The pending reversal of Roe v Wade doesn’t personally affect me, long past child-bearing age, but it affects others near and dear. Over the years, I had come to believe that young women who came along behind me were living in a kinder, more welcoming world than the one I grew up in. The “kinder” hope dissipated over the last five years, but I continued to believe women would enjoy the bodily autonomy recognized in the Roe v Wade decision of 1973.
A little history: My first impressions of what the world thought of me and everyone else of my gender were formed in the 1950’s. In the heart of the Midwest, girls wore dresses to school, boys wore blue jeans; girls played violins, boys played trumpets; middle school girls took cooking and sewing, boys took woodworking and “shop;” boys played Little League on grassy fields, girls were relegated to playing ball (often with the neighborhood boys) in the streets. In the world created by adults, we were pigeon-holed by gender. It seems like another lifetime now—or it did until I realized one of the most powerful institutions in our country is bent on dragging us back to those dim days.
With the reversal of Roe v Wade on the horizon, we’ve already had more than a glimpse of what many states, seeking to deny women the right to make their own decisions in the most intimate arena of their lives, have in store for their hapless inhabitants.
Basically, Roe v Wade guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus. During the first trimester, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is the woman’s alone. During the second trimester, states can impose regulations, but cannot completely outlaw the procedure. During the third trimester, the fetus being viable, states can regulate or outlaw abortion except when it’s necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
If the court overturns Roe, states will be free to regulate access to abortions without federal guidelines. Five or six justices (John Roberts’ vote is uncertain as of now) will unleash states to do as they see fit. If you’ve followed developments at all, you’ve seen the extremes to which some are prepared to go, at the extreme, banning abortion with no exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest or threats to the life of the mother.
Why?
Most of the folks who call for those extreme restrictions are not “pro-life,” as they claim. If they were, they would support life-affirming programs in the fields of childcare, health care, education, and nutrition. They would have long since passed measures banning assault weapons, extended magazines, ghost guns and more. As I write—on Tuesday, May 24, 2022—19 children and two teachers are mowed down in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Republicans aren’t pro-life at all. They’re pro-birth. They care about children until they’re born; after that, those kids are on their own.
A little history: My first impressions of what the world thought of me and everyone else of my gender were formed in the 1950’s. In the heart of the Midwest, girls wore dresses to school, boys wore blue jeans; girls played violins, boys played trumpets; middle school girls took cooking and sewing, boys took woodworking and “shop;” boys played Little League on grassy fields, girls were relegated to playing ball (often with the neighborhood boys) in the streets. In the world created by adults, we were pigeon-holed by gender. It seems like another lifetime now—or it did until I realized one of the most powerful institutions in our country is bent on dragging us back to those dim days.
With the reversal of Roe v Wade on the horizon, we’ve already had more than a glimpse of what many states, seeking to deny women the right to make their own decisions in the most intimate arena of their lives, have in store for their hapless inhabitants.
Basically, Roe v Wade guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus. During the first trimester, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is the woman’s alone. During the second trimester, states can impose regulations, but cannot completely outlaw the procedure. During the third trimester, the fetus being viable, states can regulate or outlaw abortion except when it’s necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
If the court overturns Roe, states will be free to regulate access to abortions without federal guidelines. Five or six justices (John Roberts’ vote is uncertain as of now) will unleash states to do as they see fit. If you’ve followed developments at all, you’ve seen the extremes to which some are prepared to go, at the extreme, banning abortion with no exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest or threats to the life of the mother.
Why?
Most of the folks who call for those extreme restrictions are not “pro-life,” as they claim. If they were, they would support life-affirming programs in the fields of childcare, health care, education, and nutrition. They would have long since passed measures banning assault weapons, extended magazines, ghost guns and more. As I write—on Tuesday, May 24, 2022—19 children and two teachers are mowed down in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Republicans aren’t pro-life at all. They’re pro-birth. They care about children until they’re born; after that, those kids are on their own.
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