New Old World Order

Given the recent eye-opening decisions from the Supreme Court, especially overturning Roe v. Wade it's hard for most of us to keep quiet. Like many, I feel compelled to write some words about it. I should preface this by stating that A) As a man I'm not sure I have the right to say much about anything on that topic and B) I owe all my liberal leaning friends an apology for abstaining from voting in the 2016 presidential election. I still consider Hilary Clinton to have been a terrible candidate and I'm tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils, and I did vote in every other race that year. However, as has been pointed out it was worth voting for her for no other reason than the Supreme Court nominations which have obviously tipped the scales far far to the right. I can console myself with the excuse that I knew my vote wouldn't matter, as Nevada was solidly in her favor. But still, I was wrong and in the future I will hold my nose and vote for the more progressive/less conservative option no matter how poorly I think of the candidate or party.

Regarding Roe v. Wade, as an ex-Christian this is a topic I have struggled with most of my life. I don't like the thought of abortions and wish they weren't necessary. Weighing the morality and consequences of terminating an unborn child is not easy (except in cases where the mother's life is in danger, rape or incest - that should be a no brainer). But given that quandary, it's hard for me not to default on the side of a woman's right to control her body. As a man I'm obviously fortunate to never face that difficult choice of having an abortion. One thing I am absolutely sure of is that the best way to prevent abortions is to prevent as many unwanted pregnancies as possible. 

Which is why I find the positions of most Christian conservatives (I'm not separating the terms because they have become nearly synonymous) in this country utterly illogical, immoral and uncaring. The Republican party/evangelicals/conservatives have made overturning Roe priority #1. But what have they also been running on? Well, besides telling us to "back the blue" no matter what, championing the same tired Reaganomics that have led to ever-increasing wealth inequality, and villainizing immigrants, LGBT and environmentalism, they've been pushing for more and more puritanical nonsense in their ever-vigilant war to regulate our bedrooms. Their bald-faced bigoted opposition to gay marriage is experiencing a second wind despite the facts that A) exclusion of one's rights to another group is not a right and B)  gay couples make fine parents compared to their straight peers (one would think conservatives would champion adding potential adoptive parents to the pool if they actually cared about the young lives they are claiming to protect - there are over 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S.).

They've made no secret of their supposed hatred of pre-marital sex and birth control ("Just put an aspirin between your knees, you filthy ladies!"). In the wake of throwing out Roe they are making a further push to outlaw as many types of birth control as possible. Really, this push started back during the Trump administration (the hypocrisy of Trump trying to restrict birth control is absolutely astounding). They also hate sex education in schools, and they continue to push faith-based "abstinence only" snake-oil. "Abstinence Only" doesn't fucking work, as borne out by both peer reviewed studies and common sense.

So back to Roe. Can we all agree that the best way to prevent abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies? If so - following data and logic - the first step is to provide proper fact-based (non-religious) sex education to all children (no opt-outs for parents - I'm tired of our society failing to provide proper education resources to children in the name of "Parents Rights". What about the child's right to be educated?). That shit works - full stop. What else works? Easy and free access to contraception and birth control. In fact, "providing birth control to women at no cost substantially reduces unplanned pregnancies and cuts abortion rates by 62 to 78 percent compared to the national rate."

So what is overturning Roe accomplishing? It likely won't make a massive dent in the number of abortions, as many (but certainly not all) women in red states will be able to travel to other states at great expense, inconvenience and possible prosecution risk to themselves. Many (especially poorer) women won't be able to do that. Obviously, some will carry the child to term and have to deal with the life-altering consequences, but many will seek out illegal abortions or dangerous DIY methods which will put their own lives at risk. Many women with non-viable and life-threatening pregnancies/miscarriages will be denied medical care and have to make extremely dangerous travel plans to terminate a pointless pregnancy (the only treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is termination of the pregnancy). Quite a few women will die for no reason. Women will (continue to) be prosecuted for having miscarriages. 

So I'm just gonna' say it: if you claim to be pro-life and also support GOP policies of puritanical restrictions against birth control, condoms and science-based sex ed then you are full of shit. Those two schools of thought are in direct incontrovertible opposition. If this is you, I beg you to please remove your bible-tinted glasses and re-evaluate objectively and scientifically. I can understand people having legitimate objections to abortion (in many cases) and I truly understand it's a difficult topic. But holding this contradiction of opposing both abortion and the best means of preventing unwanted pregnancies is indefensible.

The conservative SCOTUS is on a holy roll. In addition to throwing out Roe and New York's weapons law (what happened to "States' Rights"?), they have ruled that religious schools in Maine have to be given state tax dollars, despite the fact that these schools actively discriminate against not only staff but students (!) based on sexual orientation. And in their ruling in favor of the proselytizing grandstanding high school coach who is subjecting his students to his religion, the conservative justices basically made up their own set of facts in ruling in favor of him. So now I guess we have state-sponsored religion in public schools again. It makes one wonder - if the Bible is so obviously true and the God of Abraham so real and powerful, then shouldn't it be patently obvious to anyone with two brain cells that Christianity is the true way? If so, why the need for state sponsored/mandated prayer and state-funded Christian schools? 

I could go on (and have) about how the bible contradicts itself hundreds if not thousands of times on over 500 different topics, or how Christians pick and choose what morality to impose on everyone else, or the fact that the bible is 783,137 words long and can't spare one fucking sentence to state "slavery is wrong". I can't stop people from basing their major life decisions on a book of fantastical, misogynistic iron-age nonsense. And unfortunately I can't stop anyone from indoctrinating their children with it (although my fervent hope is that in the information age of the internet it will be easier for youth to de-program themselves). But I wish they would stop imposing their self-hating beliefs on the rest of us. I have no clue why so many continue to vote against their own economic self-interests while simultaneously supporting candidates and appointees who are actually trying to turn our country into The Handmade's Tale (don't believe me?). 

I find it ironic that the party always campaigning on "Defending Freedom" is the one that's constantly trying to police everyone's sex lives and shove their religion down our throats. I say this not in defense of the Democrats (don't get me started on how ineffective a progressive party they are). But I honestly can't understand supporting the modern Republicans. I still want to see substantive gun reforms and I bemoan the ease with which anyone can procure weapons to mass murder in this country. But if the "loud minority" keep imposing their will through gerrymandering and a terrible electoral system that favors Republican voters, it might be wise for liberals and centrists to start arming ourselves. As someone with pacifist leanings I don't want a war, but I also don't want the religious right's fascist theocracy.