South Dakota, Abortion, and the bigger picture
South Dakota has set forth a law banning abortion in every sense except to protect the health of the mother. It does not provide for cases of rape/incest. I think this is an absolutely spectacular thing. Wait! Don't go yet, I have a good reason for saying that!
First, to clear up any question about my personal position on the issue, I am anti-abortion in the sense that I think abortion is used too often as a form of birth control, and I find it deplorable that an innocent life be taken because someone who should have had the capacity to say no, didn't. With that said, I don't think laws against abortion are the way to go.
So why do I think this law is such a grand idea?
South Dakota passed this law as a challenge to Roe vs Wade in hopes of prodding pro-choice organizations into taking it to the Supreme court. Their hope is that good old Dubya's new "conservative" judges will be enough to carry this anti-abortion law. The ramifications of this law being upheld by the Supreme court are far reaching because at its very root, this is a personal choice versus enforced governmental morality debate. If this law is upheld it sets a precedent. It says we want big daddy goverment to tell us what's right and wrong and enforce those beliefs under penalty of law.
So again, why do I think this law is such a good idea?
It's a catalyst for discussion, debate, and activism. This law has caused an uproar, a tidal wave of fury, and not just in the communities you'd expect. People are talking about this law and more importantly the underlying idea that the goverment should regulate our morals. While gay marriage bans passed with barely a whimper in 2004 other than in the affected community, this abortion law has gone over with the subtlety of a gunshot wound to the head. This will be fought, and fought hard, and in the end the Supreme Court will overturn South Dakota's law. The result will be a precedent for the battles yet to be fought over laws that never should have been enacted. More importantly the battle spurs conversation, and conversation is always good, especially if it gives a deeper understanding of the basics of a complicated issue. Women want to retain their personal freedom of deciding whether or not abortion is right for them, gays want to gain the personal freedom to marry whomever they choose regardless of gender. It's the same fight, people. Every argument that's used to keep gay marriage illegal can be used to make abortion illegal.
It's not just these two issues that are intertwined. You have to look at this in the bigger picture. The government is trying to mandate a national morality, a legally enforced code of right and wrong. It won't stop until enough people stand together, arm in arm, regardless of differences and say "ENOUGH!" You don't have to support what a person does to support their right to do it. This country was founded on the idea that religion, and by extension morality, should not be something the government forces on it's people. We can't let Dubya and his cronies take that away from us, and this SD law opens up the avenue by which we can make our stand. It will fail in the Supreme Court and it will unleash enough fury that other, lesser heard, communities can ride in behind and get/restore the rights they are entitled to.
First, to clear up any question about my personal position on the issue, I am anti-abortion in the sense that I think abortion is used too often as a form of birth control, and I find it deplorable that an innocent life be taken because someone who should have had the capacity to say no, didn't. With that said, I don't think laws against abortion are the way to go.
So why do I think this law is such a grand idea?
South Dakota passed this law as a challenge to Roe vs Wade in hopes of prodding pro-choice organizations into taking it to the Supreme court. Their hope is that good old Dubya's new "conservative" judges will be enough to carry this anti-abortion law. The ramifications of this law being upheld by the Supreme court are far reaching because at its very root, this is a personal choice versus enforced governmental morality debate. If this law is upheld it sets a precedent. It says we want big daddy goverment to tell us what's right and wrong and enforce those beliefs under penalty of law.
So again, why do I think this law is such a good idea?
It's a catalyst for discussion, debate, and activism. This law has caused an uproar, a tidal wave of fury, and not just in the communities you'd expect. People are talking about this law and more importantly the underlying idea that the goverment should regulate our morals. While gay marriage bans passed with barely a whimper in 2004 other than in the affected community, this abortion law has gone over with the subtlety of a gunshot wound to the head. This will be fought, and fought hard, and in the end the Supreme Court will overturn South Dakota's law. The result will be a precedent for the battles yet to be fought over laws that never should have been enacted. More importantly the battle spurs conversation, and conversation is always good, especially if it gives a deeper understanding of the basics of a complicated issue. Women want to retain their personal freedom of deciding whether or not abortion is right for them, gays want to gain the personal freedom to marry whomever they choose regardless of gender. It's the same fight, people. Every argument that's used to keep gay marriage illegal can be used to make abortion illegal.
It's not just these two issues that are intertwined. You have to look at this in the bigger picture. The government is trying to mandate a national morality, a legally enforced code of right and wrong. It won't stop until enough people stand together, arm in arm, regardless of differences and say "ENOUGH!" You don't have to support what a person does to support their right to do it. This country was founded on the idea that religion, and by extension morality, should not be something the government forces on it's people. We can't let Dubya and his cronies take that away from us, and this SD law opens up the avenue by which we can make our stand. It will fail in the Supreme Court and it will unleash enough fury that other, lesser heard, communities can ride in behind and get/restore the rights they are entitled to.
posted by Ayanla at 12:52 PM
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