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Roe v. Wade is Overturned: Why am I Not Happy?
In every war, there are tragedies and victories. We tend to look at the final result, but the victories can be temporary and fragile, and the tragedies can be devastating. As a result, I’m having trouble finding a way to embrace the entire picture of the SCOTUS decision.
Yes, the victories are obvious to me. There is so much to celebrate and appreciate. But I feel overwhelmed by the many losses that have already been endured, and the many we could face:
So many millions of babies have died.
A kind of narcissism has flourished in the face of women’s desires.
Families have been damaged by the choices to abort.
Men have become second-class citizens, often having no choice in the decision.
Women have been wounded after the fact, later realizing they killed a child.
And looking ahead, even more losses:
Corrupt companies will finance travel for women who choose to abort.
Violence could erupt as people refuse to accept justice and decide to destroy businesses, homes and communities.
Local governments will enact laws that allow abortion to flourish.
And I could add many more negative outcomes.
I want to rejoice.
I want to thank G-d and the justices for their wisdom.
But it’s difficult.
Maybe I need to look to my own humility in the face of this dilemma.
Published in Culture
I think it’s because we recognize that the left’s war on humanity will be ramped up. Perhaps the real fight begins now.
I put this on another post but it applies here:
I don’t feel particularly elated (perhaps because I work at an organization where heightened security is now imposed and some tension is in the air).
I think the best that happened is that the abortion debate can now be conducted on a legal footing and not the inept end-round of Row v. Wade that made the emotional pitch of the debate so much more intense (as a rule, people don’t like to lose but they hate it all that more when they realize they had been ripped off).
I’m not happy the Democrats lost. I’m sad that they are so intensely obsessed with sex that many in their tribe lie to themselves about reality. I hope abortion will become unthinkable just like slavery is unthinkable.
Thanks for this, David. I think this helps me clarify my own struggle.
I think sometimes it’s good to simply take the win, Susan.
Thanks, Hank; maybe so. But life is not simple, and it doesn’t proceed simply. I try not to overcomplicate outcomes, but I’m not willing to do it this time. There is something in this situation that I still need to understand for myself.
My dad used to talk about this when he was reminiscing about WWII. My dad would say “Always remember. Never forget the cost.” He was right then.
I think now we should remember the cost and use it now to “gird our loins,” so to speak, for the future.
Embrace the win, celebrate, and be encouraged for the next fight. Stay vigilant and don’t rest on laurels, but be refreshed by this.
I really never thought I’d see Roe overturned. Not that I thought is shouldn’t be. It is morally evil and remarkably bad Constitutional law. But I never thought 5 Justices could summon the fortitude and overturn it. Justices appointed by Republicans Presidents usually “grow” in office … which is to say become more and more Progressive and interventionist. Thank you President Trump for finding and appointing Justices with the courage to make decisions based on the text of the Constitution.
And though I hate to say it … thanks to McConnell as well. His firm stance blocking Merrick Garland surely resulted in today’s events.
I think you said it pretty well in your post. This welcome decision also reminds us of tragedy. One piece that we can wholeheartedly celebrate, however, is the return to the states of what belongs to them under the Constitution, which is something that has the potential for other very good consequences.
Your dad was a very wise man, Hugh.
Indeed. And we can look forward to those!
As I say to my kids who’ve had their fair share of struggles: don’t let worries about tomorrow ruin today. It’s a great day!! On many different levels (moral, legal, constitutional. . .)
@susanquinn there is an old proverb that nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won. This has been a long hard fought victory. Your feelings about it are justifiable. It is a glorious victory but not one that is total and not one that was without struggle. It is normal at this moment to feel emotionally drained and acknowledge it was a good thing.
I don’t think I’m ruining the day, WC, but I’m embracing it with less enthusiasm than I thought I would. And I would never judge the advice to you and your kids who know what it means to struggle and know victory. Thanks for the input.
Aha! That’s part of my struggle. I do so hate paradox! Thanks so much, Raxxalan, for helping me see that truth. I guess I hope that others who are mixed in their reactions are learning from comments here, too.
Exactly. For some reason, I’m hearkening back to the “Days of Rage” conducted by the Weathermen back in 1969. With all the splinter groups such as Jane’s Revenge (and with some politicians whipping them up), I’m anticipating some real violence.
And the politicians (like AOC) whipping them up should be brought before some kind of . . . June 24th commission.
Enjoy the moment. Know when it’s over. (Based on an exchange between Nuke and Crash in the movie Bull Durham.)
Thank you, your post help me consider my own position more fully. I very much appreciate it.
In an imperfect world, our triumphs will always be imperfect. Fortunately, so will our tragedies.
I just had the most fascinating “what ifs” come up for me that could change the future of abortion in this country. Here’s what I was thinking, in no particular order:
I think I could come up with many more what ifs, but I think the Court decision has changed a lot of things regarding our society’s perception of abortion and the choices women have.
What if people stop making so many babies they don’t want?
Now there’s a novel idea!
Probably the most disappointed people today are state lawmakers. They will really need to sort this out in their states. It was easy pass highly restrictive laws when the courts would take control. Now that the Court has said, “not my job”, the state legislators really need to pass laws that reflect the consensus in their states. Taking extreme positions, one way or the other, isn’t going to cut it anymore.
Taking direction from the voters! Now that’s a novel idea! It’s time to step up.
This is a really fascinating profile in the Washington Post of all places, of a young Texas teen who got pregnant, was planning on an abortion before the Texas law would prevent her, and upon seeing the ultrasound (and discovering she was carrying twins), completely changed her mind. It is honest about the struggles she and her boyfriend face as teenagers suddenly becoming parents, but it is ultimately a celebration of babies and of life.
And it was published in the Washington Post!
Thanks, Drew. So encouraging and hopeful.
One of my co-workers and his wife are very involved in the pro-life movement. He told me today that something like 80-85% of women who are allowed to see an ultrasound, even as early as 8 weeks, do a 180 degree turn and decide not to abort. Which is why the pro-aborts want to keep women from seeing ultrasounds.
MSN just published a link to a townhall article stating that Trump was right about Germany’s dependence on Russia for energy. I have no idea what comes next.
I like you Susan are not happy with this decision.
I do not think it is a “victory”. There will still be as many if not more abortions. Extreme Blue States like California where I live will believe it is now open season on the free exercise clause of religion, because the Court refused to defend it. The Court took the easy way out.
But what I dislike the most is the lack of Constitutional thought that ponders the questions of The Right To Life, Freedom of Religion and the Equal Protection Clause.
Roe recognized the Right to Life with the it’s ban on third trimester abortions. It essentially recognizes that at the time of fetal viability – then the beginning roughly the third trimester- the fetus had an equal right to Life as the rest of us, because from at least from my point of view, the Equal Protection Clause protects those yet unborn babies whose age and viability is the same as those being born of the same age. How can one fetus that ‘s let’s say 20 weeks be born and another be murdered of the same age?
I’m glad you brought up the rights of fathers in”Men have become second-class citizens, often having no choice in the decision” How can the “right to abort” be limited to a ” Women’s Right to Choose”. What does that say about the Family. How and when do the Father and Mother have the same rights to the upbringing of their children?
And then there is the ” Rreedom of Religion”. This right, I’m afraid swings both ways. While Catholics, certain Protestants and Jews have the right to believe that Life begins at conception, which morally I agree with, others in their beliefs have the right to believe otherwise. While this idea that we must respect religious beliefs other than our own, may irk the hell out of very moral people, one has to consider that the Freedom of Religion is and always has been a compromise intended so that the moral beliefs of all were to be respected by the State, and that our nation would not dive un-necessarily into the calamitous religious wars of the 16 th, 17th and 18th centuries that killed millions. To say that Life begins at Conception, while pleasing the very moral, would clearly impose a religious belief on those who feel otherwise. On the other hand, this decision clearly imposes on those who believe that Life begins at Conception, or something like that, in those very Blue States like mine, a religious conviction that Life only begins at birth or perhaps even later; a full throttled rejection of their religion beliefs and their Freedom of Religion.