Before my former wife Carol delivered our first child, we learned that she was Rh-Negative. The doctor explained that if the husband is not Rh-Negative, then complications can arise, beginning with the second child and getting worse with each successive child. Our first child David was, indeed, fine; but our second child Jon experienced a harrowing beginning, necessitating five blood transfusions during the first week and resulting in a slight hearing loss. 

When Carol got pregnant two years later, the doctor told us that the baby would be severely comprised, perhaps for life, assuming that he/she survived. He offered to end the pregnancy, even though abortion was illegal at the time. We agreed that that was the best course. (Today, RH-negative issues related to pregnancy have been largely eliminated, thanks to medical advances.) 

Happily, that event occurred in Brunswick, Maine in 1970 and not in Anywhere, Alabama in 2019. As you no doubt know, Alabama recently passed the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the U.S. since the passage of Roe v Wade. Those good old country boys — and the Alabama GOP Senators who voted for this draconian message were, in fact, all white men — passed a law outlawing abortion in all cases including rape and incest, unless the mother’s life was in danger. Moreover, doctors in that regressive state can be imprisoned for up to 99 years for performing abortions. 

Sweet Home Alabama? Surely not for women. And surely not for men who believe that women should have jurisdiction over their own bodies. Incidentally, Alabama is not alone in the rush among anti-abortion states to pass laws with the ultimate goal of having the Supreme Court overturn Roe v Wade, thanks to the addition of that oily frat boy Brett Kavanaugh. 

The blame for this draconian turn of events can be placed squarely in the lap of Donald Trump. That master manipulator declared himself pro-choice a few years ago, but then he mysteriously became avidly anti-abortion in his quest to gain the support of “Christian” evangelicals to win the 2016 presidential election. At a recent rally in Wisconsin, Trump out-Trumped even himself claiming, “The baby is born. The mother meets with the doctor. They take care of the baby. They wrap the baby beautifully. And then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby.” 

For reasons beyond my ability to comprehend, these self-proclaimed “Christians” stand loyally by their guy Trump, even when he separates children from their parents at the Mexican border or passes tax cuts for the rich or tries to abolish the Affordable Care Act, thereby taking health care away from millions. Even when he refuses to push gun legislation to make our schools safer or environmental legislation to make our nation cleaner. Even when he lies and cheats, bullies and tweets. The concern by Trump and his fellow anti-abortion zealots seems to evaporate upon delivery; the approach is pro-birth, not pro-life. 

Polls indicate that most Americans (70 percent or so) believe that Roe v Wade should not be overturned; most Americans believe that abortion should be legal in most cases, and definitely in cases of incest or rape. Happily, Alabama’s GOP State Senators do not reflect the views of the vast majority of Americans. As my wife Tina sagely suggests, “If you’re against abortion, don’t have one!” 

After Richard Nixon resigned, President Gerald Ford famously declared, “Our long national nightmare is over.” The spate of anti-abortion laws spewing from red states around the country represent just the latest chapter in the current national nightmare. I hope for the sake of fair-minded citizens everywhere that this nightmare will soon be brought to an end. 

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. [email protected].