Reply to Lindsey Graham to introduce federal abortion ban

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]
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A federal Constitutional right cannot be left to the states. Supreme Court is so dang wrong on this one. They really messed up.

They messed up if you believe in the Constitution and what the founders believed. They’re right on track if you want a christofascist dictatorship.

The founders believed in abortion on-demand?

Uh... yes? This is from a book published by Ben Franklin telling ladies how to get their menstrual cycles back (for when they, you know, mysteriously don't come when you expect them to...):
Now I am upon Female Infirmities, it will not be unreasonable to touch upon a common Complaint among unmarried women, namely The Suppression of the Courses. This don’t only disparage their Complexions, but fills them besides with sundry Disorders. For this Misfortune, you must purge with Highland Flagg (commonly called Belly ach Root) a Week before you expect to be out of Order ; and repeat the same two Days after: the next Morning drink a Quarter of a Pint of Pennyroyal Water, or Decoction, and as much again at Night when you go to Bed. Continue this 9 Days running ; and after resting 3 Days, go on with it for 9 more. Ride out every fair Day, stir nimbly about your Affairs, and breathe as much as possible in the open Air...

And there are product advertisements from the 1800s like this. You hardly have to read between the lines to understand what removing an "obstruction" for "married ladies whose health forbid too rapid an increase of family" is about... https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/08/history-o...cients-and-contraceptives.html

It’s so funny to me when they ask these questions they’re sure are gotcha questions and they just won the argument. It’s almost like they don’t understand that the anti abortion movement in the US was a response to desegregating schools and is rooted in racism, and it’s not a common value that’s been near and dear to every American’s heart since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

It was rooted in Victorian "morality" and in doctors (who were an emerging profession) that were trying to drive midwives out of business (i.e., competition).

Misogyny might be what got a few laws on the books about medications and treating patients as doctors. But racism was the cause of evangelical christians voting. After schools desegregated, tons of all white religious schools popped up to allow them to send their kids to white schools. After it became obvious what was happening, the IRS got involved and their tax exempt status became iffy, and they were going to have to choose between greed and racism if they couldn't come up with a plan to change the laws so they could hold true to both of their sacred values. It turns out, racism doesn't get out the vote effectively, so they fiddled around to see what they could come up with to get conservatives out on voting day. If they could find an issue that they cared about enough to show up in big numbers, segregationists could count on voters to also allow them to keep their white religious schools and their tax exemptions. Eventually they figured out that abortion was what would drive people out to vote in droves, and while they're there voting to instate misogyny, they can also vote to uphold greed and racism. It was a win-win-win for RWNJs.

You can even see the changing point in the southern baptist convention's doctrine. Before this movement, it talked about how abortion is a private medical decision among a woman, her family, and her doctor. Soon after, it became the mother of all sins, and the good christians must try and save all the babies, even at the expense of women and society. I don't think they were expecting it to take off and become such a political issue. It was just a tool to keep their kids in all white schools, and bonus that it controls women too. But I guess when it took off, they figured they'd roll with it, because no one would be crazy enough to make it completely illegal and cause women to die, lose fertility, or women and girls to have to birth their rapists' babies.

So yeah, abortion restrictions might be rooted in Victorian "morality"/misogyny, but the current nonsense stems directly from racism.[/quote]

As someone who grew up Southern Baptist in the south in the 1970s and 80s, I think there is a lot of truth to this analysis.  The Southern Baptist Convention switched its position on abortion around the same time that Bob Jones University lost its tax exemption.  But I don't think that it was necessary a "bonus" re controlling women.  I think that was just as much a motivator as racism.  And in 10 years, after every evangelical knows someone personally who has suffered under these draconian laws, the situation will change.  Even now, if you put choice on the ballot as a referendum, most southern states would vote for at least 15 weeks, plus rape/incest/health of mother (as determined by her doctor).[/quote]

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