Whenever anyone who fancies themselves a commentator, observer or opinion writer ventures into a topic that brings out the most visceral emotions of people I am reminded of a line from the movie Full Metal Jacket. “…If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth…”-Sgt. Hartman.
That brings me to the new abortion bill imposed on the women of Alabama by their State Senate. I am a man and I will never know the emotional rigors or spiritual upheaval experienced by any woman faced with a forever life-changing decision. That is precisely why I come down on the side of pro-choice. The Republican Party has preached at me for years the idea of personal responsibility and keeping government out of our lives
Famously, Ronald Reagan describes the most terrifying words you could hear as, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.’ Their forty-six-year quest to overturn Roe v. Wade is in their side mirror and the object of their desire is closer than it appears. The Alabama Senate made no effort to draft compromise legislation, make exceptions for rape or incest and made doctors who perform the procedure guilty of a class C felony, punishable by a 99-year prison sentence.
As backward as the legislation seems to reasonable people, the learned men of Alabama did it with an express purpose. They are fully aware this law is in direct conflict with the Roe decision and was done to create a case to take to the Supreme Court. Remember this comes from a base of people who follow philosophies that state they want to shrink the federal government so small you can drown it in a bathtub. Not only do they want to drown the American government, but they also want to slip its’ hand under her skirt, undress her motives and decide motherhood for her.
I will never be faced with this tough decision and despite some on the right, who portray women who decide on abortion, as lazy promiscuous harlots, ‘Alabama stay out of the lives of our wives, our daughters, our girlfriends, our nieces, and our mothers.’ It is truly none of your business. Spare me the pious exhortations of your position, especially when you dismiss completely my moral choices based on my own sense of right and wrong that you describe as secularism. The completely cynical attempt by Alabama to impose its moral yearnings on the rest of the country is as transparent as the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In recent months Democrats have distinguished Fox News Judge Andrew Napolitano as an arbiter of truth and justice. Recently Kavanaugh ruled against corporate giant Apple, upholding the rights of individuals to sue over excessive pricing to the dismay of Napolitano. Despite his sporadic disagreements with Trump, Napolitano is no friend of liberals, do not be fooled. Of course, Kavanaugh’s decision went against the very reason he was pushed so hard by conservatives for appointment to the Court despite credible allegations of rape; castigating the poor, making the rich, richer and controlling women’s bodies.
Kavanaugh will not dare risk the wrath of his Republican colleagues on an issue they have devised strategies against since 1973. Ironically a woman stands between a return to barbarous treatment and redelivering women to back-alley butchers. The Alabama law will take effect with the signature of Governor Kay Ivey. I hope she thinks long and hard and does the right thing.
Vote in 2020 for Change.