And so Alabama has voted to ban pretty much all abortions for any reason. It's left up to the governor now to sign the bill, which will be interesting since the governor is a woman. Clearly, the sole intent here is not to jail doctors for 99 years, but to force a challenge which will ultimately get a hearing in the Supreme Court with the hope that, being a conservative bench, Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
All the legal ramifications aside, my initial reaction to the news was how cowardly the state action was, but for an unlikely reason. If Alabama state representatives think that abortion is literally murder and doctors are deserving of 99 years in jail for committing that crime -- indeed if anyone thinks that abortion is literally murder and doctors are deserving of 99 years in jail for committing that crime -- then the state legislators (and everyone supporting them) should have stood by their high moral convictions and included the mothers in their penalty. After all, abortions don't occur out of the blue on a whim. A woman had to have made the decision to specifically and intentionally have an abortion and bring her fetus or zygote into the operating room. By the logic of the Alabama legislators, she is an accessory to murder, no different than if a mother brought her 10-year-old child to a paid assassin with the sole intention of having the kid killed. If the legislators or anyone truly, honestly, and actually believe that abortion is the murder of a full-blooded human being, then the only true moral and legal action they could have taken is to also charge the mother. But they're cowards, all of them. Because they know the outrage would be so otherwordly that the cause of abortion would likely be dealt blow so powerful it would end the issue politically once and for all -- and probably end it morally, too. Because if you couldn't dare try, let alone convict a mother of accessory to murder for an abortion, then you can't stand on your moral foundation that abortion is murder of a human being. But by just charging a doctor, you get to cowardly hide behind a false reality. As I said, I'm certain that this action by the state of Alabama is just an attempt to get to the Supreme Court. And this is only a single issue of a single state. But it's actually more than that. And I think what every Democratic candidate, every Democrat in Congress, in fact every reporter should do is ask every single Republican candidate in 2020 -- whether for federal, state or local races -- if they support the Alabama law. Who knows, some Republican candidates may. And if so, they should stand on their convictions and let voters know. Let voters know that they too believe all abortion should be illegal, and doctors should get prison sentences of 99 years. Mind you, I don't think many will say they believe that because it's all just one big lie, since after all I don't think many Alabama legislators believe it themselves, only wanting to force Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court. (And by the way, they should all get a follow-up question: if you do support the Alabama law, why don't you think mothers should be tried for accessory to murder, too, since they're bringing their fetus, or zygote, in to be aborted?) That leaves all the other Republicans who would not support the law. Which would put most of the Republican Party officials on the record against banning all abortion. I suspect that most Republicans would try to tap dance their way around it. But an answer of "Well, this is a States Rights issue and up to the people of Alabama" should not be accepted by anyone. Because at issue is not Alabama but whether that candidate believes banning all abortion -- as a law -- is a good law, regardless of the state. Would the candidate support a similar law in their own state? And if the best they can offer is wiggling they're way out of replying, then their answer on the record is NOT "No, I wouldn't support such a law." And the voters should know. It appears that the cowardly far-right Republican Party wants this issue. Well, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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