Abortion Round 2 June 2024

Is a column on the Abortion Pill late? At first I thought it was a resounding and unexpected victory. In my wildest dreams, I didn’t expect that the decision to be unanimous. The most I could ever hope for is 7-2, alito and uncle clarence are still beyond hope. I even got access to the actual Supreme Court Decision and found that uncle clarence was making a huge deal out of who can bring up the case. In legal circles, this is known as standing. In this case, the Court ruled that those who tried to outlaw the abortion pill were not sufficiently harmed by the wide distribution of Mifepristone (the Abortion Pill). For once I agree with uncle clarence, someone in Vancouver Washington using the Abortion Pill does not sufficiently affect some religious nut somewhere in Texas. Why did it ever get this far?  Ask Mathew Kasmaric, the federal judge in the Texas Panhandle who thinks that he and his mega-church should have the final say on family planning and sexuality for that matter.

                After figuring this out, there is a chilling epilogue to this. The ruling is actually a guide for the anti-abortion forces on how to reintroduce the abortion ban in a way that it can be approved by the Supreme Court.

                Despite this, the Abortion Pill Ruling is a huge win, mostly because the abortion pill takes the decision out of the plane view of a medical facility, which is where it should be. I can still argue that this ruling constitutes the reinstatement of Roe, but that is me. As a man, I wonder if I have any say in this, but I still don’t think abortion should be used as birth control. I also believe that any invasive medical procedure should be done only for the life of the mother, and practically that is the case, because other forms of birth control are available, as it should be.

                The real problem that hasn’t been addressed by the Dobbs Decision is that the Supreme Court is taking female reproductive care either back to the Salem Witch Trials or is it the Spanish Inquisition. Although the abortion pill effectively reinstates Roe v. Wade, the Casey decision remains in the deleted files of the Supreme Court while women’s lives are needlessly put at risk, and I want to know why. The Dobbs decision and alito’s descent to the preliminary abortion ruling is nothing more than some frustrated schoolboy who is not getting his way. The real problem remains, a viable argument against abortion has yet to present itself in the public square. It has been several yeas since the anti-abortion forces have run the ‘pro-life’ argument up the flagpole. They know that outside the mega-churches, it is a liability. Besides, late-term abortion cases only deal with non-viable fetuses.  In plane-speak, the late-term the fetuses are already dead, so why are the politicians/religious fanatics and health insurance providers harassing doctors and hospitals from doing their job?  We can only speculate why woman’s lives are being put in extreme danger.

                Perhaps the good news is that there are two cases the Supreme Court are scheduled to rule on this very subject. If nothing else, the Supreme Court now has to provide some justification as to why they are putting women’s lives in needless danger, beyond alito’s schoolboy rant that is the Dobbs Decision. Perhaps they Court could make some argument based on States Rights, but I don’t think that will fly with the handmaiden (justice Amy Cody Barrett) and even beer bong boy (Cavanaugh) are onboard. My best guess is that they can NOT reconcile the Dobbs Decision with 21st century medicine. Unlike uncle clarence and scalito (Alito) they care about living in the 21st century outside of wherever the benefactors of Thomas and alito take them on vacation. I guess this goes for the goon squad who threaten the doctors who want to care for women with unviable fetuses, they can’t be reached.

                The real question remains, what should be done with the two cases about women whose lives are at risk because they are carrying an unviable fetus that has become toxic? For me, it is simple, take the Casey Decision out of the trash can/deleted files and reinstate it, but that would make too much sense. These forces against abortion are lacking in this, and this time there is no rational argument. Perhaps there are some answers in Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg’s dissents over the years over previous abortion cases. As fitting karma as this would be, I doubt that will be the case. Honestly, I have no idea how the court will rule on this, but I am both optimistic and anxious to read it.