Tag Archives: abortion rights

Here’s Your Apron – Now Get Back In The Kitchen!

Posted on by under Election 2023, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

The United States Constitution was written in the year 1787.  Eleven years before that, in the year 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted declaring that “All men are created equal. [emphasis added]”  It wasn’t until 1920, 133 years after the Constitution was written, that the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.  It would be another 53 years, 1973, before women were allowed to legally make decisions over their own reproductive healthcare (Roe v Wade).  Laws that gave women equality in such things as housing and employment did not come along until the 1960s.  You might say that we’ve come a long way.  Not far enough, obviously, if you consider that while women comprise 50.4% of the U.S. population, women comprise only 29% of the House of Representatives and 25% of the U.S. Senate.

But, as we all know, the story doesn’t end here.  Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that women had a little too much freedom, and in a court decision titled Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, they overturned Roe v Wade and gave the fifty states the right to drastically restrict women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions.  Many states jumped right on that bandwagon, as did the state I live in, Ohio.

Well, guess what?  We women decided that we have worked way too hard and fought way too long to just let our rights be taken from us by a judicial order passed by men who cannot even be bothered to try to put themselves in our shoes.  And frankly, if they can take our right to an abortion from us, what’s next?  There is already talk of taking away our right to contraception (birth control).  Then what about our hard-earned rights to equal pay for equal work?  Our right to divorce our spouse?  Our right … to vote?  Oh yes, my friends … give an inch and they’ll take a mile!

Well, we stood up and told the legislature in Ohio and other states that we will fight to the death for our rights, that we are not backing down.  On Tuesday, we voted by a strong margin (56.6% to 43.4%) to codify abortion rights into the Ohio State Constitution.  Let’s dust off our hands, give high-fives all around, and be pleased with our accomplishments.  Oh, but wait … the Ohio legislature says, not so fast …

In a truly lunatic press release issued on Thursday, members of the Ohio Legislature claim that the ballot initiative was funded by “foreign billionaires” and that the legislature does not accept the will of the people, but instead will “… consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings …”  One representative, Beth Lear, said that “No amendment can overturn the God given rights with which we were born.”  Wait just one damned minute, MS. Lear!  What ‘rights’???  The right to control others???  Did your god tell you that you could force women to your will?  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

Sorry for the bit of ranting there … I just hate it when someone tells me that their god gave them the right to slap me in the face.

Now, typically I would be laughing at their childish attempts to impose their will on us, knowing that we, the voters, have the law on our side.  But, with the state’s governor (Mike DeWine), Secretary of State (Frank LaRose), and the majority of the legislature  determined to undermine the will of the people, I’m not laughing, for I foresee a rocky road ahead.  Ohio lawmakers (mostly Republicans1) have said they will challenge the will of the people in the Courts, which means it could be years before women’s rights are restored … if ever.  Meantime, how many rape and incest victims will have their lives forever ruined by the misogynist laws of men who wish to keep us under their thumbs.  And if they get by with overruling our choice, then will they be emboldened to go further and take away even more of our rights?  Are we women destined to forever more be considered second-class citizens???

1 The Ohio House has 99 members, 67 are Republicans and 32 are Democrats;  the Ohio Senate has 33 members, 26 are Republicans and only 7 are Democrats.  The odds are stacked.

Contradictions Of “Life”

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, guns, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Just a few of my rambling thoughts on this Saturday night/Sunday morn.  America doesn’t need to be made “Great” again, it just needs to be made “okay” again.  Right now, it is not okay.  America is a study in contradictions.  Setting aside the political contradictions for another day, the societal contradictions are tearing the nation apart.  Taking a look at just one of those contradictions … life.

I find it interesting that the anti-abortionists call themselves “pro-life” when they really are not.  They are quite simply just against abortion and against the rights of women to make their own life’s choices.  IF they were truly ‘pro-life’ they would also support measures to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry at night … in fact, that no person goes to bed hungry.  They would be advocating for help to feed the poor and provide housing for the homeless, they would be staunch supporters of such things as the Affordable Care Act, food and housing assistance for those in need, and more.  But as a whole, the anti-abortionists support none of those things that would help preserve human life.  Next time someone tells you they are against abortion, ask them how much money they have donated to humanitarian relief, to organizations that help people climb out of poverty.

Along the same lines, it is a curiosity to me that we support medical science and their efforts to increase human longevity, and yet we speak of ending Social Security and Medicare, a move that would decrease human longevity drastically, or at the very least make those ‘extra’ years ones of poverty and struggle.  Think about it … governments and foundations spend billions of dollars every year for medical research to find cures for the illnesses that kill people, such as cancer, stroke, heart failure and more.  So, in 1950 in the U.S., the average life expectancy was 68.14 years, and today it is 79.11 years … thanks to medical science, we have gained approximately 11 years of life.  But … how will we spend those 11 years?  Will we spend them being hungry or homeless, begging on the streets for scraps of food?  WHY bother to help people live longer if we are not willing to help them live better?  I’ve long said that quality of life matters far more to me than quantity, and I firmly believe that.

And speaking of quality of life … life is not simply the act of being born.  Being born is a minute or two, but it’s what comes after that is defined as life.  So, if people are so determined to force women to give birth to babies, then why aren’t those same people working to ensure that when those babies are grown in twenty years or so, they will have potable water to drink, sufficient healthy food to eat, and fresh air to breathe?  Climate change deniers tend to also be those who claim they are “pro-life” when speaking of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.  They claim that there is a higher power looking after the planet’s environment, and therefore they can go on driving their gas-guzzlers, flying on jets, eating beef every night, keeping their heat or air-conditioning running day and night, with little or no regard for the environment.  Well, I don’t know anything about a higher power, but I DO know a little bit about climate science, and at the current rate, those babies people want born today won’t meet that 79.11 year life expectancy, for they will slowly die from lack of food & water, from lack of breathable air, and from diseases caused by those lacks.

And lastly … if those who claim to be “pro-life” truly believe that every life is important, then why are they also “pro-gun”?  The leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States is guns.  The pro-life crowd would criminalize abortion, but fight against any form of gun regulations.  So … force the woman to give birth to her baby just so she can watch him be gunned down seven, eight, or twenty years later?  If they actually give a damn about life, they would be staunch advocates for strict gun laws.  Are they?  No.  Another school shooting?  “Awww … too bad … thoughts and prayers …”  The sole purpose of a gun is to end life … isn’t this a direct contradiction to being “pro-life”?

Just a few things to think about next time someone steps up on his soapbox to talk about their “pro-life” stance.  LIFE is more than simply being born.

The Virus and Abortion

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our friend Nan’s post today is spot on. One cannot simply cherry-pick one’s freedoms … if you believe in the freedom to control your own body, then you must also believe in MY freedom to control my own body. Good post, Nan … Thanks!

Nan's Notebook

Does anyone else see the correlation between those who reject COVID-19 vaccinations and those who supportAbortion?

Again and again the anti-vaxxers scream that it’s their PERSONAL RIGHT to reject the vaccine and/or to go maskless. They will frequently provide examples where they attended maskless gatherings of friends … “and no one contracted the virus!”

For some, it has become so important for them to “exercise their rights” (e.g., the Canadian truckers) that they lose all empathy for anyone who might be negatively impacted. Indeed, many are so adamant about enforcing their personal choice that they have physically attacked others and even disrupted public gatherings where masks were required. One individual even encouraged an armed attack against those who supported masks and/or vaccines!

Yet in many cases, these same individuals will attempt to take away a WOMAN’s right to seek an abortion. Even though it is as much HER RIGHT to…

View original post 83 more words

On Women’s Rights And The ERA

Posted on by under Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

Women’s rights … it has taken us centuries to have the right to own property, to marry who we choose, to divorce him if it doesn’t work out, to VOTE, to earn equal pay for equal work, to have the right to make our own decisions in matters pertaining to our bodies.  What may have taken centuries to build, has taken very little time to destroy.  Two cases caught my eye in the news yesterday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ruled that Texas may prohibit a common second-trimester abortion procedure.  Isn’t it funny that people claim they have control over their body when it comes to getting vaccinated or wearing masks, but when it comes to we women having control over our body for something as life-changing as pregnancy, the Courts will decide what we can or cannot do?  I think, in order to avoid being seen as sexist, or a double standard, the Courts should immediately order every person over the age of 12 to be vaccinated!

Out in California, one of the most progressive states in the union, Larry Elder is one of the candidates hoping to unseat Governor Gavin Newsom next month.  Elder is, apparently, a misogynist, or as we used to call them, a male chauvinist pig.  It is illegal to ask a female employee when or if she plans to become pregnant.  Mr. Elder, however, sees no reason for that law.  He says …

“Are there legitimate business reasons for a venture capitalist to ask a female entrepreneur whether & when she intends to have children? Hell, yes. I’m not quite sure why it’s the govt’s business to intrude on it.”

What a guy, eh?  Now, seems to me that if he supports asking women that question, it would also be only fair to ask male employees and applicants when and if they plan to sire a child, and how many?

Why do we have to keep fighting the same old battles?  The U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787, yet it would be 133 years later, in 1920, before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, ensuring women the right to vote.  And it would be 1984 before the State of Mississippi finally ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women in that state the right to vote.

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade makes abortion legal.  And ever since, religious groups have been trying to get it overturned.  This isn’t about, as they will try to tell you, “right to life”, for the proponents in favour of overturning Roe don’t care about life.  They largely support the death penalty, they hunt to kill, most own guns … no, it isn’t about the right to life, it is about controlling women, it is about taking back women’s rights.

In 1923 the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced. It says, “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.”  Today, nearly 100 years later, the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been passed by Congress!!!  Can anybody explain this one to me?

Phyllis Schlafly … you remember that witch, right … campaigned against the ERA saying that the measure would lead to gender-neutral bathrooms, same-sex marriage, and women in military combat, among other things.  😱  Oh horrors!  Every single one of those things came to pass anyway and our nation is a better place because of it!  Take that, Ms. Schlafly!!!

By 1977, only 35 states had ratified the ERA. Though Congress voted to extend the ratification deadline by an additional three years, no new states signed on. Complicating matters further, lawmakers in five states — Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, and South Dakota — voted to rescind their earlier support.

Tell me again that this isn’t very much a man’s world!  We women, in their minds, serve at their pleasure.  Period.

U.S. Rules The World???

Posted on by under Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, religion, Social commentary

As I noted in a post earlier this week, there is a movement among republicans and groups who misnomer themselves as “pro-life” to overturn Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision from 1973 that gave women the right to make their own medical decisions when it comes to abortion.  A growing number of states have passed or are attempting to pass highly restrictive laws that contradict Roe v Wade and would take away women’s rights.  I had not planned to revisit this issue this soon, but something came to my attention that stirred my anger yet again …

Trump is trying to impose his and the evangelical’s heinous views on other nations as well, cutting off all funding to any overseas organization or clinic that will not agree to a complete ban on even discussing abortion.  The ban, dubbed the “global gag”, was actually instituted by Ronald Reagan, but has been revoked by every democratic president, and re-instated by every republican president since then.  And along came Donald Trump.  Donnie, so eager to please the only people who support him, the radical right-wing evangelicals, has decided that he (or rather people like Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham) knows what is best for the 7.7 billion people living on planet Earth.

In March, the US extended the gag, stating that any organization counselling women on abortion and using funds from elsewhere – even from its own government or a donor in another country – will no longer be eligible for any US funding.  Take, for example, an international health care agency that provides women’s health care, possibly including family planning and abortion counselling, but also treating kids with HIV in other countries … countries where there is no women’s health planning, for it is illegal.  Those organizations will no longer be eligible for any funds from the U.S., not even to take care of sick children in African nations.

My friend Jeannie, who lives in the Netherlands, told me the other day that “The Netherlands have one most liberal laws about abortion in Western Europe, but the number of actual abortions are amongst the lowest worldwide.”  Think about this, folks … facts, not fantasy.  A study published last year by the Guttmacher Institute found that countries with the most restrictive abortion laws also have the highest rates of abortion and that easier access to birth control drives down abortion rates.

A 2012 study found that when women got no-cost birth control, the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions fell by between 62 and 78 percent. But political appointees under Trump advocate for abstinence-only approaches, which have been shown not to affect unplanned pregnancy rates.  Not to mention that they are impractical.

This isn’t just about abortion, people … this is about making women second-class citizens around the globe.  This is about men’s dominance over women.  In many nations women already have few independent rights, but in the Western world, women have come a long way in the past century or two.  In the U.S., we are now allowed to vote as we choose, to own property, and there are laws to ensure we receive equal pay and treatment in the workplace, though the reality is often something different.  And for the past nearly 50 years, we have been able to make our own health decisions.  We cannot … we must not … allow this abomination to continue.

The United States is a secular nation whereby the government does not favour any one religion over another, and no religious organization or cult should be able to influence the law of the land to the detriment of all others.  The United States is one of 195 nations on this globe, and we do not have the right to set policy in other nations.  It is the height of arrogance to think that we do.  It is time for the evangelicals to understand that they may have a place in this country, but that their beliefs are not shared by us all, and that the rest of us have rights also.  It is time for government to base decisions on facts, not the religious fantasies of one group.

If abortion rights are taken from us, the abortion rates won’t drop, but more women will die as they seek back-alley or do-it-yourself abortions.  That is an undisputable fact.  Let this nation legislate based on facts, and let other nations decide their own policy … nobody died and left the right-wing white evangelicals leaders of the world.  They will take us back to the Dark Ages if we let them.

On Stripping The Rights Of Women …

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Today I’m going to touch on a subject that is controversial, to say the least:  abortion.

A number of states, the most recent being Alabama, have recently passed highly restrictive and misogynistic abortion laws.  Anti-abortion evangelicals are patting themselves on the backs thinking, no doubt, that they have once again proven themselves the rulers over women’s bodies.  But make no mistake … these laws are only a tool.  The legislators and governors who have passed these laws are well aware that they don’t hold water, for when there is a conflict between federal and state law, federal law trumps state laws, no pun intended.

The federal law on abortion was established in 1973 with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v Wade in which the Court ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a fundamental “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion.  It is not within the rights of the State of Alabama or the State of Georgia to change, ignore, or override that ruling.  Period.

So … why are they passing these ‘illegal laws’, you might ask.  Because … long story short, they are hoping for a lawsuit against them that will reach the Supreme Court.  And when it does, they are hoping, believing, that the Supreme Court will then use that lawsuit as a basis to overturn Roe v Wade.

One of Donald Trump’s campaign promises that gained him a large number of followers was that he would put justices on the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v Wade.  It is an emotional issue that gained him the support of the evangelicals.  However, the Supreme Court cannot simply say, “Let’s overturn a decades-old decision because the president would like us to.”  A case must come before them that challenges that decision before they can take it under advisement.

You might notice that the states did not pass these dranconian abortion laws when President Barack Obama was in office and the Supreme Court was still largely apolitical.  You’ll also notice that Trump was in such a hurry to appoint a second justice to the Court that he had a quiet little talk with Justice Kennedy, and shortly thereafter Justice Kennedy announced his imminent retirement.  And you’ll further notice that there was a mad dash by Trump and his boot-licking Senate to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, thereby giving the court a 5-4 right-wing, conservative majority, despite the fact that the Court is intended to be apolitical.

The stage is set … now the states who have passed these anti-abortion laws that rob women of their rights to have control over their own bodies will sit back and wait for the inevitable lawsuits claiming, rightly, that the states have no right to restrict a woman’s right of choice.  Then will begin the inevitable back and forth through the courts until sometime next year, perhaps even sooner, the cases will reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump is relying on the five conservative justices to vote in favour of overturning Roe v Wade.  Those justices are:

  • Clarence Thomas
  • Samuel Alito
  • John Roberts (Chief Justice)
  • Neil Gorsuch
  • Brett Kavanuagh

Justice Steven Breyer warned in a dissent to another decision earlier this week …

“Overruling a case always requires special justification. I understand that, because opportunities to correct old errors are rare, judges may be tempted to seize every opportunity to overrule cases they believe to have been wrongly decided. But the law can retain the necessary stability only if this court resists that temptation, overruling prior precedent only when the circumstances demand it.”

The Alabama bill, which has been passed by the state legislature and is expected to be signed into ‘law’ by Governor Kay Ivey, bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison.  The Georgia bill, recently passed and signed by Governor Brian Kemp (remember him … the guy with the gun pointed at his daughter’s boyfriend?), is only slightly less restrictive, banning abortion after about 6 weeks, often before a woman even realizes she is pregnant.

Those who are so dead-set against a woman’s right of choice, call themselves “pro-life”, but this is a misnomer, as I have noted before.  They are often the same people who support the death penalty.  They are often the people who protest their tax dollars going to help feed and clothe the poor.  Many are the same ones who fought so hard against ACA, which provided affordable healthcare to those who would not otherwise have any.  Pro-life?  No, only anti-women’s rights.

If people are so against abortion, doesn’t it make sense to support such things as birth control, family planning and counseling, and other measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies?  But no, the evangelicals are against all of those, too.  They support de-funding such organizations as Planned Parenthood who help with all women’s health issues, and they argue against company-sponsored health insurance plans covering birth control.  Sorry, folks, you cannot have it both ways!

Thus far through the years, state laws attempting to restrict abortion have all been struck down by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional.  Will that precedent hold?  I cannot say for sure, but I’m less confident now than I would have been two years ago.  More than 60% of the people in this nation support a woman’s right of choice, but these days it seems that the minority is the only voice that is heard.  If the Supreme Court ultimately overturns Roe v Wade, it will be a slap in the face to every woman in the U.S.  What will be next?  Will they take away our right to own property?  Our right to vote?  Think about it.