your pregnancy is just silly.
NBC reported that there’s about 2 million couples waiting to adopt a newborn.
http://www.ilchoose-life.org/AllChildrenAreWanted.htm (yeah it’s a prolife site but it’s citing an NBC report. i think that’s fair
)
Hey Norm, I think I scared Jacob off this post :), so I’ll respond to your question with another question: Why do faith and reason have to be separate? Lets take the formation of the universe, for example. We know that the universe is expanding, so it’s an easy conclusion to say that once it was much much smaller, and before that it didn’t exist. Fair assumption, the whole big bang theory and whatnot, right? So, if the universe didn’t exist, there must have been a cause outside the universe that brought the universe into existense, right (cause and effect)? But we don’t know what that cause is. Whatever explanation we come up with is going to be one grounded in how we perceive the universe and what best explains the unexplainable.
I kind of picture a chasm between reason (or science) and truth. Like, there can’t be both no god and a god at the same time (law of non-contradiction). So, in order to cross that chasm into truth, we have to make some kind of faith statement that says “this is true b/c this is how i perceive the universe.”
just a christian’s two cents tho
Fritz Love My Tits is a better song.
great show as always.