22 February 2006

Predictions: I HATE it that I'm right on this one...

Remember a few weeks ago when I suggested that we all breathe a sigh of relief because the Supreme Court had announced it was sidestepping the right to choose issue? I distinctly remember typing, "the Supreme Court sidestepped another Roe v. Wade case, for which we can all breathe a sigh of relief, but the thought occurs to me that eventually, they're going to stop sidestepping it, and step right into it." About a month ago, matter of fact. And I was right!! Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear another so-called "partial birth" abortion case. Here's the link to the NPR story where I heard about this distressing turn of events. Once the issue is in front of the court, no amount of writing your senators or marches or protests will change what the high court will do. They aren't elected officials, so they're not dependent upon lobbyists or election cycles...which is why it is so important to have a balanced Court. Damn George Bush! And damn both justices that left. Sandra Day O'Connor, we still need you on that bench!!!! I know, the old Chief Justice didn't have a choice about dying, but honestly, the man couldn't have had worse timing. I was chatting to friend K yesterday and we were both trying to remember the words to the serenity prayer, you know, that they use over at AA? Says something along the lines of “dear God, please grant me the power to change the things I can, the grace to deal with the things I can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference.” So I can’t change what the Supreme Court will or will not do, and I don’t think I have the power to change it all by myself, so I’m trying to stop losing sleep over it. Right. But I think that there ARE some things I can do, and one of them is to support NARAL. I surfed over there this morning and noticed a sidebar that said the United States gets a D- grade in the status of women’s rights. It says you can check YOUR state, so I looked up Ohio, and no surprise to me, Ohio has an F. I’ve said before that I often feel like the only pro-choice person that I know. But no shocker here, our governor the criminal is anti-choice, the Lt. Gov is anti-choice, and the Attorney General is anti-choice. Then we have this long list of laws that help to restrict a woman’s access to an abortion. I decided first out of curiosity and then out of desperation to check on states that I or anyone with a car could get to from here, and Pennsylvania also has a failing grade. Michigan got an F, so did Indiana. Kentucky also has an F. Much to my surprise, West Virginia got a B. I’ve always thought that folks there were more conservative than Ohioans, my bad. I cannot believe the amount of restrictions that states have placed on women’s rights. Mandatory waiting periods, parental or spousal notifications, biased counseling and restrictions for women who live below the poverty line are the NORM, rather than the exception. THAT is something I can do something about, and so can you. Write to your state legislators and let them know how draconian you think these restrictions are. Find a sympathetic ear in a liberal politician, and encourage her or him to roll back restrictions that make it harder for women to exercise freedom of choice. I do have to mention this just because, but don’t you think that if the issue involved male reproductive rights that we wouldn’t even be having this conversation?

Oh, and of course I had to check on some of my European counterparts, just because, and whaddya know, the Swedes allow abortions for any reason. Belgium appears to be pretty liberal on the issue too, and isn't it funny that I found this info on an anti-choice website? I'm NOT linking to them because I don't want to hear about what a baby-killing whore I am. Not today, anyway. Cheerio!

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