I am, obviously, a committed feminist. I’m a committed pro-choice feminist, but saying that irks me for the same reason people waving their arms about hard but legal checks in a hockey game irks me. Just because I’m pro-choice doesn’t mean I’m pro-abortion, just like I can be pro-physical hockey and not pro-headshot.

As tenuous as this connection seems, hear me out.

I firmly believe that abortions should be available to all women, regardless of income, nationality, age, sexual preference, haircolor, eyecolor, you name it. I believe this because I don’t think that it’s anyone’s right (especially an old white male legislator) to tell me what I can and cannot do with my reproductive system. For me, essentially, the abortion argument is one of principle, not necessarily practice.

Can I see times that abortion is the “right” thing to do? In cases of health, obviously, if a mother is facing a tubal pregnancy or other health issue that would be brought on or exacerbated by said pregnancy, I think the mother’s health comes first. (As I said to someone today, “Sorry, but I’ve got 24 years established here on that clump of cells”) In cases of rape or incest, I can also see abortion as a viable option. It may be putting it harshly, but to force a woman to carry a child for 9 months and then raise a child for 18-21 years after the experience of being raped….that’s just a new and inventive way to essentially punish the victim.

I’m even willing to push the edges and say that if a mother with or without the father’s help knows she can’t support a child, that’s a more wiggly justification for abortion, but a justification nonetheless. Yes, the child could be put up for adoption, but so many children are already in the foster system that adding another to the mix doesn’t seem like the best option. I would rather see a woman realize the limitations of her situation and make a decision based on that than see another episode of Maury about “I Thought The Baby Would Keep Him Here.” However, abortion is NOT a form of birth control. If all of a sudden people are having unprotected sex and saying that it’s no big deal, they’ll just get the abortion, that’s not okay. It should be an option available, but it shouldn’t be the first choice by any means, and I would hope long and hard that a woman getting an abortion because of money or support issues really REALLY thought it through without simply jumping at the first “solution.” Essentially, we as a society have to trust us, the women, to make informed decisions about our own body.

Similarly, I see times in hockey games where physical contact between players is wholly appropriate. Picking a guy off the puck, it’s almost common sense to throw your body between the two. Trying to keep a puck away from your net, it makes sense to lean on the puck carrier and steer him away from the crease. Similarly, if you can knock an opponent off his feet legally and leave him on his butt in the middle of the ice or over by the boards, that’s one less opponent on the ice at that very moment, giving you a very temporary advantage. Physical contact in hockey is a viable strategy and a viable part of the game, but it can also be a dangerous one. This is one of the reasons hockey players, like all pro athletes in contact sports, make a LOT OF MONEY. They break themselves down early for the sake of the sport, and may or may not be able to make enough money to live on later on down the line.

But the physicality in hockey really makes the game. Even in women’s hockey, which is typically non-checking, there’s still a lot of shouldering and pushing and jostling, because let’s face it; if you take out all the physicality, it’s figure skaters with sticks going back and forth and that’s boring. However, there’s a distinct difference between a good clean, legal open ice hit that cleans someone’s clock and a player obviously looking to just smash the crap out of someone else at center ice with a high-centered elbow.

And as you can see, there’s a significant difference to Vladimir Sobotka stepping into Jordan Staal’s way and Mike Richards sniping in from the side to make contact with David Booth’s upper body, even though those are both open-ice hits. Along the boards, there’s an even bigger worry for head injury with the potential for craniums to bounce off of the glass or for players to be slammed into the very solid wall with their necks at odd angles. (armstrong/eaves?) A good crunching head-up hit to the body is par for the course, especially in a high-stakes game, and players generally accept them, let other guys bounce off them and go on with the game. Again, it’s the head-hunting, poorly timed hits that can injure. Hit a guy looking down at his feet and you stress his neck, let alone his head. Aim for a guy’s head intentionally, and you’re just a headhunting jackass.

This isn’t saying either that all head-down hits or high hits are malicious either. Sometimes they are, honestly, just a series of unfortunate events that all culminate in an unfortunate injury. Sometimes people can have a single drunken unprotected hookup and not have a baby, other times you’re living out Knocked Up. It’s all a matter of fate.

Frankly, playing professional hockey is like being a woman having sex. If you do it long enough, there’s a good possibility that something’s going to happen to you. You’re going to be on the receiving end of a mistimed hit or a spermy penis, and you’re going to come out of it with a concussion or a baby.
Can you take away all the risks? Sure. You can not play hockey and never have sex.

Obviously, the thing to do is police the events leading in. When playing hockey, penalize headshots and don’t let known headhunters get away with anything. Mandate and fund research for newer and better helmets that protect players. Teach kids from an early age what kind of hits are okay and which aren’t, and make sure they know how to take one well and keep their head up.
Similarly, quit keeping sex ed so hush hush. Everyone has sex, so start breaking the barriers on this stupid societal taboo. Teach kids how bodies actually work, how sex happens, and that if they’re going to do it, how to do it safely. Let them play with condoms, ask intelligent questions, and explain to them the consequences of what may happen if they’re not smart about it.

And obviously, neither of these are 100% propositions. There are always going to be slightly dirty players and moments in which headhunting happens. There are going to be screwups in birth control and rapes. And that’s exactly the reason that referees need to crack down on high hits and the hitters that hit with them, and abortion needs to remain a legal option for women.

(Happy Blog for Choice day! Go hug a vagina and the woman attached to it!)