Yep, this one is a full on political rant.
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Dear Republicans, please give up your kidneys.
I want to make something clear right upfront. The title of this post is misleading. It’s a sweeping generalization meant to grab attention. This command is not levied at all republicans. This command is directed to the minority of extremist conservatives who claim to value life above all else, but only actually value life when doing so does not inconvenience them.
Specifically, this command is directed to those people are saying that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions for rape or incest. To people who are saying “ “It is not the baby’s fault the circumstances of their conception” – as was told to ABC by republican State Rep. Jim Olsen (OK).
On the surface, Jim Olsen’s statement is entirely correct. However, most of the people making these types of declarations would not themselves suffer the same types of consequences they are asking of female rape victims. To prove me wrong, I kindly request to those people that you give up a kidney. I could also ask for a lobe of your liver. And part of your pancreas and intestines. And we might as well also take part or all of one of your lungs plus some bone marrow and platelets while you’re in surgery anyway. Your body does not need any of the things I am asking you to give up to survive.
The US currently has >100,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, 85% of whom are waiting for a kidney. Annually, nearly 5,000 people in the US die unnecessarily because not enough kidneys are donated. Take my friend, for example. I will refer to her as Sarah. Sarah is a young mother, otherwise healthy, and the victim of bad genes. People in her family die young from kidney failure. “It is not [her] fault the circumstances of [her] conception.” It’s nothing she did or did not do. She is innocent. The child she is raising is innocent and needs his mother.
Also by the logic you are applying to rape and incest victims, here is how this will play out. You will give Sarah a kidney. The surgery recovery time will be 2-3 weeks of your livelihood, a very small price to pay to save a life. I recognize that now might not be a convenient time for you but Sarah doesn’t have the luxury of time so now is when this procedure is going to happen.
You will also have to pay for the doctors to remove your kidney and put it into Sarah. What’s that you say? You don’t have health insurance? I do not care. It is your duty to give Sarah your kidney no matter how much of a financial burden it puts on you, or your existing children/family/etc. Because without your kidney, Sarah will die. The health and well-being of this one person is more important than anyone else’s needs because Sarah is innocent. She is a young mother with a young child and it is not her fault the circumstances she is in. You can save her and so you must do so.
Once the doctors remove your kidney and put it into Sarah, you will then become responsible for her well-being for the next 18 years. You had other plans for the next 18 years you say? That does not matter. All that matters is that Sarah’s life is saved because of you and therefore she is now yours to care for.
I know, I know. You’re thinking “How is this happening to me? I didn’t ask for any of this. All of a sudden some random person is just telling me I have to give up a kidney”. And you would be correct. That is exactly what is happening and I really don’t care how you feel about it. All that matters is that Sarah’s life is saved. I don’t care that you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got unlucky. I don’t care that someone nearby had kidney transplants on the brain and put your name down as a donor without your consent. You are on the donor list now and therefore you must save Sarah’s life regardless of any physical, emotional or financial burdens this places on you or your existing family. Sarah is your family now, and that is the way that it is.
Any disagreement by you to the above plan will be considered murder. Any law-abiding citizen aware of your negligence is morally obligated to turn you in so that you can be held accountable for your gross disregard of human life.
So please, to those of you who, like Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, claim that, “in [your state] we will always stand up for life.”, I say quit being hypocrites. If you’re going to insist that a woman who was raped, who was assaulted and traumatized through no fault of her own. If you’re going to insist that she carry that trauma physically in her body for 9 months, then pay money she may not have for a birth she didn’t want before having to face the impossible decision of changing her life trajectory to keep the child or surrendering it to the mercy of a flawed and often cruel system, get off your fucking asses and do your part. Give your kidneys, your platelets and your blood to save some of the innocent lives that you claim you hold above all else.
