Roe V. Wade

I've been itching to write about this. I've been reading a lot about it. I refuse to call them pro-lifers, as they don't advocate for better maternal healthcare, pre- and postpartum support, support for single moms, a living wage, day care, affordable contraceptives, and the like. They are anti-abortion. Women who are raped who should not be forced to have a baby. Nor should women, with painful ectopic pregnancies, similarly suffer. 

Firstly, abortions are part of our universal healthcare system in Canada. Depending upon your province or territory, each system is unique, with various protocols. I believe the maritimes are the worst for access due to lack of hospitals, and transportation issues. There are no federal laws governing abortion in Canada. 

I am so angry at this situation. Having been given up for adoption in 1957, and having met my birth mother, I've seen both sides. My therapeutic abortion was in 1975. I was sick as a dog, just entering university, and it was failed birth control. 

I remember sitting in the bathtub, my mother talking to me, asking what was wrong, and if I was pregnant. She knew. Getting on the phone right away, she made the arrangements. We told my dad it was just a D & C, which it was. Not everyone is able, or financially or emotionally prepared to raise a child. Many abortions, in this 'modern' era, are done simply with the morning after pill. 

The draft opinion was leaked from SCOTUS, and it is a shock to all. Some think they leaked it on purpose in order to soften the blow later. The thing is, both Kavanaugh and Barrett stated during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings that they should not open up Roe v. Wade, it is precedent. There is debate around whether their testimony under oath should be examined.

They have no right to tell me, not a Catholic, what I should do with my body. They have no right to tell people of other faiths, cultures, or traditions, that mothers have to die of ectopic pregnancies, rather than getting proper healthcare. Other faiths support it. 

Some women are being arrested and jailed having had a miscarriage or stillbirth. "Women were prosecuted using what are known as "foetal assault laws", which exist in at least 38 states." IT IS UNBELIEVABLE.

Of Course the US Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is surprised that there is so little written about abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787.

Not only that, but abortion is rooted in slavery. Slaves weren't allowed to have abortions. Race comes into this, as well.  To quote Margaret Atwood, " ‘Enforced childbirth is slavery’.

 

The history of abortion 
PubMed article on the history of abortion

Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, used a 17th Century judge as his reference on abortion. Someone wrote: "I thought we were just being dragged back to the 1950s?"

From Canadian Rev. Michael Coren:

Dippy US Senator Blackburn wants to remove the right to birth control from anyone not married. They want to put us back in the dark ages or into the future, with The Hand Maid's Tale. On Twitter, someone asked Margaret Atwood what is going to happen next. She replied, "I'm working on it!"

This video provides much clarity. 

The cold open from Saturday Night Live was a perfect illustration of the sheer absurdity of it all.

A profound moment of moral clarity from 13th century England pic.twitter.com/loZfY5sb40

— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) May 8, 2022

Freedom 55.1

CIHI abortion statistics

Women are learning to fight for the issues in which they believe. Technology, however, has moved us into a new era of ethics. IVF, surrogacy, early identification of fetal issues.

• e.g., Transcript: The surrogate abortion debate
• Couple urged surrogate to abort fetus due to defect

Maria Shriver, for example, not content to be Governor's wife or figurehead, or simple volunteer, followed her mother's path (Eunice Kennedy Shriver) and jumped into advocacy. With her power, influence and money, comes responsibility.

Problem is, when someone famous begins advocating for something, we trust that they know whereof they speak. In one article: in which (thankfully) language is being cleaned up, 

In October, Barack Obama signed a new law that prohibits the U.S. government from referring to the "mentally retarded" in any of its laws and regulations. The term to be used instead is "intellectual disability."
How many times have I heard a kid put down another using this word? I simply did not permit it. With inclusion, and acceptance of those who are different, society has moved into a whole new era.

However, they then cite these stats...

Approximately 90% of all babies diagnosed with Down's syndrome in the womb are aborted. The technological advances that Mrs. Shriver thought would help the mentally disabled are now employed to prevent them from ever seeing the light.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Retarded+more/3984583/story.html#ixzz18ZZLOQEV

I really wonder where the stats came from. In Canada, the stats are reported for hospital Therapeutic abortions. Private clinics do not have to report. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) now keep all such stats in its Therapeutic Abortion Database (TABD). The reason for an abortion is not stated. Yet, on the news I heard the '85 - 90%' stat again. I truly wonder.

In this day and age, we want ethical reporting, proven statistics, and data worth believing. Otherwise, we come to conclusions that are not worthy.