Each one of us likely has someone in our past that we would rather have not had sex with or been likewise intimate with. Right off the top of my head I can think of 3 distinct people. Darren, the whiny momma's boy, jeremy, the sex addict, and m.B., the control freak who turned into the stalker. When I first started dating each of them, they seemed like normal, everyday likable guys. And while i'm not the sort to jump into bed quickly, it wasn't until *after* the relationship became more intimate that I realized that I didn't want to be with them and there was something wrong with them. Each of these three were a mistake. Women and men both make mistakes throughout the course of their lives.
Why is it then that we seem to only want women to pay for their mistakes? Is it because pregnancy likely effects only women and therefore is a more concrete "consequence" that we tell them they must pay for? Did they commit some crime that must be payed for?
More and more I am hearing the attitude that simply because women have had sex, then they should be forced to gestate as some sort of punishment for the dirty sex that these sl-ts have had. This interests me because no one has yet commented that it effectively takes *two* to tango and no "punishment" has been presented for the men who are also sl-ts and have shared in the dirty, dirty sex acts. So, if we are going to force women to gestate when they have had "illicit" sex and have effectively made a mistake that we all have probably made at some point in time, then what are we going to force the men to do that is just as extreme and life threatening? Shouldn't the "punishments" for sex be the same since both men and women have illicit sex?
It seems, here especially, to go from one extreme to the other quite quickly. Most make it seem that pregnancy is a punishment for women who have committed the crime of having sex, especially illicit sex. Then, the other side will chime in that pregnancy isn't a punishment but is a blessing. Which is it? A punishment for sex or a blessing? If it is a blessing, i.E. A gift, then what's wrong with simply returning the gift?
I will end by saying something that I have always believed. A consent to sex is not a consent to pregnancy. You cannot force (almost) victorian attitudes about sex and about women who have sex onto people just because you personally believe them yourself.
Also, if you can't support your friend for the choices she makes, then perhaps it is time to seek new friends. If you can get past her choice, then perhaps you can talk to her about simply changing your relationship to where in the future, this subject won't come up between the two of you. I have friends who are very different than me and we simply don't bring up certain subjects with one another. We're still friends, we're just not as close as other friends are. You can ask her not to include you in these most personal dilemma's if they make you this uncomfortable.