Roe v. Wade was not the beginning of women having abortions, it was the end of women dying from abortions. When Roe v. Wade was upheld by the USSC in 1973, the GOP and many others applauded the ruling.
But the Christian Nationalists decided that abortion would be a good public policy issue from which they could raise lots of money if they could convince their followers that Jesus was against abortion. To do so would mean the Christian Nationalists would have to lie. The Christian Nationalist’s arguments use the word ‘child’ or ‘baby’ instead of the proper term, fetus. They say, “Abortion is the murder of a child.” To substitute the word ‘child’ for fetus is disingenuous rhetoric prohibited by the Bible too. Thou shall not bear false witness. In other words — Don’t lie. A fetus is not a child. But they lie.
The Bible has no mention of abortion. Jesus never said a word about abortion. Abortion is not murder. A fetus is not a child.
There are strikingly horrific similarities between the Christian Nationalists in America and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Both want to ban abortion, ban gay marriage, reject science, teach only their religion in school, oppress women as second class citizens, disrupt public health and education efforts, and oppose separation of church and state. Both are known to be arrogant, smug, unreasonable, willfully ignorant, and deadly violent too. ( For example: Paul Hill and January 6 storming of the Capitol.)
Essentially, the reasoning found in Roe v. Wade is “viability” outside of the womb. After 24 weeks viability would have to be determined by a medical doctor.
In reality, reproductive healthcare rights hinge not on Roe v. Wade but on a later case, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. In that case, the Court upheld the central holding of Roe v. Wade, which it defined as “the right of the woman to choose to have an abortion before viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State. There are now options to abort a pregnancy that include pills as well as dilation and curettage . The safest time to make the decision about an abortion is in the first trimester. Fake clinics that mislead a woman into delaying her decision put the health of the woman at risk. Pregnancies past the first trimester pose more health risks to the woman than an abortion during the first trimester.
Imagine a world where we criminalize a woman for a miscarriage or for family planning measures to delay pregnancy. If you need help imagining it, please read the book Policing the Womb because it is happening now. Women must have access to medical care including reproductive medical care.
Let’s join our allies at the march on October 2, 2021
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