There is no issue that is also so emotionally charged. Who cannot feel empathy for a woman who has to deal with an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy? To say it is life altering is an understatement. However, there is also another human life involved. A life of unknown and unseen potential.
No matter what your views are on the issue of abortion I suggest you go see the movie, "Unplanned". It is not an easy movie to watch for it does capture the emotions on both sides of the issue. You see why women make the choice but you also see the results of that choice from a perspective that most never see or consider. Are we really just talking about a clump of cells?
You can see the division in the country on the issue by looking at the polling data on whether voters consider themselves pro-life or pro-choice. There is clearly no consensus on the issue. Opinions are almost evenly divided and have been that way for years.
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| Credit: Gallup Survey |
A big reason for this is the manner in which abortion rights were granted by the Supreme Court totally bypassing the constitutional process that the Founders designed to resolve an important issue like this.
In that nine justices "found" a "right" to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, nine justices in the future might also find that the right does not exist. The same is true for gay marriage. This is a terrifying possibility to Democrats and the liberal left. Therefore, every Supreme Court appointment has taken on untold importance. The liberal agenda literally hangs in the balance with every Supreme Court vacancy.
Due to the fear that President Trump may get to appoint another justice or two, Democrats in various states are trying to legislate the most liberal abortion laws they can think of. This is founded on the belief that if Roe v. Wade is overturned or modified at the federal level it may become an issue of states' rights. At the top of the list in this category are states like New York and Virginia where Democrats have been eager to effectively allow abortions up to and through the actual birth of the child.
It is beyond me how we have come to this place in the United States. As I pointed out in a blog post in 2017, the United States already is one of only 7 countries out of 198 nations to allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Note that the only countries that have more liberal abortion policies than the United States are North Korea, China and Vietnam. These are hardly the countries you want to keep company with on any human rights issue.
As outrage about the aggressive stance on abortion has been pushed by Democrats in these states I have seen an interesting argument made to defend the move.
"Third trimester abortions make up only 1% of all abortions so it really is not a significant issue."
If these abortions amount to only 1% of all abortions, and it is not a significant issue, why is it so important to Democrats to pursue this legislation?
We also hear a lot from Democrats that it is the conservatives who have the "extreme" views on this issue.
Looking at the laws on abortion across 198 nations, who is on the extreme side of the issue?
You don't have to look worldwide either. Merely look deeper at the polling data of the American public on the abortion issue.
There is almost no public opinion support for abortions in the third trimester (13%) and less than 30% support for it in the second trimester.
However, you rarely see this reported in the mainstream media.
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| Credit: Gallup Survey, June, 2018 |
In fact, a recent Marist poll of New York voters found that, even in liberal New York, 75% opposed abortion after 20 weeks. That includes 70% of Democrats, 73% of Independents and 89% of Republicans. Why is it that New York is passing laws to legalize abortion up to birth when public opinion is so dramatically opposed to it?
Finally, consider this final fact and you will not just scratch your head, it may cause you to shake your head in disbelief.
I recently spent two months in Florida in which there are very strict laws protecting the sea turtles that inhabit the area near many of the beaches.
It is not uncommon to see a sign like this one posted near the beach.
How is it that a person can be fined up to $100,000, and imprisoned for up to one year under federal law, and fined at least $600 and be imprisoned for 60 days under state law, for disturbing or destroying a sea turtle egg while we have laws being passed allowing abortions up to and through the birth of a human being?
So much contention and divisiveness.
Such a large disconnect on how we view sea turtle eggs and human beings.
All because we allowed such a fundamental change in how we balanced rights and life to be decided by nine elected jurists.
Our Founders established a system of government that gave ultimate power to the people. The Constitution was written to allow the people to have their say on significant issues of social policy.
There was a time when the Constitution meant something. It was respected for what it was. So were the limitations that were carefully crafted into the document by the Framers. Even when there was pretty compelling language in the Constitution to bend it to the "current times" it was ruled out of bounds.
If the American people want a federal government with expansive power they can have it. They can ban prayer in schools or make sharia law the law of the land. They can allow gay marriage. Or ban it in all 50 states. They can ban the use of alcohol or repeal the ban and allow it again (both of which have already been done). They can require everyone to buy health insurance or anything else. However, these types of issues should not be decided by a handful of people. Certainly not by judges who are not supposed to make law.
The same should have been true of abortion.
Looking at public opinion, I have to think that it is highly likely that if the Supreme Court had stayed out of the issue that abortion would likely be legal in almost all states during the first trimester. However, it is unlikely that it would be legal beyond the first trimester except in extremely limited circumstances.
It would not be the contentious and divisive issue it is today.
The United States would not be so far out of the worldwide norm.
We would also not see extreme positions on either side.
We would not be doing more to protect a turtle egg than an unborn human baby.
The Constitution was written in such a way to keep these types of things from occurring.
Our Founders wanted a clear consensus before we made radical changes to the rules that governed us. They didn't want the "highest law" being changed based on passing fancies and the short-term whims of the people.
They also did not want slim majorities trampling on minority rights. Or the views in several states to overwhelm differing views in smaller states. They wanted true consensus before there were changes in the "highest laws" that governed us. The Democrats simply don't want to wait and do the heavy lifting necessary to do that.
If want to know why things are so contentious and divisive, consider all of this.
I also suggest you consider one other thing if you don't appreciate the potential in each human life.
Several years ago I wrote a blog on some famous people who would probably be considered unplanned and unwanted today. Steve Jobs, LeBron James, Oprah Winfrey and Marilyn Monroe were all on that list.
Also among them was Barack Obama whose white mother was 18 years old, unmarried and a freshman in college when she became pregnant by a black man in 1960. Ask yourself this question. Would that pregnancy continue today?
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