Abortion

I had been contemplating a post about the student debt controversy for a week or so, but will put that on pause for a bit in favor of some comments on the recent revelation that the Supreme Court will be gutting Roe V Wade and putting abortion laws back in the hands of the states.

Surprisingly, I found that I had not labelled any of my past posts with the term abortion, although I did find (3) concerning sex and contraception in which abortion was either prominent or implicit in the posts.  Here they are, if interested.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2017/10/birth-control.html  

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2012/03/contraception-and-sex.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/01/pretty-condoms-in-row.html

Like a majority of Americans, I believe that abortion is a complicated issue, just as Justice Alito states in his opinion.  But this complication is not centered around the idea about it being legal, but more about the concern that abortion should be safe and rare, and that while a majority of Americans may believe that they may not access this medical service, they are empathetic enough to realize that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is an extremely personal one, between those involved and their doctor, and should not be controlled by the government.  I dare say that with this ruling, tens of millions of American women (and their partners and families) will now be faced with a mandatory pregnancy, should a situation arise in which they find themselves with an unexpected or unplanned event.

Seems odd that the party that made all kinds of noise about mask mandates, would now be more than OK with a pregnancy mandate, but I guess that is what makes the idea of freedom so strange.  

It is as if personal freedom, for some, only extends as far that person's particular beliefs, regardless of whether someone else's freedom is compromised or limited in some way.  

So, because some people have decided that abortion is not only wrong for them, but for everyone, it won't matter if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incense, a faulty condom or IUD, or even if the mother's life may be in danger if the pregnancy is carried to full term, or if the child's quality of life is determined to be very limited due to deformities.  Of course, some of those states with trigger laws all ready in place may decide to evaluate those laws in time, but since so many of our states' legislatures our controlled by the GOP, this process may take a while.

For instance in the state where I live, Pennsylvania, the current governor has already vetoed a few anti-abortion laws which have been put forth by the GOP controlled legislature, despite the fact that most polls show that Pennsylvanians support some form of legal abortion by about 3 to 1.  In other words, despite what most Pennsylvanians  think about abortion, just as despite what most Americans think about abortion, there is a strong possibility that abortion will be illegal in my state next year should the governor's mansion be occupied by a republican.  

Even worse, Alito's opinion clearly states that the court was "egregiously wrong" in not only the original Roe V Wade ruling, but in the Casey vs Planned Parenthood ruling that upheld what was then believed to be a constitutional right to abortion.  

Curiously, the main reasoning behind this new ruling appears to lie in the fact that the Constitution does not specifically grant this right, despite the understanding that the 9th Amendment to the US Constitution recognizes that certain unenumerated rights for the citizens of our country should also be held as sacrosanct.  To me, it was an amendment that says, hey, just because we didn't comment on things that either don't exist or aren't a thing in the late 18th century, doesn't mean that there might be other rights that are implicit in the rights that are specified.  The danger here is that federal laws related to gay marriage, birth control, interracial marriage, the internet, cars, virtually anything that is not directly detailed in the Constitution, could also be returned to the states for control, even if most people believe that without the right to make decision about one's own body, who to marry, how to plan for a family, etc limits our freedoms.

What is scary is that this sounds to me like America's version of the  Taliban.  Laws based on a religion followed by the minority of the people.  Seems like the antithesis to the whole idea of our American experiment in democracy, and especially the concept of separation between church and state.

It also shines a stark light on the idea that our "rights" come from our creator, not government.  Yea, as long as that government respects the rights of people who disagree with them.  If not, as we can see from the current state of freedoms in Russia, some of our "rights" may not be recognized if you live in a state which determines that right to not be appropriate and legal.  

Not to mention Mitch McConnell who orchestrated the stealing of 2 Supreme Court spots, first by not allowing even the consideration of the nominee of Barack Obama, the twice elected president of the United States, only to have that seat given to Neil Gorsuch, one of the alleged majority in this horrendous opinion, and the second by slamming through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett just a few weeks before the 2020 election, who appears to be another justice in the majority.  And, of course, Brett Kavanaugh who pretty much lied to a number of sitting Senators (as well as the American people) when he stated, under oath, that Roe V Wade and Casey V Planned Parenthood represented established laws and precedents that should not be overturned.

Lastly, for now, it might be important to understand just how discriminatory this ruling is against women, an assertion that Alito conveniently doesn't understand, despite the simple fact that only women can become pregnant, and how hypocritical.  It only takes a little time to research poverty rates, maternal death rates, child support collection rates, and any other measure in which the quality of life for children after birth might indicate to see that the states with the most restrictive abortion laws are generally the same states with the highest maternal death rates, highest child poverty rates, and lowest child support collection rates.  

Righteous indignation about abortion followed by policies that result in the death of the mother forced to carry a pregnancy to term, and the malnutrition and death of the baby once it has left the womb.  

At this point, I implore my female readers to make this their one and only voting issue. Fix this in the November election to limit the damage, and to retake the basic right for you to decide when and how you will have a family, not to mention who you might choose to marry to help raise that family.  The Democratic party is far from perfect, but in this one issue, there is no debate who supports your right to choose and who is more than happy to legislate it away.

And if anyone would like to use it, you have my permission to use the following phrase as often and as loud as possible in response to those seeking your vote.

#Against abortion rights, take a hike.