Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Is It About Life: Thoughts on Roe V. Wade

It was a busy day and an historic day.

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

An entire generation has taken the last 40 years for granted that this simply is and always has been and will continue to be.

There have been the protests since the inception of the law and throughout the lifetime of the law, each year gaining and losing momentum...on both sides.

Roe v. Wade. Just the mention of the case is enough to separate families and divide friendships, certainly tear this nation apart.

But does the fact that it was part of Nixon's "Northern strategy" to win the Catholic vote really play into the dialogue, that it was never about the life of the fetus, the baby, the woman, the whatever, but about winning a political election?

Does the fact that the ones originally covered and protected under Roe v. Wade were the doctors who feared for their practice if they performed a medical procedure that was legal in some states and not others?

Roe v. Wade to this writer is not about the fetus or religion or anything other than power and control over women's bodies.

It is 2013, history was made just yesterday with President Obama's second inauguration and the parade that included so many parts of the diversity of our nation.  It is that President Obama publicly proclaimed that women should be paid equal to their effort and no longer just 75-cents (67-cents for women of color) for every dollar men make.

The country needs better and hopes that the Supreme Court Justices really evaluate the history and perspective of this decision.  If the argument for life stops at the fetus, is it really a discussion about life?

A discussion about life includes equal and accessible education for all children, health care for all, living wage for the lowest wage earner in the country, affordable housing for all, and the true pursuit of happiness.  If it is about life, that is.

2 comments:

  1. I said last fall that most of these "pro-lifers" are not pro-life. They are anti-abortion. There is a difference. It's time to reframe the vocabulary.

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  2. Excellent phrase, "reframe the vocabulary." I agree, they are not pro-life, the broader discussion is on women's health care and agency.

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Thoughtful dialogue is appreciated.