Political sycophants

So here we are quickly gaining terminal velocity as we head into the wall of the mid-term elections. I don't know how your area is but where I am most candidates seem to be capable of only one topic...Roe vs Wade.

Let's start with a few facts and proceed from there:

The decision in Roe was issued January 22, 1973

It was a 7-2 split within the court so a large majority"The decision held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy", which protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion." (Lifted from Wikipedia)

Now notice the court did not say "A woman has a right to an abortion" directly but decided her right to privacy allowed it. If you read up on this topic you will find the court did not say the right is absolute and it had to be balanced between the governments interest in protecting the life of the mother and the prenatal life as well.

So time passed, and abortion became a political football used to rile up voter's on both sides, and much like a football it was great for getting attention to the one holding the ball but not much else. Both sides have their points and both sides have had majorities in congress where this could have been codified either way or amended to the Constitution in either direction in the nearly 50 years this stood as precedent, and yet neither side did. But why not? Because the arguments for and against were too good at getting people elected for either side to relinquish the football.

One big thing that gets thrown out there a lot is the difference between pro-life and pro-birth, I have to say that people calling it pro-birth have a valid point as typically pro-life candidates do nothing to help struggling mothers who may or may not be below an imaginary one size fits all poverty line. Children's and mother's Medicaid gets cut. No help for child care. In many cases no food stamp benefits. No aid for families with dependent children. So if a pro-life candidate does not support increasing these they are actually pro-birth not pro-life.

Will the current crop of "choice" or "life" candidates actually do anything? Nope, that football is too good for donations, speaking against the other team, and getting elected, to change the game. What we will see is a patchwork of life and choice states each with subtle differences as it was 50 years ago. What will that mean? To the average person, not much, but if your pro-choice and seeking an abortion it could mean a great deal. One big takeaway though is abortions were performed before, during, and will continue beyond the fall of Roe.

So what do we do with all these apparent one issue candidates? Well if you're pro-life don't vote for them. If you are pro-choice, consider there are other political groups that are with you than just Democrats and if you look into them you may just find some fit your ideals better. It is time as a nation we stop letting politicians divide us into us vs them and Roe has been a major foil for that for nearly half a century.

Maura
If you are interested in helping support my writing or my eventual shop you can find my donation page at MauraAlwyen.com