Much
of it is coming from Democratic partisan politicos who are quick to express
their revulsion at people who think ending a pregnancy ought to be a criminal
act. As the Washington Post is reporting, many Republicans are going out of
their way to keep quiet.
ALMOST
AS THOUGH they’re behaving like accused criminals who are exercising their
Miranda rights “to remain silent” as “anything you say can be used as evidence
in a court of law against you.”
That
actually has some of the proponents of abortion remaining legal hoping that
Alabama is the bit of evidence as to the immorality of the anti-abortion
argument – along with the legal legitimacy of Roe vs. Wade!
Have
the Republican ideologues overplayed their hand by showing how repulsive their intentions
truly are? Will so many people wind up being turned off by what Alabama has
done that it will drive many people into the “pro-choice” column?
Has
Alabama done the progressives a favor by provoking the legal fight that will
take down their pet cause – which is to go back to the days of viewing a woman
as a criminal if she wants out of that unplanned pregnancy!
AND
IS THIS going to make an even bigger priority out of abortion come the 2020 cycle
– making the issue a key point for voters who may already want Donald Trump kicked
out of the White House on his keister?
Right
now, Trump benefits from the potential circumstances that Democratic voters may
not be able to agree on a single candidate to challenge the president.
But
if they really see that abortion could become such a mess, it could be the
factor that forces many Democrats to shut up and vote for the nominee – even if
their preferred candidate doesn’t win in the primary portion of the election.
As
things stand, Ralph Reed, one-time head of the Christian Coalition, tells the Washington
Post, that the possibility exists that anti-abortion stances will be turned on
the campaign trail into support for what Alabama is trying to do – which could
put abortion critics on the defensive.
OF
COURSE, PUTTING those ideologues on the defensive may well be the just thing to
do. Because all too often, the abortion critics want to claim a high-and-mighty
moral tone to their stance – which is really nothing more than having people
butt in to the actions of a woman whose pregnancy puts her in a predicament.
Personally,
I know of one person (whom I’ve known for decades) who recently posted on Facebook
that Alabama officials should be thanked, “for doing what is right instead of
what the world tells you.”
To
which I can only think that everybody has the right to be wrong. Although for
all I know, she probably thinks the same of me (I don’t think the two of us
have ever explicitly discussed the issue).
Perhaps
it’s time we should. And I mean everybody -- and not just the usual ideologue nonsense about "baby killers."
THAT
COULD BE the benefit of what Alabama has done with their measure – which basically
is meant to take away the argument conservative politicos have long used to try
to make themselves sound sensible. They say they favor abortion restriction
exemptions for women who are impregnated by rape or incest.
While
the ideologues are trying to undo such talk by claiming that a woman’s right to
terminate a pregnancy ought to end at the point when a fetal heartbeat can be
detected.
Which
comes so early in the process of human conception that many women aren’t even
aware yet that they’re pregnant. Causing many to complain that old, white men
in Alabama are trying to impose their own morals on us all about what a woman
should be permitted to do with her body.
I’ve
often wondered if my own thoughts about abortion are of less importance
because, as a male, I’m never going to be in a situation to have one. But am I now
going to be dragged into the argument to provide a sense of balance to the
political debate – rather than letting the ideologues and their bullying-like
behavior prevail.
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