The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a national law allowing women access to abortion. This action uses religious belief to instate inquisitional rule, an instance of a minority dictating control of the majority of American women. Defying democracy, this is forcible suppression of women’s rights, where a small cabal dominates the will of 63 to 68 percent of American citizens. Three of these judges appointed by Donald Trump placed their hand on a Bible and swore an oath to tell the truth — then disgracefully lied about how they would deal with Roe v. Wade. Lying to Congress is feloniously indictable.
Now another mess of tangled laws is sharply dividing the citizenry. Medieval-thinking Republican lawmakers in Texas and Florida declared a woman leaving the state to seek an abortion will be tracked down and returned to face murder charges, fines and other such numbskull legal foolishness.
The Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment states “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
President James Madison wrote “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.”
Upheld in numerous rulings and edicts the United States government does not consider a fetus a “person.” Carliss Chatman, law professor at Washington and Lee University asked “If a fetus is a person at six weeks gestation, is that when child support starts?” The Reverend Benjamin Cremer stated “If Jesus wanted a Christian nation, he would have created one, but he didn’t. Instead, he created a church.”
Thirty-eight years teaching college and university health science and history has privileged me with having Muslim, Shinto, Sikh, Jewish, Christian and non-religious colleagues and students. I emphasized the origins of our democratic republic, especially the framing of our Constitution. The last half century evinced development of insidious movements falsely claiming the United States is a “Judeo-Christian” nation. This unfounded and malignantly absurd assertion is the Christian nationalism embraced by fringes of both political parties; some elected officials vote with their “Catholic conscience.” This cultic claim uses Bible verses, saying this country needs Jesus. No. Christians need Jesus. America needs a separation of church and state, the foundation of which this country exists in the first place. Our secular government guarantees citizens may practice whatever religion they wish, or none at all as well. Citizens can let religion control their own lives, but they should not use religion to control the whole country.
The Bible has God’s exhortations rare in pastorcitos’ sermons: Genesis 2:7- “Life begins with the first breath”; Numbers 5:11-31- “Pregnancy from adultery should be aborted”; 2 Kings 8:12- “You will… kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.”; Isaiah 13:18- “Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare the children.” Isaiah 14- “Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.” Hosea 9:14 and 16- “Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.”
In Genesis Lot’s two daughters get him drunk, have sex with him and become pregnant by their father. Exodus states Moses’ and Aaron’s mother is also their aunt because their father Amram married his father’s sister. If these stories were true, then the god praised by millions has killed more infants and fetuses than any human and is cool with incest. So go ahead and make laws that affect only Christians. Leave the rest of Americans alone.
People need to trust doctors (unless they’re religious zealots) and the science community. Citizens need to ignore lunatics at fringes of BOTH political parties. Human reason is not perfect, but it’s the best path to truth.
Working in hospitals and teaching health sciences for decades, I radiographed a twelve-year-old sexually abused pregnant girl in 1974. She underwent therapeutic abortion since her pelvic architecture would not have sustained full pregnancy, a highly probable fatal situation. A U.S. Navy corpsman (Bronze Star, Afghanistan veteran) related the case of a sixteen-year-old girl brought to the hospital in labor. Because of the pregnancy, her family had removed her from eighth grade and hidden her at home due to perceived social shame; she had no prenatal health care. The emergency room doctor ordered immediate Caesarean section. The baby survived; the teen mother died of eclampsia (vital organs shutdown). She would have lived had she received appropriate health care. The girl’s father was deployed; she and her mother lived with in-laws. Her uncle had impregnated her. Proper sex education and health care could prevent such tragedies. Notwithstanding child and spousal abuse, the Supreme Court has arrogantly ruled against safe health care for women, relegating them to second class citizens and denying them bodily autonomy, in short: wards of the state.
The evil loosed by the Supreme Court’s ruling will result in cruel consequences that don’t belong in the democracy of a world-leading nation. Though zealously blind Christian nationalists and Trump followers have allowed this, non-voting Democrats are equally irresponsible.
I often consider our country’s social trends with French philosopher Albert Camus’ statement in mind: “He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool.” This may be particularly true if citizens fail our democratic republic by not voting.
