Roe vs Wade vs USA

By Hank Silverberg

Abortion! Say the word and you will get a great deal of heated opinion from almost everyone. It is an issue which has divided the country for more than four decades. Even the terminology sparks outrage. Pro-life, Pro-choice, Anti-abortion and sometimes worse ----Pro-abortion or “baby killers.”

In this column I am not going to get into terminology, with one exception: “Pro-abortion.” There is noone out there who is “Pro-abortion.” Even women who have had one will tell you it was a tough choice. I am not trying to make lite of this, but no woman goes out there and says “Oh, gee, when I grow up, I’m going to get pregnant and then I am going to have an abortion! It’s a great idea.” It’s a medical procedure that requires thought, preparation and usually counseling by trained medical professionals. Poll after poll after poll indicates the majority of people in the United States believe a woman should have the right to choose that option for an unwanted pregnancy. 

 http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/marist-poll-pro-choice-and-pro-life-majorities-want-more-abortion-restricti

The latest poll from Marist College shows 55% of Americans identified themselves as “pro-choice," while 38% claimed to be “pro-life.” Only 16% of those who said they were pro-life also said they would like the Supreme Court to make abortion illegal in all circumstances, including rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life. 

And that brings us to the flurry of legislation passed this past week in Alabama, Missouri and Georgia. The details vary in these three states and in five others, which have taken similar tracks. The so- called “heart beat” bills in Georgia and Missouri are particularly heinous because they require women to make a decision at six or eight weeks, in many cases before she even knows she’s pregnant. Supporters agree these bills say they are really designed to prompt

(Courtesy of uscourts.gov)

challenges in federal court, with the case ending up in the U.S. Supreme Court. Their hope is that such a case will eventually trigger a radical reversal of the landmark 1973 abortion case, Roe v Wade, which made abortion legal nationwide.  

The Centers for Disease Control says abortions in the United States dropped 24% in the last decade, way before the rash of new restrictive laws were passed. That decrease, a trend that began with the 21^st century,  has been linked to an increase in sex education classes across the country and the availability of contraception. Those statistics were one of the reasons there was a major push during the health care debate to mandate the availability of contraception in health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

But states that do not have a mandate for sex education in their schools, like Georgia, or mandate “abstinence only” sex education, like Alabama, have seen a rise in abortions during the last decade.

Both Alabama (2) and Georgia (7) are among the top ten states with high infant mortality rates, indicating a need for better prenatal care. Such care is also the mission of many of the same women’s health clinics that will be forced to close under the new restrictive abortion laws.  In fact, a recent study indicates that is already happening. 

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

Taking all this into account, it is hard to argue against the “right to choose” on practical grounds, though those who are pushing this agenda will. They focus on religious or values-oriented arguments.

In 2016 the Guttmacher Institute, which researches reproductive health and rights, reported that only 25 states mandate sex education in schools, with 27 states producing guidelines on how sex education is taught. Only 13 of those states require that sex education be free from cultural, racial or religious bias.  


And that is perhaps even more controversial.

Religious teachings vary on how they treat abortions. I am not a theologist, but here is just one example which has already created problems for anyone trying to legislate on abortion. According to Catholic liturgy, if faced with saving the life of the mother or her unborn fetus, the life of the fetus is given preference. Judaism teaches just the opposite. Based on the old testament, a fetus attains the status of a full person only AFTER birth. The Talmud, the Jewish book of laws, teaches that abortion is not merely permissible, but mandatory when the mother’s life is imperiled by her pregnancy.  When faced with saving the mother or the child, the mother is given preference. (The Torah does not specifically address abortion, but the law is interpreted in the Mishnah from Exodus 21:22-23, if you want to look it up.)

  
That puts some state laws at odds with the religious teachings of some of their residents, and presents a constitutional issue that has yet to be addressed. Bottom line, it’s a decision that should be made by the woman, and in some cases with consultation with her husband, according to their own beliefs and guidance from a doctor. It is not something the government should decide. Doctors need to be free to give their best medical advice based on their training and not be hampered by outrageous threats of long-term prison sentences for performing a medically necessary procedure.

The second value issue is straight forward. What gives the government the right to decide what a woman can do with her body?  The same conservatives who argue the government should not regulate gun ownership, are trying to tell women that the government can decide how to regulate the female body. The hypocrisy is obvious, but often ignored.  And then, to further regulate women to second class citizens, legislatures like the one in Alabama want to force women to carry the child of the man who raped them, or an incestuous rape that often leads to genetic defects. 

There is one other side here. Many in the pro-choice community 

have been rightfully outraged by this increase in abortion restrictions, but they have been quick to throw nasty accusations at “men”—all men, because it is often men you see debating the issue in state legislatures. But those pro-choice advocates should be careful. The Georgia bill was sponsored by Republican Terri Collins, a woman, and the Alabama Governor who signed the bill, Republican Kay Ivey is also female. Many men are just as appalled as women by this quick turn back to the bad old days of the 1950’s.  

So, to sum up, let's make a few things clear.

 *Being “pro-choice” does NOT mean you are pro-abortion.

 *Proponents of restrictions on abortions are pushing these very severe bills to force a re-evaluation of Roe v Wade and an eventual decision that will have an impact nationwide. But polls still indicate, as they have for decades, the majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal.

 *It’s time for the government to stay out of a woman’s uterus and let each individual make her own decision based on her own personal values and medical condition.

This debate has gone on long enough. Abortions are legal in the United States and should stay that way.  Let’s concentrate on bigger health issues for women and babies, like accurate non-judgmental sex education, affordable effective contraception, better foster care and adoption programs, help for unwed teenage mothers who want to keep their babies, and good prenatal care.  

    (Your comments and suggestions are welcome. See the comment section below.)