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| Photo by (Left) Gayatri Malhotra, & (Right) Maria Oswalt, on Unsplash |
Barely two weeks after the State of Colorado, USA, literally legalized abortion, another state, Kentucky, came out with a bill, House Bill 3, “effectively banning abortion”. The provisions are so restrictive that even the abortion clinics in the state say there is no way they can continue.
Although
Kentucky has a Democratic Governor, the Republicans who dominate the chambers
vetoed the governor with a far 71-21 votes in the House and 31-6 the Senate.
The bill
sailed through in Colorado because it had the backing of the Democrats who are
in the majority in the state. The Republicans were left complaining in the
aftermath of passing the Bill into law by the Governor.
In almost
all the states which have passed the abortion bill, the decision has been made
along the lines of the two political divides- the Democrats and the
Republicans. While Democrats are clear in their stance that they are for
pro-abortion, pro-choice; the Republicans favour anti-abortion or pro-life.
"The abortion of a baby is plain wrong”
commented a Republican House member, Norma Kirk-McCormick. Speaking in the same
vein, the Oklahoma Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, while signing the State’s
abortion Bill into law, said "I promised Oklahomans that I would sign
every pro-life bill that hits my desk and that's what we're doing today,”
adding "As governor, I represent all 4 million Oklahomans, and they
overwhelmingly support protecting life in the state of Oklahoma, we want
Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. We want to outlaw
abortion in the state of Oklahoma."
In its
article on the issue, a media house in the US had noted the trend in this
phrase…multiple
other Republican-led states that have enacted restrictive abortion laws in the
last year…
Rachel
Roberts, one of the few Democrats in the House would have loved to see some
exceptions made by the law in cases such as incest or rape, "Those are
violent crimes," Roberts was quoted as saying, "This bill forces
those women to be violated again."
While his
comment does not bother directly on whether abortion is right or wrong but more
on the ground of discouraging incest and rape or other such crime, other
democrats were very direct.
"Republican legislators in states across
the country are weaponizing the use of Roe v. Wade against women," Kamala
Harris, a Democrat and the Vice President, said in a tweet. "The rights of all
Americans are at risk. This is the time to fight for women and our country with
everything we have" She added.
The Vice
President’s comment came after President
Joe Biden's written remark on the issue. In the remark the president vowed
to sign legislation which would see the right of women to abortion
protected as a federal law.
With this
hardening position of the Democrats and the Republican parties on abortion,
whether it (abortion) is right or wrong, it is apt, perhaps, to ask, “Is
abortion being turned into a political issue?
Abortion,
one thinks, should be an ethical and religious question; it ought not to be
brought down to the mundane, caricature, and emotional level of partisan
politics. But obviously that is what it has become with this kind of position
among the Democrats and the Republicans. A gang up, arm twisting and patronage process
in reaching a decision which otherwise should be based on what science, both
physical and spiritual science, has discovered in that respect. Or, at least,
based on personal conscience, which mirrors the summation of one’s experiences
in life.
Some may be
moved to argue that the Democrats and Republicans are each, people of like
mind, reflecting in the position of the two parties; that is, aggregates of
similar conscience. However, that would not stand. The poll conducted on
abortion by such credible organization as the WHO (World Health organization)
based on other criteria, like religion, sex, and other demographics, if
examined, would be at variance with this polarized action of the politicians. The
poll further shows our insincerity when it comes to abortion issues. That would
be taken up in subsequent article.
Are we going
back to the days of inquisition when what is right and what is wrong is
determined on the hallowed ignorance and the emotion of numbers, the majority,
rather than scientific facts? This same question was asked in my previous
article, When does life actually begin? It is a
follow-up on an earlier post on abortion, Don’t die under guilt: what everyone should know or consider about abortion.
Here is a
post I found that speaks straight to the point I am trying to establish; that
the discussion on whether abortion should be or not should be founded on a well
researched body of knowledge instead of blind emotion, arrogance and ignorance.
The Judge
asked the killer of the former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, “Why did you
kill Sadat? He responded, “Because he is secular” The judge asked further,
“what does circular mean? “I don’t know” responded the killer.
The same
goes for the attempted assassination of the late Egyptian writer Naguib
Mahfouz: “Why did you stab him? The judge asked. “Because of his novel- The
children of our neighbourhood” the terrorist replied. “Have you read this novel?
asked the Judge. “No” came the response.
Another
Judge asked, in the case of the terrorist who killed the Egyptian writer Faraj
Fara, “Why did you murder Faraj? The criminal responded, “because he is
unfaithful” Then the Judge inquired
further, “how did you know he was an unfaithful? The terrorist replied:
“According to the book he wrote” “In which of his books did you know he is
unfaithful? Asked the Judge. “I have not read his books,” came the response.
“How? the Judge went further. “I cannot
read or write!
Like inquisition,
like terrorism, like…..
In a word:
Implantation.
Abortion is
a sensitive issue with lots of emotional and health implication. It calls for
caution and rational decision, not based on a whiff of political emotion, and
patronage.
Both the
Democrats and the Republican should understand that America is the bastion of
democracy. What they do has implications, to the younger Americans, and to the
younger democracies around the world.
Written by Ali Elias
Clickhealthz