ABORTING WOMEN'S FREEDOM OF CHOICE ?

Why aren’t the women in America rallying together against the recent state laws outlawing abortion or making choosing to obtain an abortion prohibitively restrictive almost before a female knows she is pregnant? As a woman, I thought being Pro Choice was a middle ground position allowing every female the inviolate right to make her own personal decisions in regard to her body, as provided by the rule of law since 1972. In no way did I view this as a ‘pro-abortion’ stance any more than supporting freedom of religion made me pro-Baptist, pro-Morman, or pro-Scientology. I considered it a neutral position of not imposing mine or anyone else’s religious or moral standards on others and allowing people the right to their own beliefs and decisions in regard to their bodies and lives.  If others’ actions do not impede on exercising my own personal rights, why does it matter?  I can believe that life begins at conception and live my life accordingly, without needing to impose my personal beliefs on others. I might abhor abortion on every level, but I am not the boss of you and “you are not the boss of me.”  Respecting the second amendment’s right allowing citizens to own and bear arms does not make me pro-guns. Just as, desiring to see common sense regulations of guns in the U.S. to promote safety and prevent deaths does not mean I want to ban all guns. 

Polarization, extremes, and ubiquitous desires to be ‘right’ have permeated our dialogues. What happened to the simple proposition that, ‘we can agree to disagree’ in regard to controversial issues? 

 If the U.S. is evolving towards accepting diversity and globalization as the new norm, we need to accept the existence of diverse opinions and belief systems within families, regions, countries, and continents. Why do I need to believe the same way you do in order to live harmoniously in the world with you?  Isn’t that what this whole democracy experiment was about in the first place: an assimilation of peoples from disparate backgrounds and beliefs looking for opportunities to pursue life and happiness while exercising their individual liberties. I wonder why we as humans are so personally threatened by other tribal groups who look, feel, or think differently than we do.  While we rail against the tyranny and oppression of communist regimes (which restrict how many children a couple is allowed to birth) our country seems to be warring between uniformity and diversity of opinion.

Women beware!  Re-read your U.S. Constitution and be reminded that there are no protections or equal rights provided to females under our present document.  Only the right to vote cannot be denied on the basis of sex.  Although the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, it has never been ratified by the 38 required states, so it never became an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  I have never seen a moment in history when we needed it more than now, when the Supreme Court will eventually be re-visiting Roe vs. Wade again.  I don’t believe any of the majority Justices who ruled on Roe vs. Wade in 1972 were advocating for abortion; I do believe they recognized that the expectation of privacy over our minds and bodies as provided for in the 1^st, 4^th, 9^th, and 14^th Amendments was paramount to a free society.  As has been argued, I can only wonder the uproar if there were forced sterilization of men legislated by states as a form of eugenics and population control. 

Tough issues -- euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, gun rights, immigration, and politics.  It is all too easy to choose a definitive position, until it impacts your family or community.  When an issue becomes a personal reality, we are all glad to have a choice or considered option to mitigate an untenable situation.  I have no idea what I might do if a 13 year old daughter became pregnant by a stranger and was having a brain damaged child; I would probably want her to have the choice of having an abortion – even though I am not pro-abortion. Yet, if that same 13 year old daughter had been adopted and might not be here if her birth mother had had an abortion, I might feel otherwise.  I know that I have never known a woman who has had an abortion who has not been forever haunted by the loss –even if she felt it was the appropriate choice for her at the time.  But what I am sure about is that I never want any legislative body to have the right to pass laws interfering with my right to choose what I do with my mind and body..  As Justice Kennedy stated in 2003, “'It is a promise of the Constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter.'”