Pregnancy From Rape. Did You Know "It's An Opportunity"?

Hi, I’m Rick Barron, your host, and welcome to That’s Life; I Swear

So, let’s see. Inflation is on the rise. The Ukraine war could get to a nuclear state if Putin has his way. Wall Street is struggling. The Florida governor has attacked Micky Mouse. Apple’s iPod is going the way of the Walkman. Elon Musk wants to reinstate Trump’s Twitter account! It’s like our world is going topsy turvy. What else can go wrong. Oh, this just in. A leaked document from the Supreme Court revealed that the court is leaning towards overturning Roe v. Wade.

Let’s jump into this.

On May 2^nd a document was leaked out to the public from a place one would think was air tight, the Supreme court.

The document was a draft ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. Although the authentic document, as later revealed from the Supreme Court, was a draft and not representing a final decision, the content launched a seismic political rift that would impact electoral and legal consequences.

Reaction was quick. In the blink of an eye, protestors from Pro-Choice Movement and Pro-Life, gathered in front of the Supreme Court, with their made-up placards telegraphing their opinions and anger.

Now one would think the Republicans in Congress would’ve been jumping up and down with joy of a pending vote to end Roe v. Wade. This day was in the making for almost fifty years. No break dancing or the throwing of confetti? Of course not. They went radio silent and hid to avoid a backlash against their party ahead of the midterm 2022 elections. Brave individuals indeed.

On the day of the news, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky came to the microphone to help us correct our morality compass. His pearls of wisdom were that it was “not a leaked draft, but the fact the draft was leaked’. Really!?

Yes, Mitch, you hit the nail on the head as to what was the real critical issue at hand. But, unfortunately, in genuine Republican dialogue, we hear the rhetoric of distraction. Trumpism still runs rampant in the hallways of Congress.

After hearing about the leak and what direction the Supreme Court’s decision appears to be headed, I thought back to the moments when Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett went through their confirmation hearings.

All three nominees were asked if they would be so inclined to support overriding Roe v. Wade. All three conveyed they wouldn’t because Roe v. Wade was a precedent.

Now, what do we mean when we say precedent? Checked around the Internet and Wikipedia to find out.

Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts, or similar legal issues. Precedent is incorporated into the doctrine of stare decisis and requires courts to apply the law in the same manner to cases with the same facts.

Guess my question is what happened? Why all of a sudden did precedent go out the window with Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Barrett, when they said otherwise during their confirmation proceedings?

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft, has a history from his days as an appeals court judge for disrespecting precedents and established understanding of the law.

From his point of view, Alito, saw the constitution go off the rails with its decision for Roe v. Wade back in January of 1973. He felt it as a wrong decision, and rather than have the country be stuck with the outcome, he decided it was best to correct it.

Alito’s thinking is that the ruling was wrong from the get go, and dismisses the argument that in Roe v Wade, the right to choose abortion is part of the constitutional guarantee of liberty and privacy. He calls out that abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.

Ok, now, when the framers of our country were pulling together the text to our constitution, they couldn’t have anticipated that the right to an abortion would be of high concern, thus adding it in the constitution.

Over the past 240 plus years of our country’s existence, many issues have come up. Things have change during that time period and still are. Did all of those issues that have come about had to be in existence when our country was born, thus deeply rooted? I mean some decisions both hard and easy had to me made along the way. Sorry they weren’t all there at the start Alito!

For that matter, why must everything be sanctified in the U.S. Constitution?

They say the decision is still in draft mode and not final until the ruling is officially announced. Seems to me the damage has already been done.

I titled this episode ‘It’s an Opportunity’.

Why?

While driving to do some errands I heard on my car radio an Ohio state Republican representative speaking in an Ohio house government oversight committee meeting, where the topic was, yep, you guessed it, abortion.

Some context here. Should Roe v Wade be overturned by the supreme court, the Republicans in Ohio are geared to pass a “trigger ban” bill that would immediately criminalize abortion in the state, without any exemptions for rape or incest.

Trigger ban. Funny how the conservative base uses gun analogies to label their bills.

The representative expressed that rape is a bad thing, but that there was a silver lining.

Silver lining? Ok, let’s see where this goes.

The representative went on to explain her thinking saying that rape was a difficult issue, and I quote, “But if a baby is created, it is a human life and whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not the scars will not go away, period. It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman – no matter how young or old she is – to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being … That child can grow up and be something magnificent, a wonderful family person, cure cancer, etc.” End quote.

When asked if her bill would force a 13-year-old girl who is raped to have the baby. The reply was an unequivocal, yes. This from the party that bangs the drums for “family values” and protecting children from abuse.

The line that caught me and made me stop me in my tracks was ‘there’s an opportunity for the woman, regardless of age’. I got so distracted I almost missed the stop sign while in my car.

Are we really thinking about telling women today, ‘look, you got punched and thrown to the ground, and raped by someone you don’t know from Adam? However, that baby you now have could cure cancer one day. Really!?

How do you tell a thirteen-year-old, who was forced into a circumstance they didn’t want or asked for, gets raped and now dealing with the birth of a baby, to then be told that it’s an opportunity of a lifetime?

So, will the state come to the aid of this young thirteen-year-old? Will they provide the means by which she can complete high school, pay her way to college, parental care, housing, and whatever she may need to raise the baby? I think the congratulatory ‘it’s an opportunity’, is where the helping hand ends.

I wonder how those who want to protect life but live in states where one is able to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or demonstrate the ability to handle a gun. Soon, Gov. Ron DeSantis will push for such a law in Florida. Ron, remember Parkland?

Many people promote saving a life but yet, have no qualms about people carrying concealed weapons on their person. It would be ironic if the child saved from abortion to one day find themselves at the end of the barrel by a law-abiding citizen with no gun permit.

Think about it.

What can we learn from this story? What’s the takeaway?

Legislatures in approximately 22 states will move to ban or substantially restrict access to abortion if not already. The ending of Roe would establish what some see as not the end of the conversation, but to expand on it. Many states will see this as a golden opportunity to limit abortion access even further.

A small segment of women would be able to travel out of state for the procedure. Without question it will be the rich verse the poor under a new abortion ruling.

Some states, such as Louisiana, have advanced a bill that would classify abortion as homicide and have prosecutors bring criminal cases against women who end a pregnancy.

Some see women who seek abortion do so only because they just don’t want the baby. Other reasons come up for making such a painful decision. Some examples, a woman

• who found out at her 20-week anatomy scan that the infant she had been so excited to bring into this world had developed without life sustaining organs
• who hemorrhaged due to a placental abruption, causing her parents, spouse, and children to have to make the impossible decision on whether to save her or her unborn child
• just found out she's already 13 weeks along, but the egg never made it out of her fallopian tube so either she terminates the pregnancy or risks dying from internal bleeding

The majority of women, more likely poor, who don’t have the ability to access a legal abortion in their state would likely find another way, in another state or by ordering pills on the black market.

Understand that abortion is the floor, not the ceiling.

Should Roe be taken down, the Republicans won’t say job done. Hardly. Instead, they’ll see it as a green light to keep feeding the beast.

That said, bear this in mind. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York put it well when she shared that there could be an expansion of ending Roe. She sees a conservative Supreme Court going after birth control pills, consensual same-sex marriage, gay marriage, and more.

Should the Republicans regain the Senate and the House, you can almost be assured they will enforce stricter abortion laws across the entire country. It won’t matter if your state supports a woman’s right to have an abortion.

To the Republicans I ask, if your daughter was to one day be raped, will you honestly tell her and America, it’s god’s will and you must have the baby?

Guessing the answer would be the typical political evasive reply, ‘I don’t want to get into hypotheticals‘

Many states are already pulling together new laws to make abortion even more restrictive, in anticipation the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v Wade. They’re probably in their offices with champagne bottles in hand, ready to pop the corks in celebrating what may be inevitable.

If you think some of what I’ve discussed won’t happen, with all due respect you’re being naïve. In all of this, I find it so ironic that one of the arguments Republicans keep supporting for their base is not wanting the government to tell them what or how they can live their lives. Do they not hear themselves talking?

Looking back when we were knee deep with COVID-19, people were screaming their objection to wearing a mask let alone taking the vaccine. Hey, it’s my body to do with whatever I want! That mantra was supported whole heartily by the Republicans. So, run the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 and impacting others around you as well.

Oddly, we didn’t hear anyone saying that these defiant individuals could face being arrested and jailed.

People would say relax; this isn’t a slippery slope. Well, we never thought Roe v Wade would be overturned.

To those who wait to celebrate the overturn of Roe v. Wade, be careful what you wish for. You may be opening a can of worms.

To those who think the potential end of Roe is a shock, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Well, there you go. That’s life, I swear.

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website that you can find on either Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned, and the episode transcript.

As always, I thank you for listening.

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