A mother of six has made her opinion on "unwanted pregnancies" known with a viral tweet that has since managed to divide the internet.
Gabrielle Blair, a 44-year-old mom from Oakland, California, argues that the blame for such pregnancies should always be placed on the man, and made sure to include a long thread of evidence to support her controversial claim.
At the end of that first tweet, she concludes that her own research has led her to the firm belief that men "have zero interest in stopping abortion."
She would then use her next 63 tweets to back up those claims in a viral, unapologetic thread that has definitely caught the internet's attention.
While agreeing that, yes, it takes two people to make a baby, she argues that that is only true of intentional pregnancies. For those babies who are conceived by accident, the fault is all on the man.
"Women can only get pregnant about 2 days each month, and that's for a limited number of years," Blair points out. "But men can cause pregnancy 365 days a year."
She adds that, theoretically, "a man could cause 1000+ unwanted pregnancies in just one year."
In her Twitter thread, Blair points out that while modern birth control "is possibly the greatest invention of the last century," some women can experience "brutal" side effects. However, despite those harmful side effects, they're still expected to be the person responsible for preventing pregnancy.
"As a society, we really don’t mind if women suffer, physically or mentally, as long as it makes things easier for men," Blair argues.
"Birth control options for women require a doctor’s appointment and a prescription," Blair explains. "It’s not free, and often not cheap."
With some politicians fighting to stop insurance companies from covering contraceptives, it can be downright impossible for a woman to get her hands on some.
Since condoms also prevent STDs and work on demand, Blair argues that there's no reason why men shouldn't always use a condom. However, many still don't, insisting that it just "feels better" without one.
"Men frequently pressure women to have sex without a condom," she explains. "And it’s not unheard of for men to remove the condom during sex, without the women’s permission or knowledge."
As she points out, women are perfectly capable of reaching completion without it resulting in pregnancy. However, a man can't get a woman pregnant without climaxing himself.
"It's totally possible for a man to impregnate a woman even while causing her excruciating pain, trauma, or horror," Blair adds.
Some women may not choose to tell the man who impregnated them whether they're keeping the baby or not.
"If the woman does tell him that he caused an unwanted pregnancy and that she’s having the baby, the closest thing to a consequence for him, is that he may need to pay child support,' Blair continues. "But our current child support system is well-known to be a joke."
"If you actually care about reducing or eliminating the number of abortions in our country, simply HOLD MEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS," Blair tweeted.
She goes to explore possible consequences for men who cause unwanted pregnancies, ranging from castration to fines and even to mandatory vasectomies after puberty, which she argues are safe and would be reversible once they had found a suitable mate for intentional procreation.
"And men could eliminate abortions in 3 months or less without ever touching an abortion law or evening mentioning women," she continues. "In summary: STOP TRYING TO CONTROL WOMEN'S BODIES AND SEXUALITY. UNWANTED PREGNANCIES ARE CAUSED BY MEN."
At a quick glance, it appears most of the objections made to Blair's comments appear to be coming from men themselves who reject being handed all the blame for unintentional pregnancies.
"If a woman can only get pregnant 2 days out of the month - wouldn’t it fall on her shoulders to NOT have sex those 2 days?" this person asked. "Let’s do one more - the day BEFORE and AFTER the 2 days just to be safe! Maybe she should tell the guy!"
"YOU ARE MY HERO," this person commented. "Everyone and I mean everyone [needs] to read this entire thread. ESPECIALLY ALL THESE IGNORANT MEN WHO THINK IT'S THEIR RIGHT TO EVEN HAVE AN OPINION ON THIS ISSUE."
Someone else added, "This is utterly amazing and informative because it opens your eyes to a reality. This should be widely published in book form or something."
What do you think about Blair's claims? Let us know!
h/t: Twitter | @designmom
