Dear Editor,
I hate this subject with a passion. Nothing can drive apart a relationship, group of people or stop a conversation stat like abortion.
Abortion: A medical procedure that saves the life of one and ends the life of another. Simple.
It crosses all boundaries and introduces an erroneous perception of belief for many of our neighbors.
What is the lie, you may ask? Well it is all in the terminology used by the medical profession, politicians and those who support this human right. Human right? Well if we can accept one lie, “that all free people are equal in many ways”, then we should have the right to our safety and healthy bodies. Women have the right and ownership of their bodies. Good, well that’s done. Now the central lie. That the life within the womb is called a “fetus”, and not a child since its still in the woman’s body. A life, but somehow denied protection by the law to remain alive in time. Its life force is superseded by the life of the woman carrying it.
Who made that decision? Well the US Supreme Court did, passing into law Roe vs. Wade, a decision that allowed for abortions in America, and ultimately throughout the world too. Hey, if the biggest democracy in the world can decide this, so could others. Follow the quacking duck.
This past Friday , a conservative-led Supreme Court has overturned this ruling, opening up a huge bag of firecrackers ready to be lighted into an explosion of who the hell knows for sure. Can’t be good. Not for the victims of rape, incest and those whose lives are threatened by, yes, the fetus and its condition. Horrors upon horrors, we will now have each state within their union able to decide how, when and where the state can control their female population. It’s all about control.
The Conservative Right, with their religious allies, will claim the right to control women and their bodies, mostly for religious reasons (What would Jesus do?), but it is a guy thing. That’s right folks. A further lie raises its ugly head, that being “Women are equal to Men”. Well in several states within the US union that is not true. They want you to believe that women are equal to men in Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and so many other states but we all know that is not true, otherwise women would be allowed to respectfully, intelligently and morally decide what to do with their bodies.
I am a spiritual and religious person, and I abhor abortion, capital punishment, paying excessive taxes and the like. As a former Franciscan Friar Tor, I met several women who truly needed an abortion. Yah, we talked and debated until we could do it no more. I could have said horrible things right out of the religious playbook most Catholics have read. You’re committing a terrible sin, you’re going to be damned, etc., etc. I did not, and in fact accompanied a young woman to and during the procedure.
Why did I assist these ladies? Well what was the truly greatest of laws given us by Christianity and many other sacred religions? We can make our own decisions. We have the right and ability to choose.
Well, here go the men again, playing God. They want to tell 50% of this planet what the hell to do. Long ago I have met men who murder owners of abortion clinics, nurses and doctors that work there too. Real God-fearing men who were members of The Army of God, a known domestic terrorist group that has declared a holy war upon the abortion genocide (as they called it).
Abortion is a destroyer of life in so many ways. I hate its conception and practice, but I acknowledge its purpose to liberate women from a future of pain and distress. Socio-economic aside, no one makes a decision like this easily. I don’t see the religious right and its many membership offer much more than words and prayers to those who truly need this procedure and assistance.
Allahu akbar – God is great, God is greatest That is true. The sacred books of most religions tell us that the righteous is a person of wisdom, who decides well. Well, folks, America is going backwards towards the time when women were to be present, but not heard, a time when men ruled the roost, even if that meant that their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers would be under their command. It’s The Hand Maiden (book to movie) in the flesh.
Ladies, is this not the time and anywhere being the place, to stand up for your rights as a human being?
Most men care about family, community and nationhood, but they have a collectively tarnished outlook on life. Many will impregnate someone, and some will stand by their choice and action by being responsible, yet many will not. I lived in the Bronx for a year, and cannot remember how many single women with children lived down the block from the guy who will not acknowledge his children. The number of single women with children has grown from 9% in 1994 to 16% in 2014. That stat has gone up since then.
Ladies, the society you live in will care for you, support and protect you only if you force it too. Take it by the horns and lead.
Ladies how can you allow a bunch of elderly lawyers(the Supreme Court) overturn Roe vs. Wade without a seriously revolutionary fight? In many states that you live in, politicians are going to start pressuring for other severe changes to the law, and how society views citizens’ rights and privileges.
Friends in the LBGTQ community, look out! You’re next in line. How about overturning same-sex marriages? Maybe there will be a return to some horrid southern traditions. Who knows?
Fight for what is right, including the Right to Life. Stop lying about your intentions. If God were like us, would each of you be dictated to? Or would you be allowed to choose, even if it is a bitter thing.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
