Monday, May 09, 2022

Abortion Rights for the Wrong Reasons

Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (CBS)
First, I want to restate my view that abortion should not be restricted by the government. I believe that decisions should be left in the hands of the individuals in consultation with their clergy who can define when an abortion is morally acceptable - or perhaps even required. 

Pro choice advocates want that right to be absolute under any an all circumstances. And the more extreme elements of the pro life movement want to ban all abortions. 

The funny thing is that I agree with the pro choice advocates. Abortion should be legal with no restrictions. Not because I think it is moral under all circumstances. It is not! The idea of setting some restrictions on it in certain cases might sound like a decent compromise. There is, however, no guarantee that those restrictions will match my religious beliefs. 

Not that any of this is new. But the negative reaction by the left to the tentative reversal of Roe v Wade  continues unabated - and has only increased in intensity. There continue to be protests and rallies all over the country. While in some cases the media acknowledges that there are counter ‘pro choice’ rallies, they clearly favor the pro choice advocates. Not so subtly championing them as being on the ‘right moral side’ of the issue.

I am appalled (although unsurprised) at the way this issue continues to be characterized by the left and the media. As I recently noted, I find their arguments to be morally repugnant.

They argue that this is all about a woman’s right to choose what to do with her own body. As if that is the only thing that is to be considered.  The  left NEVER mentions the fact the a potential life is destroyed by the decision to terminate a pregnancy. It is as though the fetus is little more than a wart that can easily be removed in a doctor’s office or a woman’s health clinic. 

Former Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed on PBS and CBS. Her reaction to the possibility that Roe v Wade will be overturned reached a new low.  She actually had the gall to call it  a threat to our democracy  And although she did not say it in so many words she clearly believes it is completely moral for a women  to freely terminate a pregnancy at any stage for any reason. 

To Secretary Clinton the destruction of a potential life is not even worth mentioning - irrelevant to that right. She characterized reversing Roe v Wade to be a throwback to a time where a patriarchy was regnant. When men made all the decisions - regardless of what women think. 

She also characterized Alito and the other conservative justices on the Court as right wing extremists. No such thing as principled opposition to abortion on demand. Righteous indignation was written all over her face. If this does not expose Clinton as a radical feminist, I don't know what does. (Makes me grateful she never became President.) 

The PBS anchor interviewing her did not see fit to challenge her narrative - thereby signaling her agreement with Clinton's sentiment. Pro life advocates are considered radical right wing extremists whose rhetoric is unworthy of  any serious media attention.

The decision to overturn Roe v Wade has nothing to do with feminism. Nothing to do with denying a woman’s rights. It has to do with factoring in the destruction of a potential human life when asserting that right. Which Clinton and much of the left completely ignores. Their moral compass places no value on the potential life. If Clinton had the slightest inkling that it has any value, she should have at least mentioned it and explained why she still favors abortion. She didn't.

As I recently indicated, the underlying premise of the pro choice advocates is that unmarried casual sex is no longer taboo. And therefore should not have any consequences. What if it results in an unwanted pregnancy? Just get rid of it! Restricting abortion rights will place unnecessary impediments to the sexual freedoms Americans  have enjoyed since the sexual revolution of the 60s began. 

What about the accusation by the left that this is only the beginning? That taking away a woman’s right to choose will be followed by taking away other rights recently granted by the Supreme Court. 

Nonsense! What they fail to acknowledge is that there is a critical difference between abortion  rights and the other rights.  Something Justice Alito himself pointed out. In the case of abortion there is potential life that will be ended. That is not the case with any other right.  

There has been a lot made by the left and the media about the fact that overwhelming majority of Americans (60%) favor abortion rights. This is true. But that is only for the first trimester of a pregnancy. When it comes to aborting a fetus during the second trimester, that approval drops to 28%. Which really means that over 70% of  Americans actually favor some restrictions on abortion.  

It would be nice for a change if the media would give equal weight to both sides of the argument instead of their knee jerk characterization of overturning Roe v Wade as a denial of women’s right  to make decisions about her own body.

There is a right way to deal with abortions and a wrong way. The wrong way is to see it as only about the right a woman to choose. The right way is to factor in the fact that a potential life is lost in the process. And that ought not be ignored the way the left and especially the media does.