On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court decided the case of DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL. v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION ET AL. In that decision, federal protections of a woman’s “right to choose” to have an abortion, granted in 1973 by the Court in Roe v. Wade, were removed. The Supreme Court found that the regulation of abortion was the responsibility of the individual states and not the federal government. See also: Amendment 10, US Constitution.
This decision did not make abortion illegal, however, it was clear that a number of the states would do so. The Supreme Court’s ruling did not make it illegal for a resident of a state where abortion is illegal to get an abortion in a state where abortion is legal. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
The ensuing strong public reaction was predictable. Those who oppose abortion in most cases were relieved and happy. Those who believe that a woman has the right to choose to have an abortion were dismayed, and some were angry. Democratic politicians seized upon the opportunity to build their support base by promising to “codify” Roe v. Wade by legislative action. This in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson would seem on the face of it to make such legislation unconstitutional.
As the 2022 Midterm Election approaches, the Democrats are attempting to define the election as a referendum on abortion. They are not blind to recent public opinion poles that seem to show that a small majority of the American voting public favor allowing women the right to choose to have an abortion. Most Republican politicians favor prohibiting abortion except in certain, very limited circumstances. A few Republicans, like Sen. Lindsay Graham, have come out in favor of abolishing abortion. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx
In my view, the whole debate over abortion is a diversion, created by the Democrats to obscure from public view their abject failure to govern since January 2021. Confident if an easy victory next month, the Republicans are allowing themselves to be drawn in, rather than to speak out strongly on issues like: runaway inflation; domestic energy production; the crisis on our border with Mexico; the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan; crime; restoring sanity to our educational system; coping with adversary nations like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran; returning our industrial production to the United States; and so forth. These are the issues upon which the Republicans can win. If they continue to allow the Democrats to define the election in terms of abortion – the Republicans may lose.
It is time for each of us to determine where we stand on abortion rights, and then to move on to the other issues that really do pose a threat to our country’s existence. Fellow Americans, this time it is too important. We must not choose poorly, as we did in 2020.
NOTE: Religion, politics, and personal
convenience aside, it is my opinion that we should look at the process of human
reproduction scientifically. The salient
question for each of us is, “When does the termination of a pregnancy become a
homicide.?” Is it morally justifiable up
until the point of live birth, or is there a point between conception and
delivery when the developing life becomes a baby? There are a number of descriptions of human
gestation available on the Internet or at your local library. The following link is from a trustworthy
source: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002398.htm
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