California's Pregnant Parkers May Take Handicapped Spots

Fox News ^ | Tuesday, February 24, 2004

[ApplegateRanch]

LOS ANGELES

[farmfriend]

This is such a bad idea. And I say that having been through two pregnancies.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Some grocery stores have Stork Club parking spaces for pregnant women which are severely abused... I see women who are definitely NOT in their third trimester abusing this courtesy... Not to mention some of those spots are better than the handicap spaces!

Do we really want to treat pregnancy like a disability?

[Professional Engineer]

Half a million California women would be eligible for the permits, taking up spaces that advocates for the disabled say are already scarce.

On what planet? They're thousands upon thousands of empty, unused, uneeded, handicap spaces on Earth.

[Grig]

I've seen several places up here that have pregger parking. I think it's very considerate. I hold doors open for ladies too.

[jigsaw]

If they'd let me just shoot all the physically fit swine who use these spaces because
one of their family members (who isn't present) has a permit there'd be a lot more
open spaces.

This is one of my Major pet peeves!

[Jeff Chandler]

I wouldn't begrudge a pregnant woman a close parking space. Most of the "handicapped" people I see using the spaces are poseurs any way. I even have relatives who use their spouses' privileges to get good spaces.

[Jeff Chandler]

Home Depot has a couple entire rows for handicapped parking, and they're always empty.

[Ragirl]

Out here in Michigan, our favorite grocery store has "stork parking" just for pregnant women. It's a nice gesture for customers and they only have maybe 2-3 spaces. They are farther away than the handicapped spaces are from the store, but it was still nice to have while I was in the last trimester. If more stores would make gestures like this, it would keep the government out of the parking business. Just because one is pregnant, doesn't mean they have to be labeled "handicapped"....it should be a luxury unless the woman is unhealthy. When I was 8 months pregnant, a "mature" woman with a handicapped sticker tried to take "my" stork space by cutting me off. After rolling down the window and asking her why she (a woman in her late 60's) wanted the spot, she said the handicapped spots were full and asked if I was pregnant because she didn't think I looked it. I got out of the car with my huge belly (an 11 lb baby at birth) and said "WHAT DO YOU THINK LADY??". She moved and let me have the space. Luckily, a handicapped spot opened up shortly after. LOL

[Wilhelm Tell]

The gay lobby and the media will fight this. They will claim "discrimination" -- they will say it is unfair for a mere "breeder-woman" to get a handicapped parking space when there are cross-dressing men who are suffering greatly from high-heel shoes who could make better use of a handicapped parking space. You KNOW there will be politically-correct howls of outrage. You read it here first.

[workerbee]

Additionally, some women are upset with the initiative, saying that defining pregnant women as handicapped would be a setback for women's rights.

This seems a bit of an overreaction to me. Can't you get a temporary handicap sticker for other temporary medical conditions? I'm by no means saying all women will need it, but the fact is some women do have medical problems relating to pregnancy that would make them unable to hike a mile across a parking lot. Saying this is a "setback for women's rights" is denying the reality of the condition for some.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Several years ago in Houston there was a scandal about
employees of the county court house having handicapped
parking permits.
Most were not handicapped!

[uvular]

Nice to read that apparantly things are going so well now in Ca. that Assemblyperson Strickland and the legislature have the time to ponder this issue.

Is this really the business of the legislature, or just a nice feel-good diversion from the tough decisions they really need to address?

Seems like this is something that private citizens could request their favorite stores provide if they really think it's necessary.

I always enjoyed walking/getting out of the house in my last trimester.

[unixfox]

They're thousands upon thousands of empty, unused, uneeded, handicap spaces on Earth.

I agree, you would think that half the nation is disabled with all of the "handicapped" parking spaces avaliable.

[skinkinthegrass]

they will say it is unfair for a mere "breeder-woman" to get a handicapped parking space when there are cross-dressing men who are suffering greatly from high-heel shoes who could make better use of a handicapped parking space.

..don't laugh...It may be coming to a (Politically correct) Mall near You. :/

[uvular]

Your temporary handicap sticker sounds like a very rational solution and needs no intervention by government.

[CurlyDave]

including possibly creating more handicapped spots.

I have never seen all of the handicapped spots taken in any parking lot I have used. It might happen once in a very long while, but we do not need more handicapped spaces.

More nanny state.

I always park in a far-away spot in order to prevent door dings in my car, and to get a little more exercise.

[codyjacksmom]

IMO, I didn't get any parking privileges when I was pregnant, so why should they? If it was impossible for me to get to the store on a bad day, I could find at least one person to go for me if couldn't wait til I felt more able. If they can't walk up to the store from the lot, then how are they going to be able to walk through the store? Again, this is just my opinion.

[workerbee]

This could be handicap parking anywhere, not just a store. It could be at a hospital where she goes for checkups and has to use public parking. Is it so much skin off your nose if a woman 35 weeks along, maybe toting another child or two, gets to walk 50 less feet than you? Come on. Sure, all privileges can be abused, but I don't think it's asking a lot that a doctor be able to "prescribe" a temporary handicap sticker for this temporary condition.

[DonQ]

"You don't look handicapped. What right do you have to use that handicapped space?

"I entitled to use it because I'm pregnant."

"Really? You don't look it. How long have you been pregnant?"

"Oh, about fifteen minutes."