Transcription of Opening Monologue from Dr. Laura's program 1.23.2009
Dr. Laura:
Well, we have another anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade "you can kill the babies in your body" law. And there was a big march yesterday and, supposedly, our new president was going to be signing an executive order un-doing Bush's, which undid Clinton's, which undid the first Bush's (they went back and forth) about the government putting money in non-governmental foreign concerns, when there are abortions, so that we, the tax payers, wouldn't be paying for it.Now, apparently, there's going to be a lot of money in perpetuity, for the rest of all humanity, going to the number one baby-killing mechanism in the United States, which is, in my opinion, Planned Parenthood. So I've been beseeched and besieged with people telling me to go to war over this. I've given it great thought and slept on it. Me? I'm no wuss - if there's a battle to be fought, I'm there, with pearl-handled guns. No question about it.However, approaching this issue of abortion through the legislature and the courts is a lost battle. Totally lost battle, in my opinion. And since I'm big on personal responsibility and moral choices, that's where this ought to go.I am here every day begging, pressuring, cajoling, negotiating, nagging people to do the right thing, especially when it comes to their kids. Not divorcing, unless it's dangerous or destructive in some horrendous way, because kids need an intact family. Not to have kids out of wedlock intentionally, because that ruins their lives, statistically speaking, emotionally and psychologically. And not to have abortions. You live with
that
for the rest of your life, and there's a dead human being who could've been somebody really special.So, basically, I sit here every day, well five days a week, and put pressure. Pressure, pressure, pressure. I give the arguments I can, write the books and support, what I believe, are more humane decisions. And that's the way it's going to have to be. The law could say that it's perfectly legal to rip a baby out of your body anytime you damn well want. But the law can be there, and we can choose
not
to do it. It's not against the law to not have an abortion. It's not against the law to put a child in a situation for adoption. And, is the only time we're going to do something, is when there's a law? Can't we do the right thing without a badge in our face?So, in your families, you can teach your children that affordable housing means housing you can afford, not housing the tax payers can afford for you, but what you can afford for you. I've lived in some sad situations, but that's because that's what I could afford. So, for me, that was affordable housing. To say somebody else has to afford your housing is not the mentality this country was built on. And it's certainly not a mentality that makes you feel good about yourself. That it's perfectly legal to get pregnant, abort, pregnant, abort, pregnant, abort, pregnant, abort, doesn't mean it's something you
ought
to do or it's a
good
thing to do. It can't make you feel better as a person or a woman, when giving somebody you created the opportunity for life is a better choice.So I give up with the Planned Parenthood nonsense. That, to me, is just part of the evil empire...that place. And I give up with Roe vs. Wade. I give up with that. You're not going to get anywhere with that, folks. Give that up and turn to each other. Stop looking for the government to take care of this. Look to yourself. Influence each other. Do the right thing; be open about it. Anybody who's ever gotten pregnant in the wrong situation and put a baby up for adoption, say it out loud! Make it be a wonderful thing! Not a thing of shame, but a wonderful thing - that you were willing to sacrifice nine months of your life, plus the nine months it takes to get your body and mind back together again, in order that another human being, brought into this world by no fault of their own, no doing of their own, has a life. You should be proud of yourself. That's why when women call me and tell me they put children up for adoption they couldn't take care of, I tell them they're my heroes. So, stop looking to the government for the handout, the bailout, the law. You know what the right thing is to do. You know. You know the right thing to do. Unfortunately, since the beginning of time (read the Bible) the influences around you try to dissuade you from doing the right thing. Listen to the small, still voice: Your conscience that tells you the truth. Follow that voice. If not, follow mine. Okay?
