Environmental Talk

They’re so cute when they’re little …..

What kind of histrionics do you think would be involved in a story that combined the global warming debate with elements of the abortion issue?

All you’re doing is combining what may be the two most polarizing issues of our time and throwing them together in a bag to see what happens.

You could combine dog-fighting with a mixed martial arts bout and you still might not be able to create the kind of mayhem engendered by this next story.

The article is from the London Daily Mail and is entitled: Meet the Women Who Won’t Have Babies - Because They’re Not Eco-Friendly.

Let’s take a look at an excerpt of the article and see if we can figure out whose side we should take in this spaghetti fight …

Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.

But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.

Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet.

Incredibly, so determined was she that the terrible “mistake” of pregnancy should never happen again, that she begged the doctor who performed the abortion to sterilise her at the same time.

He refused, but Toni - who works for an environmental charity - “relentlessly hunted down a doctor who would perform the irreversible surgery.

Finally, eight years ago, Toni got her way.

At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to “protect the planet”.

Incredibly, instead of mourning the loss of a family that never was, her boyfriend (now husband) presented her with a congratulations card.

While some might think it strange to celebrate the reversal of nature and denial of motherhood, Toni relishes her decision with an almost religious zeal.

“Having children is selfish. It’s all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet,” says Toni, 35.

“Every person who is born uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population.”

While most parents view their children as the ultimate miracle of nature, Toni seems to see them as a sinister threat to the future …

Toni, from Taunton, Somerset, says: “When I was 21, I considered sterilisation for the first time.

“I’d been on the Pill for five years and didn’t want to take hormone-based contraception indefinitely.

“I went to my GP, but she wouldn’t even consider the idea.

“She said I was far too young and told me I could ‘absolutely not’ be sterilised, and that I was bound to change my mind one day.” …

When Toni was 23 …[she] found herself young, single and with a new life in London, working for an environmental charity.

But while other young women dream of marriage and babies, Toni was convinced it was her duty not to have a child.

She claims she was far from alone.

“Through my job I made many friends who, like me, were more interested in campaigning, trying to change society and save the planet rather than having families of our own. …

At the age of 27, Toni moved to Brighton, where her dream of medical intervention was realised.

Toni says: “My new GP was more forward-thinking and referred me to hospital. I couldn’t wait for the operation.” …

Toni says: “After the operation, which is irreversible, I didn’t feel emotional - just relieved.

“I’ve never doubted that I made the right decision. Ed and I married in September 2002, and have a much nicer lifestyle as a result of not having children.

“We love walking and hiking, and we often go away for weekends.

“Every year, we also take a nice holiday - we’ve just come back from South Africa.

“We feel we can have one long-haul flight a year, as we are vegan and childless, thereby greatly reducing our carbon footprint and combating over-population.

I think most intelligent people gave up on the idea of journalistic impartiality a long time ago, but it’s pretty clear from the opening salvo of this article that the writer isn’t even going to attempt to take a reasonable approach to the idea that someone may not want to have children.

If you have children or know someone who has children, I think it’s a safe bet to say you probably realize that it’s not all baby-powder smells and bluebirds flying in the window to pour milk on your morning cereal as a rainbow touches down in your back yard.

Having said that, it’s pretty hard to argue that having a baby is the equivalent of launching some kind of ecological Death Star or that your kid will turn into some non-sustainable Antichrist who will result in the demise of mankind.

While we’re at it, let’s give two thumbs down to the doctors in this story who refused to perform a procedure requested by an free-thinking adult patient.

Here’s the deal, Doc: it’s not your body. Certainly you can offer advice to a patient but, if you’re going to take the stance that you know better than your patient about whether she should have children what’s to prevent you from artificially inseminating her against her will?

Jeez! I hate stories like this. It’s like watching Rosie O’Donnell fight with Donald Trump. It’s impossible to know who to pull for because everybody involved is a colossal jerk.

I can’t root for Toni because I’m pretty sure her extreme stance that having children is some kind of ecological crime against humanity will, sooner or later, put her on the front lines of the squad of people advocating mandatory sterilization or family size limits.

The author of the article’s disbelief that anyone could actually think for themselves and come to the conclusion they might not want to have children suggests she’s holding down the opposite tail of the bell curve from Toni.

And the author’s incredibly patronizing use of the word “incredibly” twice within five sentences to denigrate both Toni’s decision and her boyfriend’s decision to support it is incredibly annoying.

Similar to my prediction regarding Toni’s future advocacy, I don’t think it’s a huge leap to suggest that the writer will, from the exact opposite point of view, argue that she and people like her are entitled to make decisions for others about their bodies regarding either sterilization, abortion or the decision to have children.

The only sane person in Looneytown is Toni’s boyfriend who supported her decision and sent her a congratulatory card.

Good for him. You know he must have had to taken the time and effort to write something in one of those blank cards because I’m pretty sure the Hallmark store doesn’t have an “Ovaries Are Overrated” section.

If you don’t want to have children, that’s certainly none of my business, regardless of how you came to that decision.

Just know that it’s the extremism scares me in this case because I believe it means, eventually, you’re going to tell me youhave the right to make that decision for me because, somehow, you feel you can justify your stance as being necessary “for the greater good.”

While you’re at it, please don’t tell me that a decision to not have a child means you have carte blanche to take a guilt-free vacation once a year.

The implication here is that parents are somehow supposed to feel bad if they have kids or take a vacation. If they have kids and take a vacation, it sounds like you want them brought up on charges.

Trust me, if my own childhood is any indication, if anyone deserves a vacation — it’s parents.

So, if you’re a parent, go ahead and take a vacation to Disneyland. You deserve it.

You can always take the kids next time.

global warming, climate change, Disneyland, sterilization, decision to have children, kids, guilt, pride, gluttony, sloth