The Abortion Debate, Part 2, "Do Better"- 5/5/2022

I broke my network news fast last night. I decided with all this commotion about the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade, that I wanted to see what some news people were saying. I heard one network person say the leaked draft has "sparked a national discussion", and another that "it has generated a national dialogue about abortion rights".

I watched some news last night. It won't become a habit.

 

Who are these people kidding? There is no dialogue. There is no discussion. Abortion advocates and everyday women are saying, "My body, my choice" and "Unless you have a uterus. you have no say in this matter." Basically, the argument is simply that it's none of our business. Others I saw on video clipped from Tik Tok on the Tucker Carlson Show, Fox News, threatened violence. Samuel Alito canceled an appearance this week, clearly because of the threat of violence, and I saw him mocked as a coward for doing so. In Los Angeles, California, I saw rioters busting a police car's windows. Amazingly, of all the states in the Union, California is probably the least likely to make abortions illegal of the fifty. I even saw that there's a California Senate Resolution under consideration that would use a combination of taxpayer and private funds to pay for abortions for women from other states where they may become illegal. But, hey, violence and insurrection are okay sometimes, it just depends what it's about.

Meanwhile, there would seem to be very little dialogue or discussion about where it is in the U.S. Constitution that the right to an abortion is protected, and very little discussion about the Roe V. Wade decision's merits, and no discussion, either, about the Mississippi case the court is deciding on. No, very little is an exaggeration, because there was no discussion about any of those three things. None. Not that I saw last night.

I know you don't want to hear it, but here it is. Whether abortion is legal or not, whichever way you lean, it is either in the U.S. Constitution, or it's not. Spoiler: I don't see it in there, not anywhere. The logic SCOTUS used in 1973 in rendering the Roe V. Wade decision was at best strained. Even Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg (RIP) was quoted with words to the effect that Roe V. Wade was flawed.

The Supreme Court's primary function is to be the final arbiter of constitutionality. Period. The state of Mississippi has passed a law that challenges the Roe V. Wade precedent, its authors drafting it knowing like I am telling you the Constitution doesn't say a thing about abortions. Not a thing. So here we are. Our founders established a Federal Government with limited powers. The U.S. Constitution outlines those powers and also imposes some restrictions on both State and Federal authority. When a specific authority is NOT granted the Federal Government, and where that specific authority isn't specifically granted to or denied to the various State governments, those issues are left up to the states. That's the lens SCOTUS is looking at this issue, contentious as it is, through.

I know a lot of people don't like it. Sorry. That's how I see it. In my own humble opinion, the reason I'm hearing that it's 'none of my business' and that 'if it's overturned there will be violence' and NOT hearing about 'the constitutionality of abortion rights' is that we all know it isn't in there. It just isn't.

If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the extremists, the ones who drew me and my opposition to unlimited abortion rights out of the shadows. They pushed and pushed and pushed until I became so uncomfortable with my own silence and indifference that this became an issue on my voting radar. If you want to change my mind, then be vocal about placing reasonable limits on abortion rights. Help move the issue to something that would truly be "safe, legal, and rare". It's not that. Only this week I learned that the 600,000 - 700,000 number of annual abortions in the USA (that ain't rare, people) doesn't include all 50 states, notable California's numbers aren't part of that as they're not reported. The real number is 900,000+. We're getting near 1,000,000 abortions a year.

Look, friends. I still tend to believe that if you decide to have an abortion it's between you and your doctor and God. I do. But when we are talking 900,000 in the USA alone annually, whether you like it or not, I'm going to take an interest. That number is astounding and I find it nothing short of bone chilling. You can tell me it's none of my business till you're blue in the face. It's perhaps the weakest argument I have ever heard. Roe V. Wade is a flawed ruling. The fact that it suits your preference doesn't make it a constitutionally correct ruling. And if abortion ISN'T protected by the U.S. Constitution, it is a state's issue. If you want it to be a Constitutionally protected right, then start lobbying for an Amendment to protect it. When you do, just some advice you don't want: telling me it's none of my business because I don't have a uterus won't stop me from voting against it. You need to do better. Unlimited abortion rights into the third trimester and up till birth for no reason other than 'choice' won't stop me from voting against it. And I promise you, violence against SCOTUS, or against cops in Los Angeles, California, won't stop me from exercising my right at the polls. See, not having a uterus or having one is no longer a determinant of the right to vote. I didn't lose it because I'm a guy. You want my vote? Do better than telling me to shut up and mind my business or threatening violence. Do better.