In the midst of all the controversy surrounding the positively medieval Texas Abortion Bill, one voice stood out from the crowd: the distinctively even-tempered, soft-voiced Mark Ruffalo.
Even though most people know him as Bruce Banner/The Hulk from the star-studded blockbuster "The Avengers", Ruffalo took part in quite a few movies before reaching much deserved fame, as he jokingly remarked a little over a year ago while chatting to Graham Norton by citing his "eight fans".
To me he'll always be sweet, awkward Matt Flamhaff from the 2004 comedy "13 Going on 30", but Ruffalo was no short of fierce in speaking up for women's rights in a recent open letter for an abortion rights rally in Jackson, Mississippi.
By bravely recounting his own mother's traumatic experience with the illegal abortion procedure she underwent before the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, Ruffalo noted (the following exerpts are taken from US Weekly): " It was a time when women were seen as second-rate citizens who were not smart enough, nor responsible enough, nor capable enough to make decisions about their lives. It was a time that deserved to be left behind, and leave it behind we did, or so it seemed." He then added: "I don't want to turn back the hands of time to when women shuttled across state lines in the thick of night to resolve an unwanted pregnancy, in a cheap hotel room just south of the state line. Where a transaction of $600 cash becomes the worth of a young woman's life." And finally: "I trust them with their choices, I trust them with their bodies, and I trust them with their children. I trust that they are decent enough and wise enough and worthy enough to carry the right of Abortion and not be forced to criminally exercise that Right at the risk of death or jail time."
Bravo, Mr Ruffalo! It's quite unheard of for a man to take such an honest and reasonable stance on abortion in the face of widespread fanatism. I wish all men had such massive balls and that much good sense.
I say good sense because nowadays who the hell remembers what common sense is all about?!
A few weeks ago I was talking to an acquaintance about the murder of Dr George Tiller by an anti-abortionist fanatic and, at some point, this person blurted out something about the good doctor deserving to die because he himself had murdered innocent lives.
Setting aside for a moment the fact that defining the term "life" is not a walk in the park, given that there is hardly a shared view as to its actual meaning and implications, I remarked that if the value placed on life alone was to be considered exclusive, what was preventing us from criminalizing women who suffered miscarriages? After all, didn't their bodies put an end to innocent lives too?
The very notion is absurd, of course, but what anti-abortionists don't seem to realise is that you either decide to oppose abortion based on the sole natural - if nebulous - element of life, in which case no anti-abortionist should believe anyone deserves to die, or you admit that you have an idea as to who you think should live and who shouldn't, based on your moral, religious and what not beliefs.
In the former case, the idea that a young woman could die as a result of an illegally performed procedure should alarm these people at least as much as the thought of abortion itself. They seem to believe that if you outlaw abortion, women shall magically stop seeking them, but every single person who is blessed with the tiniest spark of intelligence knows that wouldn't happen, for the agony of carrying an entity which is perceived as foreign and therefore hostile, as many studies suggest, greatly outweighs the fear of getting cought.
In the latter case, the implication is clear: once you admit your aversion to the procedure is based on your personal view of the world, you admit someone else has a different view and forcing them to follow your rulebook has nothing to do with protecting others, but is merely a selfish desire for control.
Anyway, bravo Mark Ruffalo!
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