When Blackmun wrote the Roe decision, it took the abortion issue out of the legislatures and put it into the courts. If it had remained in the legislatures, we would have seen a series of state-by-state compromises reflecting the views of the centrist majority that’s always existed on this issue. These legislative compromises wouldn’t have pleased everyone, but would have been regarded as legitimate. (read it for yourselves)
This is pure bullsh*t. What we would have is a patchwork of states where women’s reproductive rights were completely suspended and poor and rural women would have continued to die for no reason other than someone’s religious bigotry.
Religious conservatives became alienated from their own government, feeling that their democratic rights had been usurped by robed elitists. Liberals lost touch with working-class Americans because they never had to have a conversation about values with those voters; they could just rely on the courts to impose their views. The parties polarized as they each became dominated by absolutist activists.
This continuing crap by the right’s lapdogs about how the liberals in this country are elitist and out of touch with working-class Americans is just that CRAP! The majority of Americans are in favor of keeping abortion legal. Some who feel twinges of conscience would like to see late term bans but if they understood that the government can not effectively and equally enforce these bans (meaning the rich will always be able to get their abortions and only poor and rural women will be held accountable to the law) you would see a lot of working-class Americans start to ignore those twinges.
Religious conservatives have spent most of our nation’s history alienated from their government. The reason for this is simple they believe God triumphs in all things over the Constitution and American civil society. They’re wrong. While that might be true in the afterlife, here and now on this plane of existence, the law of our nation and its federation of states triumph over religious doctrine and dogma. The fact that some greedy politicians and evangelical Svengalis got together to mobilize a significant minority does not mean that the rift has been mended. It just means that the Republican Party has sold out the Constitution so they could regain and stay in power.
Those who believe in smaller government would suffer most. Minority rights have been used frequently to stop expansions of federal power, but if those minority rights were weakened, the federal role would grow and grow – especially when Democrats regained the majority.(emphasis mine)
The intrusion of the government into our personal lives has never been as overwhelming as it is now. Using terrorism as their bludgeon, the government and the religious right will continue to push and extend the powers of government to deny the rights of women and minorities in favor of their dogma in legislatures and ultimately in the courts. Left unchecked these people will have us all pretending to be evangelical Christians so that we can be employed and own property. The one thing that you have a better chance of happening with the Democrats (and I am not a Democrat) is that true minorities will have a voice and be protected from the abuses of power. The religious right may have been horrified when the court upheld a woman’s right to choose what happens in her own body but the court never mandated that women must have abortions. What they mandated was the right of the individual to self-determination that the government could not remove or punish them for exercising.
The fact is, the entire country is trapped. Harry Blackmun and his colleagues suppressed that democratic abortion debate the nation needs to have. The poisons have been building ever since. You can complain about the incivility of politics, but you can’t stop the escalation of conflict in the middle. You have to kill it at the root. Unless Roe v. Wade is overturned, politics will never get better.
Justice Blackmun and his colleagues saved women’s lives and upheld the rights of a minority voice against the tyranny of the majority. Yeah, I could complain about the incivility of politics, and I do from time to time. However, I will fight to my last breath to keep Roe v. Wade in place. If it means that I will have to get my hands dirty and take a few shots, then so be it. I’m always ready for a good fight.
Democrats have FINALLY got a plan to handle the abortion issue. No longer are we simply talking about keeping it safe, legal and rare while the only thing we actually DO is keep it legal.
Democrats for Life of America announced their plan at the DNC HQ Thursday to reduce the abortion rate by 95% over the next ten years.
I’m so happy pro-life Democrats have yet one more reason to show how anti-abortion Republicans are on the right side but doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.
Brian,
After looking at your link (thank you for pointing this out), there are a few things that I am a bit uncomfortable with.
Federal Funding for Toll-Free Number/National Public Awareness Program
Enact an advertising campaign in each state to provide a toll free number that will direct a woman to organizations that provide support services for pregnant women who want to carry their children to term and/or direct women to adoption centers.
*Organizations that qualify for the referral from the toll-free hotline must be non-profit, tax exempt organizations that do not provide abortion referral services.
Why can’t they offer abortion referral services? There are centers that serve women’s reproductive needs that provide all three of the majors – prenatal, adoption referral and abortion provision and/or referral. Why if a center provides abortion referrals among its services should it be banned from participating? What? You think that if a woman has chosen to give her child up for adoption or keep it and raise it herself that someone is going to try and talk her out of it? UGH!
Conduct a National Study & Update Abortion Data
National Institutes of Health will collect accurate data on why women choose abortions. Within five years of enactment, the NIH will present its findings to Congress.
*This will be compiled on a confidential and voluntary basis.
Why is this study necessary? How do you make abortion rare by “voluntarily and confidentially” invading the privacy of a woman’s reproductive choice? Instead of spending millions on this study why not put the money into education or subsidizing contraception?
Provide Accurate Information to Patients Receiving a Positive Result from an Alpha-Fetoprotein Test tests.
Pregnant women who choose to undergo prenatal genetic testing should be provided with information on the accuracy of these tests.
There can be false-positive results, indicating a problem when the fetus is actually healthy.
Women who choose to undergo this test are not looking for a reason to have an abortion. If the doctor and their technicians are not trained properly in the performance and interpretation of this test, then women should be encouraged to get a second opinion, not offered false hope.
Women’s Right to Know
Any women’s health center or clinic that provides pregnancy counseling or abortion services must provide accurate information on abortion and the adverse side effects to a woman’s health. Patients do not have to accept the materials if they do not want them.
What physical side effects from a successfully performed (no complications) procedure have been documented? The cancer connection has been debunked. Other than complications setting in from a botched procedure what physical effects? There are emotional effects and women are and should be offered counseling post procedure, but what else?
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for sending money to programs that will help to reduce the number of abortions in the US. After all, abortions declined under Clinton while they have risen under Bush II. I just want to ensure that access and privacy are guaranteed for all women who have made their choice regardless of their choice.
So, please reach out to poor and marginalized women who have no or limited access to health care. Educate teens and young adults about the responsibilities involved in their sexual activities. Advance the science that will help women be healthier and have healthier pregnancies. Build programs for infant and pre-school nutrition and healthcare. But do not presume to judge the rightness or wrongness of choice. Choice is personal and can only be judged by the person making it and no one is forcing anyone to choose against their will, yet.