Let’s start with a pop quiz. Who said “I’m very pro-choice in every respect” to Tim Russert on Meet the Press in 1999? Hint: His name rhymes with Hump. That’s right Donald Trump. Ever the opportunist, Trump claimed to be pro-choice before he found Jesus and decided that a politician must be rabidly anti-abortion to appeal to rural white voters. He even drew up a list of people he’d consider for a Supreme Court nomination before the 2016 election, people who leaned anti-abortion.
After Ted Cruz got eliminated from the 2016 primary race, Christian evangelicals shifted their allegiance to Trump, their great white hope for overturning Roe v Wade. They still support this slick huckster who’s cheated on several wives, bragged about grabbing women by the private parts and, let’s never forget, instigated an invasion of our nation’s capitol. I guess it’s because Trump has managed to add “conservative” justices onto the Supreme Court who might vote to overturn Roe v Wade.
Trump’s election and the rising power of Christian conservatives have emboldened state legislatures nationwide. By May 2019, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization, 27 abortion bans had been enacted across 12 states. Stories crop up almost daily about this or that red state trying to enact ever stronger abortion bans.
Those red state legislators, let’s be clear, are out of step with the majority of Americans. Seventy percent of Americans oppose the overturning of Roe v Wade. Fifty-nine percent of Americans say that abortions should be legal in all or most cases, according to a Pew Research Study. That figure rises to 67% for younger Americans in the 18-29 age group. Then again, Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million in 2016 and 7 million in 2020. The anti-abortion tail is wagging the American dog, just as the antiquated electoral college system is weakening the voices of Americans in the most populous states.
“Christian” conservatives who claim that their anti-abortion stance stems from their “Thou Shalt Not Kill” belief, might want to brush up on their Bible. For example, Thou shall kill people for committing such crimes as cursing one’s father or mother (Ex: 21:17) for being a “stubborn son” (Deut 21:18-21) for being a homosexual (Lev. 20-13) or for picking up a stick on the sabbath (Numbers 15:32-35). In Numbers 25:40, the Lord casually orders Moses to massacre 24,000 Israelites. “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun.”
The concept of abortion, in fact was never mentioned in the Bible. One wag defined abortion as “The only word that can make followers of Jesus vote against everything Jesus ever talked about because of one issue he never talked about.”
Commentator John Fugelsang adds his own sardonic twist on the issue:
I won’t get vaccinated.
I won’t wear a mask.
I oppose universal health care.
I ignore infant mortality rates in the poorest states.
Migrants are ‘illegals.’
We need more guns in the streets.
I’m fine cutting WIC and SNAP.
I think the death penalty is just swell.
I’m pro-life.
The late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg summarized the case against the anti-abortion zealots in a compelling way.
“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well being and dignity. When the government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full human responsible for her own choices.”
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary as well as suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.
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