Alito and Roe

Okay, I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but maybe confirming Alito wouldn’t be the end of the world. Close, perhaps, but not quite. I’m looking at 2 issues—his leanings toward a great deal of executive power (almost the end of the world, especially with Georgie Boy in office) and abortion (which has needed an overhaul, as an issue, for years).

The executive power thing terrifies me, because Cheney is one nasty ringleader and he has the perfect puppet in office. I don’t even want to think about the crap this administration would pull if given half a chance. Wait, they’ve had half a chance, and we’ve seen those results. This is scary.

The other big issue with Alito has been abortion. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not longing for the “good ol’ days” when women were butchered in back alleys and at the ends of coat hangers. At the same time, I’m not comfortable with treating abortion as a morally neutral choice. It bugs me when I hear pro-choice advocates say, “If you don’t like abortion, don’t get one.” I don’t get to choose to kill anyone else. No one says, “If you don’t like murder, don’t murder anyone, but don’t interfere with my right to murder.”

I’m not trying to slam people who’ve had abortions. My best friend had one when we were in high school. If she hadn’t been able to obtain a safe, legal abortion, she might well have self-induced, and we might not have the dear friendship we still have today. (She’s the one who drove from Jacksonville to Bradenton to be with me after my grandfather’s viewing.)

We have wars. We resign ourselves to some collateral damage. We seem to agree that there are times when taking innocent life is justified, and yet, we condemn murder. It’s all so murky and painful and such a no-win situation.

I hate to say this. It sounds so callous, but maybe if we go backwards, and women start dying again (don’t fool yourselves—outlawing abortion doesn’t stop it, it only increases the death toll), we’ll start digging deeper. Maybe we’ll wake up and understand how critical it is that young people get a truly comprehensive education with regard to sexuality. I really wish that the “pro-choice” camp would push this agenda much, much harder. Ironically, we can’t seem to get the “pro-life” side involved in this, even though it would really help to stop abortions. “Abstinence only” doesn’t work, and study after study shows that the more kids know, the longer they wait. One need only look at teen pregnancy rates in so-called “red states” to see what a dismal failure it is to withhold information from young people.

Next, we’ll make sure that safe, reliable, affordable contraception is easily available to all sexually active people, no stigma attached. Can you imagine what substantial strides we could make in decreasing abortion if we truly made sure that people had all the information about and access to contraceptives that they need? Yes, condoms are easily available, but young people often don’t know just how critical they are, and a number of “abstinence only” programs have flat-out lied to kids, telling them that they’re ineffective.

Of course, we’d still be talking about what to do in cases of medical need, rape, and incest. Like it or not, at that point, you’re talking about collateral damage—either in terms of the woman or in terms of the child. In these cases, sometimes the “woman” is a child herself. Those discussions would still be painful and murky. They would be decisions best left to the families and people involved.