Let me begin with the caveat that I consider abortions tragedies. However, I also recognize that, at times, there are no better choices available. That said, if I ever become pregnant, an event I consider highly unlikely, what to to about it must be MY choice. Neither I, nor anyone else, has the right to impose our values on any woman or interfere with her right to choose. Republicans, however, refuse to respect women’s rights.
A three-year surge in anti-abortion measures in more than half the states has altered the landscape for abortion access, with supporters and opponents agreeing that the new restrictions are shutting some clinics, threatening others and making it far more difficult in many regions to obtain the procedure.
Advocates for both sides are preparing for new political campaigns and court battles that could redefine the constitutional limits for curbing the right to abortion set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and later modifications by the Supreme Court.
On Monday, in a clash that is likely to reach the Supreme Court, a federal appeals court in New Orleans will hear arguments on a Texas requirement that abortion doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals — a measure that caused one-third of the state’s abortion clinics to close, at least temporarily.
Advocates for abortion rights, taking heart from recent signs in Virginia and New Mexico that proposals for strong or intrusive controls may alienate voters, hope to help unseat some Republican governors this year as well as shore up the Democratic majority in the United States Senate…
Inserted from <NY Times>
Rachel Maddow covered this issue and discussed the coming political backlash.
The Republican War on Women continues. They would return women to their position in the 19th century. As chattel their ownership was passed from father to husband. Women who do not organize to remove them from office are fools!
Ladies, this is the Republican Plan for you!
24 Responses to “A Woman’s Right to Choose Under Fire”
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One thing I would like to see us do is demand that churches lose their tax exempt status if they are going to get into politics and public policy-making. I think if enough of us made that demand, fundamentalist religious organizations would have to allocate their resources (thereby diverting resources from women's issues) to fight the "pay taxes" movement. This would take them out of the constantly-attacking-women mode. And they should pay taxes. A lot of these fundamentalist churches tell their parishioners how to vote in every election. They are the ones who have driven the anti-right to choose movement. Hefty church donations and promises to deliver votes have given these organizations political power witht he right wing.
And, for the record, I also think that an abortion is tragedy. Like you, Tom, I bellieve it is a personal decision. I have also read about cases where fundamentalists have interfered with end of life decisions made by people who were never members of their church!
Like you,Angelica, I think tax-exempt status should be removed from any church that tries to interfere in law-making in our country. Separation of Church and State is in our Constitution for a very good reason. I have always thought they should stay out of politics and not only on the abortion issue.
Could NOT agree with you more! Separation of church and state is a major reason why Americans United is one of my biggest annual donor recipients.
Rev. Barry Lynn addressed this very issue in his recent letter to the IRS:
~https://www.au.org/church-state/january-2014-church-state/au-bulletin/americans-united-asks-irs-to-curb-church
… AND donations to AU are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
http://www.au.org/donate/donate-now
(Wish the site would allow editing for 15 minute:- so I could amend the URL)
http://www.au.org/church-state/january-2014-church-state/au-bulletin/americans-united-asks-irs-to-curb-church
Wow! There's already a law on the books. Thanks, So-I-Need. We need to all contact the IRS and demand that they enforce it and let's see some of these churches lose their tax exempt status. Great idea.
I am so grateful that someone is challenging these churches who are telling their congregations how to vote. They should lose their tax exempt status as soon as they enter politics.
The law is the one governing all 501(c)(3) nonprofits. They may advocate issues, but not parties or candidates. Non-enforcement is the issue, which Republicans have abetted bu shasking funding for the IRS.
Enforcement is not a violiation of freedom of speech as Republicans claim as 501(c)(3) corporations, including churches, voluntary give up the right to advocate candidates and parties in the 501(c)(3) application.
I hope the RepublicanTs' War on Women along with all their other Wars fail. Anyone who values his/her freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution should never, I repeat NEVER, vote Republican. Their goal is to eliminate our Rights one by one until there are only 2 classes left, the uber-wealthy and their slaves.
Amen Patty!
I understand that for some this issue is, in their opinion is a deep religious and moral question. Morals like religion are a deeply personal issue, they can not be dictated by politicians nor a semi-popular cause of the moment.
Since our sex life has become a national debate it's should be noted that of all women's health treatments handled by doctors and Planned Parenthood, abortion is less than 3%, so we are NOT slaughtering babies and the scientific reality is, they are not babies, they can not survive out of the uterus, they are not fully formed.
Beyond those real but simple points is the very real question of the constitution and a right to privacy, a right to liberty and happiness. Whether a woman is raped or had consensual intercourse is really not relevant, she has a right to her own body, an absolute right to decide about her life. While this is often wrapped in a package of biblical concerns, the bible says that life begins when the child is born and draws it's first breath.
The back door is of course, to make abortions so expensive, so difficult to obtain and so personally an invasion of a woman's body that many will reject the choice. Along with this venal thinking, is another invasion of women, that is to prevent her from using any form of birth control. Folks, you can not have both ways, either a woman is allowed to prevent the pregnancy or she will have an abortion and sadly these laws are making the worst kind of abortions, those ill equipped to do this procedure, resulting in deaths – again.
Abortion are opposed by 77% of conservative men – 100% of those men will never be pregnant.
It does not matter the reasons for the medical procedure that is a private and personal issue. It matters that it is legal and these states are actually hoping for a case to break Roe-v-Wade. I have doubts that even this court would over turn that decision. Until women in the US have the exact same rights to self determination as any man, we are defacto second class citizens.
misskitty, you are so right
I fully agree, Kitty!
Perhaps for every woman who dies in a botched illegal abortion an old while "pro-life" politician should be chosen at random to die also.
'''after getting a mandatory rectal ultrasound and listening to a lecture on the dangers of being an asshole!! 😉
I have never had an abortion, but I firmly believe that the decision to have an abortion should be made by a woman and her medical advisor, not by religious fundamentalists are congress. If the women in this country don't wake up soon, we will be back in the fifties, trying to appease the head of the household while tending to five or six children and doing all the house work. AND, more importantly, never having the right to an opinion. If the Republicans had their way, women would lose the right to vote.
Edie, I agree!
I can not conceive of the anguish a girl or woman goes through when she decides to have an abortion. I don't believe that God wants a girl or women who has been raped to have a child of a rapist or of incest or medical complications or others to have a baby UNLESS she wants to. (HER CHOICE) It is a proven fact that SEX EDUCATION can help prevent abortions through knowledge so that women don’t get pregnant in the first place.
As some of you believe that life begins at conception then you must believe that they have a soul, if a women has a miscarriage what happens to that soul? Do you think that God is so petty that aborted souls are not put back into the bodies of loving women that can take care of them.
Welcome Tony! 🙂
Those are excellent points!
My first wife was raped in Portland Maine while I was away in the Military in our first year of marriage. I was amazed the line of religious people beathing a path to our door to insist that my wife not abort if pregnant. It simply is no ones elses business except the woman's period… ❗
I'm so sorry, Richard. How like Republicans to have concern for the child that wasn't there, and not for the woman that was.
They are evil… Reminds me of a song by Everlast – "What it's like"
I sympathize with you, Richard. I really hope everything is OK with you and your family now
I do not believe that an abortion should be used as the cheap way out. What I mean is if a couple engage in thoughtless sex with the idea that the woman will just get an abortion if an accident happens and everything will be ok, that’s just wrong. But in cases like rape, incest, or times when a therapeutic abortion is medically needed to save the woman’s life, her right to choose is absolute. And no uber-religious nutcase or anyone else has anything to say about it. I think the new Pope thinks in that direction and has many other good ideas. Funny, I like that new Pope, but am getting increasingly disenchanted with the church. Maybe I rant too much. Richard, I forgot to mention welcome back to civilian life. I was in, too, a long time ago.