Intro + Abortion

Hello, and welcome to my civic issues blog. To all two of you reading this, thanks for tuning in! I will be discussing politics as my focus. To me, education is not something I care to do a multiple week blog on, and as a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, race and gender is something I would personally like to avoid getting into the nitty-gritty with (Though politics is so broad, they might sneak their way into one of these posts). We’re going to start off on a lighter topic to get settled in.

So how about abortion? I lied.

Ever since 1973 when the Supreme Court gave its Roe v. Wade decision, abortion in the United States has been, in some way/shape/form, legal. Norma McCorvey, under the alias “Jane Roe,” had attempted to get an abortion for an unwanted third child. However, the only way to legally obtain one in her state (Texas), she either had to have been raped or engaging in incest. She fit neither of these circumstances, but lying about a rape seemed to be the most likely to successfully grant her one. However, no record of rape, so no abortion for McCorvey. She and her lawyers disagree with Texas/National Law, and want it changed. Her trial moves up the ladder of courts in our judicial system until it reaches the top, and next thing you know, abortion is a fundamental right. It is so fundamental, states cannot ban abortion outright.

To the Supreme Court, it was not even close. The decision was 7-2 in favor of “Roe.”  That is less contentious than the decisions that won George W. Bush the presidency (Bush v. Gore: 5-4), legalizing “being gay” (Lawrence v. Texas: 6-3), the “Miranda Rights” that are now mandatory and undisputed in the U.S. (Miranda v. Arizona: 5-4). The point is that the contention that would follow this decision is far greater than some very important cases in the United States.

Another very important case is one that remains hidden from popular culture and its presuppositions of abortion as a whole. That case is Planned Parenthood v. Casey (5-4, showing how controversial abortion had become by 1992). Basically, Roe is “void.” That wording is harsh, but basically, the Parenthood case is the new law of the land. Nothing remarkable is within this decision besides the fact that married women seeking an abortion must inform their spouse that they are getting one. More important than “informed consent,” is that Parenthood established a limit to how late an abortion can be performed. Essentially, if a fetus is “viable” (can live outside of the mother’s womb with little to no medical assistance), abortion is no longer an option.

Since both cases, very hot debates over abortion have been constant and dangerous at times. To this day you will see the “Pro-Life” vs. “Pro-Choice” Movements hold their own events and advocate for their own interests. Just one year after Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Dr. David Gunn is shot and killed outside of an abortion clinic. His murderer was sentenced to life in prison. Six months later, Dr. George Tiller is also shot by an anti-abortion extremist, but lives. A year after that, Dr. John Bayard Britton and another fall victim to the controversy, shot and killed. Only months after this, a man walks into another abortion clinic and opens fire, killing two and injuring five. The most recent major tragedy regarding the abortion issue occurred in 1997, when an abortion clinic in Atlanta is bombed, injuring six. No matter which side of the issue you are on, innocent lives have been lost.

Abortion has also struck a chord with the civilized, not just terrorists. Ever since Roe v. Wade, Pro-Lifers organize a “March for Life” on Washington, numbering anywhere between half and three-quarters of a million protesters. Not to be outdone, the Pro-Choice Movement has also organized marches. Almost every “women’s march” (like the massive one on Washington after President Trump’s election) involves women’s rights, and for many the first on that list is abortion. These marches are also constant and countless.

Abortion has become partisan, and no one is budging. There are two major sides of the abortion coin, and ironically, they both stress the importance of the 14th Amendment’s “right to life, liberty, or property” section. Republican Conservatives (generally more religious and adherent to a more strict moral code) absolutely will not see a fetus as anything other than a human that has not yet been born, therefore it has the “right to life”. Democratic Liberals will not be swayed from the belief that the act of giving birth is solely up to the woman and the fetus counts as “her body,” so it’s her choice to make- the “right to property.” The Liberal stance is also the most dominant/popular one in the U.S. Many celebrities and influential political figures endorse the Liberal view, and some have done video essays on the topic, like John Oliver.

Abortion is a messy issue, and is a major point of contention among the various divisive issues in America.

Norma McCorvey, left, advocating for legal abortions in the U.S. Interestingly enough, she would go on to convert to Christianity and became an anti-abortionist.