Content warning: Mentions of abortion and religion.

“Praise Him” in 365tomorrows

I’d like to thank 365tomorrows for publishing my short sci-fi story, Praise Him!

You can check out my story over there if you’d like to read that first.

It’s a karmic (?) story that was floating around in my mind for a while.

It was fun to whittle it down to less than 600 words to stay aligned with 365tomorrows’ guidelines.

I thought I’d do something different today and blog about some of the ideas behind this flash fiction piece.

“Our Father”

As the Time.com headline goes:

Netflix’s Our Father Tells The True Story of a Fertility Doctor Who Used His Own Sperm on Patients

When I first read or heard about the documentary, it sounded more like a horror film than reality. I couldn’t imagine the level of betrayal and disgust I would have felt if I happened to be one of Dr. Cline’s patients.

It was moving to see the pain and sadness in the eyes of his former patients and their loved ones throughout the documentary.

It was equally mind-boggling that there’s still no federal law with regard to fertility-fraud law.

I guess that inspired the beginning of my story, which briefly explores how an individual can be so wrapped up in their ego or extremist religious beliefs that they feel entitled to others’ reproductive choices. Entitled enough to commit acts “without their knowledge or consent.”

What I Removed

As some of you may already know, I grew up Catholic and have many grievances against the experience.

I had a hard time getting my short story published in its original version. The original version was:

• slightly longer
• more heavy-handed, and
• had more colorful scenes interspersed throughout the first section

I did think that some of those paragraphs could be read as “hateful language directed at religious groups,” which I understand might be too sensitive / controversial / burdensome for some online literary magazines.

Maybe I’ll clean up those sections and put it back into a future revised version of the story, if I feel like including it in a personal flash fiction or short story collection.

The original passages were probably a bit too angry in tone which distracted from the flow of the piece.

“Crisis Pregnancy Centers”

In my short story, I make a very quick mention of a crisis pregnancy center.

I grew up in Singapore and wasn’t really familiar with the “Crisis Pregnancy Center” term at the time.

Later on, I learned about how these “so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers [often] provide inaccurate and misleading information to women seeking honest information about birth control and abortion.”

It’s deceptive and manipulative to NOT provide honest and nonjudgmental information to women who seek access to such info, while they’re in a highly physically and emotionally vulnerable state.

Bodily Autonomy

The denial of bodily autonomy makes me endlessly enraged, and even though I have a rational mind (most of the time…), it still took me decades to understand the concept of bodily autonomy.

I used to be pro-life for a long time due to my Catholic upbringing, until I suddenly realized one day that nobody should be forced into pregnancy or childbirth.

I’ve heard numerous times that “abortion shouldn’t be used as birth control.”

That’s…enough to give me an brain aneurysm if I have to hear it on repeat.

According to some reports, half of all women getting abortions report that contraception was used during the month they became pregnant.

Nearly half of all women around the world are denied their bodily autonomy, says a UNFPA report.

Birth control itself is at-risk in the U.S. as of 2022.

The decision to get an abortion is very deeply personal. It’s not something that the average woman merrily decides to get because they don’t have anything else better to do.

I’m always shocked at the lack of empathy some people have for others who are in very difficult situations.

It also brings to mind the following article on the Los Angeles Times:

If men could get pregnant, abortion and baby formula would be free.

Last Word

Due to these topics swirling around the story, I definitely wanted the word “abort” somewhere.

I included it towards the end of the story.

I suspect that my thoughts on these might influence some of my other stories, whether they’re in the creative non-fiction (essay) or horror genre.

It’s a cathartic thing to do during these apocalyptic, unprecedented times.

References:

• Women Who Have Abortions (myths vs. facts — an interesting pamphlet)
• Praise Him on 365tomorrows