Here we go – some politically-motivated person inside the Supreme Court has just trashed their career once and for all, and may possibly even face legal consequences for one of the dumbest moves one could ever make in Washington: Leaking a possible opinion draft from the Justices. This, to fire up the public on both sides, when, had they just waited a few more weeks, the public would have gotten fired up anyway. This was most likely done to change the news cycles away from the disaster upon disaster that seems to be plaguing Biden this week (and last week, and the week before, and next week, etc.).
News flash: You can’t cover up even the latest bad news today, that we are now at a record 11.5 million open jobs and still 6 million people looking for work. Or that we have already passed 1 million border crossings (that were caught, not the got-aways) in the first quarter of this year. Or the 41-year high inflation rate and receding economy. Or diesel now topping the highest price ever at well past $5/gallon. But … I digress.
Let’s visit what the SCOTUS decision on the Mississippi case on the legality of the abortion ban after 15 weeks really has done, but first let’s talk about what’s already been going on over the last 50 years since the Roe v Wade decision:
Did you know (I assume not, depending on what crazed commentary you are hearing on the networks about this):
- The United States is one of only 7 nations (from my research) that allows abortions after 20 weeks? The others are China, North Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands. BUT, the Netherlands and Singapore ban it after 24 weeks; In Canada it is very hard to find after 20 weeks, and those doctors refer patients to the US clinics for later term abortions. Net net: The US is in “good company” with China, North Korea, and Vietnam in allowing unrestricted abortions all the way to full term. Do you hear anyone in all the other countries around the world with more restrictive laws decrying anything about women’s rights? (rhetorical)
- 52 other countries allow elective abortions before 20 weeks; no other countries allow it.
- The SCOTUS decision does NOT … let me say that again: does NOT ban abortions. It does, however, take exception with the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, stating that it was a far reach for the Justices then to attach rights to privacy and due process under the 14th Amendment to abortions. In fact, it only set the stage for states to not ban abortions prior to fetal viability, as you’ll see in further bullets below.
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has actually spoke out, and even lectured against, the Roe v Wade decision, saying the logic for using the “right to due process granted under the 14th amendment” was a seriously flawed approach that only served to fuel, not reduce the fire around the topic. RBG was an abortion supporter, BTW. But the most recent opinion, authored by Justice Alito, points out this very same flaw. And another note: Dozens – seriously dozens – of law professors have lectured about the flaws in application of the law in Roe v Wade.
But let’s not stop there with the “did you know” points:
- 43 states already have abortion bans after 20-24 weeks (with exceptions)
- 21 states have banned “partial birth abortions” (with exceptions)
- The BI-PARTISAN “Born Alive Infant Protection Act” was signed into Federal Law in 2002
- The BI-PARTISAN “Partial Birth Abortion Act” was signed into Federal law in 2007, blocked by a Federal Judge, then upheld in 2007 by the SCOTUS.
- The “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” passed the House in 2013, 2015, and 2017, but has yet to be taken up by the Senate. That one bans abortions after 20 weeks.
- In the last 40 years, abortions have fallen from 30 in 1,000 women, to 11 in 1,000 women. 92% of the abortions today are performed at 13 weeks or less gestation.
I could go on, but feel free to research this yourself, before getting all fired up over commentary I’ve heard in the last 24 hours that is flat-out lying, if not misleading; at the very least it’s deliberate gas-lighting.
So, this probable decision in the SCOTUS Mississippi abortion law case isn’t outlawing abortions at all – it is only sending the decision back to the state legislatures to decide for their own constituents; where it should have been in the first place. Most of these states have acted to a large extent already, within the confines of what federal laws and the constitution allow. Yes, some states may now go further in their bans – mostly to be similar to most nations around the world (e.g., almost all of Europe, which many people have no idea about). Some states have also declared that they will never ban abortions; I give you Illinois at the first to chime in last night.
And the question rarely addressed in most of these debates: When do we consider the unborn to have rights, too? Again, I pose this question rhetorically, but seriously – the earliest delivery that survived was at 21 weeks (2, in fact, from 1987 and 2006), general survivability is now approaching 22 weeks, with the standard accepted now as 24 weeks. As a paramedic I saw plenty of pre-term deliveries – some VERY pre-term, that all survived. But if you can abort a healthy fetus/baby at 24 weeks and beyond, what is actually happening in that procedure? What would you call that? I’ll leave that question for each of us to answer on our own.
