For a bunch of people who are always “on it” about their Constitutional rights (but they can only tell you about maybe two of them reliably), the people behind the abortion decision really do not seem to be aware of how many ways they are violating the Constitutional Rights of ALL PEOPLE ABLE TO BEAR CHILDREN** with this galloping rush to ban a necessary healthcare procedure. Nor do they seem to care. It’s really strange. However, that may be their Achilles heel. (**Not all individual who can get pregnant are outwardly “female”. Trans men, for example, may be able to carry a pregnancy if they have not had the surgery done. )
1st Amendment rights, ironically, start with the prohibition of ANY establishment of ANY religion by the government. It’s unequivocal. Why do I say that it is irony? Because this whole thing about abortion is centered on the belief of a few that “life starts at conception” which is fundamentally a religious viewpoint and is held by a minority of only one religion (Christianity). It is not supported scientifically at all. Science maintains that nothing is “alive” until the organism is capable of sustaining itself independently of another. In mammals (humans), that would mean capable of breathing on its own. Medically, the term for this is “viability”. ( A fetus is termed “non-viable” if it would be incapable of surviving outside of the mother’s body. Generally speaking, this is before the 30th week of pregnancy. Earlier have survived, but the rates go way down very fast because the lungs may or may not be capable of exchanging oxygen efficiently for long enough to mature. )
These religious people would seem to argue that they have the “right” to express their religious viewpoint. They do. They just do not have the right to force someone else to abide by their religious beliefs. They would take umbrage if their women were forced into the wearing of the Islamic burkas for modesty. It is also a religious teaching and it is also something that is not uniformly practiced by all members of that faith. Those that do believe strongly in it are just as fervent in their stand and will (and have) fought wars about that and other issues. Mixing religious beliefs and government interference in people’s lives is a dangerous thing. Historically, it has led to the downfall of many nations, but never to the renewal or the rebirth of a democracy.
The Right of Religious Freedom INCLUDES the right not to have any religion forced upon you. It could very easily be argued that this is forcing “their” religion down the throats of millions of women across the USA who do not share their beliefs. In fact, I’d say that’s a darn good argument. I don’t want to have child marriages, female genital mutilation, wear hijab, honor killings, or have to roast myself on my husband’s funeral pyre either. My choice. Not theirs.
The 1A also prohibits the infringement of free speech, which I would argue is definitely hindered when any pregnant person who wishes to terminate a pregnancy for any reason is told that the pregnancy means loss of individual control and a mere wad of cells is running the show now. (Don’t go jumping all over me for my choice of words. A Blastocyst is exactly that. It takes a period of time before it even becomes recognizable as a zygote. So do not go there.) Then by 32 days, when maybe? a cycle is missed, a cardiac fiber twitches and these folks try to call it a heartbeat. Nope, it’s a cardiac fiber that twitches. There isn’t a defined organ there for another 32 days. No organ, no heartbeat. I know they mean well, but even with a regular thump-thump-thump, if you removed that thing from the place where it is, you could not maintain it. Why? It cannot exchange oxygen independently, i.e. breathe.
In fact, the lungs do not make the necessary surfactant that will hold the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs open for oxygen to transfer and carbon dioxide to get out until about the 30-32 week of the pregnancy. That’s when the doctors will call the fetus “viable”, i.e. capable of living independently on its own. Unless and until it can breathe on its own, it isn’t technically a separate organism. It is part of the woman’s body and she has control. That’s not just my opinion. It is established Judaic and Islamic law and has been for centuries. It mostly was in Christian countries until the discovery of DNA and microscopy capable of visualizing the individual cells and the process of fertilization. Then, oh, me, oh, my, suddenly this was a “thing”.
What it REALLY is, and the supporters of this are going to have a flock of ducks, is a cold-blooded usage of both the scientific images to manipulate a gullible and malleable religious sector to gain control over an entire sector of the population, i.e. women in general, and put them in a status of being A. in a lower economic condition because they cannot command the wages and salaries of their male counterparts, B. their education will often be curtailed or abandoned due to the demands of pregnancy, child care, and lowered economic levels, C. keep them out of the higher levels of business due to the demands of finding and keeping child care and schools, D. and quite likely at some point, removing their right to vote at all. At that point, women would have the same value to society as livestock. As much respect as I have for the sentient animals, I am not livestock.
Unlike livestock, each woman has a CHOICE over whether or not she even WANTS to reproduce. (Of course, I ran into the people who just ‘assumed’ that I would just as soon as I married, or even if I didn’t, that we would adopt. Honestly, as much as I love some of these people, it’s a personal decision and none of your freaking business. In many instances, your nosiness is occasion for much hurt and tears. Keep your nose out. If it happens, celebrate. If it doesn’t, do not ask why. Things happen and your poking the wound won’t help.) Trying to FORCE women to get pregnant AND FORCE them to deliver fetuses that may be deformed, have major genetic disorders, be stillborn, live only a very short time in extreme pain, have some or all of their organs outside of the body, or other major problems is psychic torture on the mother and family and the medical staff not to mention extraordinarily expensive for no discernable reason other than “it was God’s will”. Excuse me?
Ecclesiasticus 38:1
“Honour a physician with the honour due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him.”
King James Version (KJV)
Please note: this is from the Apocrypha which is that part of the Scriptures included in the Roman Catholic version of the Bible, but not the Protestant version. It’s just as valid. It just isn’t read as often.
Now exactly WHY a bunch of MEN with nearly zero knowledge of female anatomy and close to that of reproduction (including their own) want to pass MORE laws and tie MORE regulations around 50% of the population when they swear they want a SMALLER government is simply illogical. That is, unless they want a fascist style patriarchal autocratic society. I’m not interested in living in Russia, North Korea, Afghanistan, or Hitler’s Germany. So they can stuff it.
Women need to decide what is best for their own bodies and their own lives. Not a man. At least not until they start having cramps, using tampons, having endometriosis, labor pains, fibroids, gestational diabetes, and all the rest. Then the WOMEN can take a vote on it.
Vote for the party that supports PRO-CHOICE for your life. Vote BLUE IN NOVEMBER 2022. SHARE and LIKE to your family and friends. Contribute to campaigns during this last push.
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