“Supreme Court out of my Uterus”

~ Read when you have plenty of time ~

I realize that I am more than one week late to the races here as far as the Supreme Court decision on Roe is concerned, but I was too angry to write. Not to mention, I’m still grieving for my Mom’s death in late May. However, I’m going out on a limb here and making the claim that even an entire week later, women’s rights still matter, men’s rights still matter, and issues of choice still matter…so, here I am, late to the party…but I’m writing anyway. Happy 4th of July.

Let’s remember some of the protest signs, shall we?  “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” “Stay out of my Womb,” and, my favorite, “If I wanted the government in my uterus I’d fuck a Senator.”

First off, if I were King, before any decision the lying Supreme Court Justices made would have to be thrown out because they are sacks of shit. Er, no, excuse me, because they are LIARS. If you perjured yourself in your hearing to become Supreme Court Justice, as so many of them did, what they have to say as a Supreme Court Justice should now be null and void. While each of them danced around the question when asked directly if they would overturn Roe, all of them emphasized that precedent was critical. Precedent is precedent, they said. Alito, for example, even claimed Roe was not only a precedent but a super precedent. What a super liar! In other words, their words, their “truth,” did not count then, during the confirmation hearings, since it meant so little to say those words. If what they said didn’t matter then, shouldn’t we get to use those same standards to discount their stupid, lying words now? It’s logical, right? If I were King, those four justices’ votes against Roe would not be counted in the decision whatsoever. (Also, I am choosing to be King here, not Queen, because clearly women’s voices don’t matter anymore. Shit.)

Second, if the justice is a Catholic, they should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court and make a decision on Roe…simply because they are Catholic. In other words, their religion requires them to believe abortion is wrong, so it logically follows that they cannot possibly give an impartial ruling. Period. In other words, with a Catholic voting their conscience and not the law, there is no separation of Church and State. This is not an attempt to discriminate against Catholics, but to make it fair when the justices make decisions. Just not about Roe. (If we wanted to belabor the point, nobody on the Supreme Court should actually believe in or practice any particular religion, really, using the notion of “Separation of Church and State.” Agnostics for the Supreme Court! Yay!)

As an aside, I have nothing against Catholics in particular. My Grandmother was a Catholic, my mother used to be Catholic (she gave it up for Lent), which makes me a Catholic once removed. (I still feel guilty about it. Ha ha.) No, honestly, I don’t dislike Catholicism any more than I dislike religion in general. There are definitely wonderful things about religion, when used in moderation, and I have wonderful friends who are religious, some of them Catholic. In fact, I don’t feel strongly against any religion; I just feel strongly for women’s rights.

The Roe v Wade ruling last week was 5-4 for the end of women’s rights. Women’s rights are human rights. This is not just a cliche’. It’s true.

Justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade: Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Coney Barrett. I vote to overturn them! Not that I’m allowed to vote on this matter, of course. None of us can. Last Friday, the Supreme Court voted against the will of the majority of Americans. A Pew research poll shows that 61% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Even a huge number of people who don’t think abortion is moral still believe it should be legal. My opinion is this: it’s none of my business what other people do with their bodies. Their body. Their choice. Here is what I think about SCOTUS and their horrible choice on Friday:

1. Alito’s vote should be thrown out. Super-perjury. Now we’re down to 4 anti-rights votes.
2. Thomas. He’s a man. Now we’re down to 3.
3. Kavanaugh. He’s a man, too. Now we’re down to 2 anti-rights votes.
4. Gorsuch. He’s a man, too. Only one anti-rights vote left to chuck out in my imaginary world where my opinion counts.
5. Amy Coney Barrett. She’s a woman, but her vote should be discounted because she committed perjury, too, like Alito. That, or her confirmation shouldn’t have happened in the first place because she’s a really good/bad dancer, as demonstrated by her answers in the hearing. Oh, plus she’s Catholic. See above. Or just watch the video I include for you.

That’s it. Those five jerks’ votes should, quite simply, be thrown in the trash. This leaves the Roe decision with just four thoughtful Supreme Court justices who voted for humanity, voted for women’s rights, human rights, and voted to stay in the 21^st century. Thank you, justices, for stepping forward into the era where women get to vote, make decisions about their bodies, and Starbucks can be found everywhere. (I’m not saying that’s a good thing. I’m just saying that we are currently in that century. This century.)

Interestingly, the Bible says nothing that forbids abortion. Given that abortion is such an important topic, it seems obvious that the Bible writers could have said plenty… if they wanted to. So, today, because they didn’t, people decide for themselves, and make their own arguments (self included). What the Bible does say is also contradictory, often ambiguous, and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Of course. That’s what gets us into this pro-life/pro-choice semantic mess in the first place. (Never mind the whole separation-of-church and state stuff; this critical issue should be argued by logic and not religious Christians foaming at the mouth, disturbingly eager to end women’s reproductive rights.) I’m not saying all Christians foam at the mouth, either.

Perhaps surprisingly, there are also plenty of reasons that show us THE BIBLE is more pro-choice than not. I know that might horrify some folks, but stay with me here:

People often support their anti-choice position by saying, “Thou shalt not kill,” and the idea of killing suggests a baby is alive, therefore abortion is murder. That’s the logic chain, right? Unfortunately for those who would argue that life begins at conception, that’s not what the Bible actually says. However, Genesis 2:7 suggests that life does not begin until birth itself: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In other words, Biblically speaking, life begins at breath, which happens at birth, so life does not begin at conception, as many claim. Others counter that that is when God created Adam, so it’s not a fair example.

Of course, when life begins continues to be a matter of heated (and unresolved) debate. Some believe life begins at conception. However, nowhere in the Bible does it say, “Life begins at conception.” Others believe life begins once the fetus/baby has a heartbeat, which is about eight weeks. (Prior to eight weeks the fetus is still an embryo.) Historically, a baby did not have personhood until “the quickening,” which was the first time a pregnant woman felt a baby kick, usually around four months into a pregnancy. Seems kind of late to me, but I’m just reporting here. Others believe life doesn’t begin until the baby is actually born, using Genesis 2.7. As described in the Huffington Post, and several other sources I read: “Genesis 2:7 is clearest. The first human became a “living being” (Nefesh hayah, “a living breath”) when God blew into its nostrils and it started to breathe. Human life begins when you start breathing, biblical writers thought. It ends when you stop.”

There are plenty of reasons that show The Bible is more pro-choice than not.

Feisty Quill

Pro choice argument: If life truly begins at birth, when does it begin to really count. When does a life really matter?

Far as I can tell, in the Bible a fetus/baby’s life isn’t really worth much. God’s Law to the Israelites stated: “If men should struggle with each other and they hurt a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but no fatality results, the offender must pay the damages imposed on him by the husband of the woman; and he must pay it through the judges. But if a fatality does occur, then you must give life for life.” In other words, a miscarriage results in just a fine. If the woman dies, though, then eye-for-an-eye kicks in. Exodus 21:22-23. In this case, the Bible isn’t talking about the fatality of the fetus/baby, but of the woman. Notice that. The fetus is just an aside, parsley on a plate. Not to mention that the husband has to be paid because his wife is his property–(and she doesn’t get to vote, either). Also, this particular book, the Bible, was written a long, long time ago, when women were not seen as breathing, thinking, sentient beings with their own agency (sort of like now, huh?).

Numbers 3:39-40:  “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names.” In other words, baby boys count…but not until they are a month old.

In the Bible, human life existed because God created life, there was no such thing as evolution, and women were to blame for eating the apple. Maybe Eve was just hungry. Further, she ate the apple and then gained knowledge, and we can’t have that. Funny enough, the Bible wouldn’t even stand up as evidence in a court of law, even though you have to swear on it to give testimony. GOD didn’t write it. JESUS didn’t write it. The Bible was written by a bunch of old men (sound familiar?) ages and ages after Jesus’s birth. In a court of law, the Bible would be considered hearsay! Do you remember the game of “Operator” when you were a kid?

Abortion: Okay if a priest gives a woman poison.

Numbers 5:27: “If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.” In other words, if the woman is forced to miscarry/abort, that’s okay. But in year 2022 America? No, siree, Bob!

Interestingly, the Bible says nothing that forbids abortion.

Feisty Quill

As discussed above, Genesis 2:7 suggests life does not begin until birth. Geneisis also says, “Life is a gift from God.” Genesis 9:6; Psalm 36:9). Yet, as we’ve discussed, when is a fetus life and not just a bundle of cells in an embryonic state? This an argument used frequently by anti-choicers. As far as I’m concerned, “anti-choicers” is a much better term than “pro-life.” That’s why I made it up. “Pro-life” suggests that you don’t believe in life, but really, people who are pro-choice can easily, obviously, also believe in life as well as quality of life, as in: a woman who survived incest or rape should not be forced to carry that monster’s child, nor should a teenager who is pregnant, nor should a woman whose birth control failed, or indeed, any woman who wants to make the difficult decision to not have a child she does not want or cannot afford or if her continued pregnancy could, you know, kill her. That is “pro-life,” too, as well as pro-choice. With my new and improved terminology, “Pro-life” can mean ending a pregnancy because of all of those reasons, and because the woman’s life itself matters. Yes, the woman’s life matters, too. (You’ll be okay.)

The same Huff Post article writes, “if you wonder what can be done for women who get an abortion— you can find direction in Proverbs 31:8-9 which says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Speaking of needy…75% of women who get an abortion are low income, and nearly half of them live below the federal poverty line, according to the New York Times and the Huffington Post. According to the CDC, New York Times, and Pew Research, 60% of women who have abortions are already mothers. (Almost the same number as the number of Americans who believe abortion should be legal!) Whether women decide to have an abortion due to poverty (the most likely and most common reason), or for other reasons, this fact surprised me. It flies in the face of common ideas of women as “easy,” or “sluts,” or any such term used to demean a woman who chooses to be sexually active. More than half of women who have an abortion are already mothers, full-stop.

Further, in my world, if you are a male, you should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court. That knocks out your right to vote on that decision AT ALL. Okay, you can be on Supreme Court (sigh) but you can’t weigh in on issues of abortion. You cannot possibly know what it is like for a woman to be pregnant, nor would you know what it is to raise an unwanted child, nor would you know what it is to raped (or at least you are certainly much less likely than the 23 million + women in America who do, unfortunately know). 1 in 5 women. In 2020, 300,000 women in the US suffered sexual assault or attempted rape. That number is 100,000 fewer rapes than previous years (before Covid). Thus, if you are on the Supreme Court, unless you have been pregnant due to rape, you are even less likely to know what that is like, because…um, men don’t get pregnant. (Sorry, stating the obvious here, but some people seem to have trouble with basic facts, so…)

I do recognize men get raped, too, typically rape committed by other men. Not that it makes it any less terrible. For the 3% of men who are raped or suffer attempted rape, it is no less traumatic, of course. (National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), RAINN, which stands for Rape, Abuse and Incest, World Population Review, and others state the prevalence of rape for men between 2-3%, with likely much higher numbers due to the stigma and shame that prevent men from reporting. That’s not the point. The point here is that men don’t get pregnant.

Pregnancy due to rape is certainly not the most common reason women get abortions. While Todd Akin was an idiot-I’d say more but he’s dead now, so I’ll be polite- the body does not “shut the pregnancy down,” as Akin suggested. You can look at Akin’s shocking stupidity here:

As I said, the most common reason for a woman to get an abortion is a financial one. Financial. If you use my spiffy new definition, pro-life could mean health care. Pro-lifers could support school lunch programs, health care, a living wage, you know, stuff that might actually make a difference in people’s lives. They don’t. They just want to stop others and control women’s bodies. One of my favorite bumper stickers is, “Don’t believe in abortion? Don’t have one.” I love that. I’ve never had an abortion myself, but I would never want to decide for another woman. It’s none of my business. And, in a world where increasingly controlling laws are passed, there is little sex education in schools, and the chasm between the Christian right and the rest of us grows larger and deeper, I am fearful for our country. We are going backwards. Backwards.

Speaking of backwards, last week that idiot Boebert claimed “the church is supposed to direct the government, not the other way around.” WTF?

Ah, if we could go backwards…Three of the Supreme Court Justices were appointed during Trump’s presidency. Three! Here’s the big one, and I’ll never get people on board for this, but here goes: not one of them should be on the Supreme Court–for a couple reasons. First, Merrick Garland should have already gone through during Obama’s presidency. Then, Trump, who did not legitimately win the election to begin with (fewer popular votes, Russian interference) should have not been in office to begin with. Period. Like millions of Americans, I was furious when the election was over and Trump became President. He shouldn’t have. At the very least, Russian interference should have prevented his inauguration, or at the very, very least, there should have been a review of election fraud. Do you remember that, anybody? When they found Russia interfered with our election, and that Facetime influencers and disguised Russian voices were part of it? Do you remember? The only reviews that took place regarding elections were Trump’s own four years later, after the 2020 election. Does anyone else find this absurd?

Unfortunately, we can see the writing on the wall. Roe is just one harrowing example. This downward slide of injustice is just the beginning. A toothless EPA, lack of separation of Church and State. GLBTIQ rights, including the rights to marry, civil rights, and more are all on the chopping block. This Fourth of July, in addition to women’s bodily autonomy, ALL of our liberties are at risk here. Wake up!

Martin Niemöller’s famous poem serves us here:

“First they came for the Communists. And I did not speak out. Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists. And I did not speak out. Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists. And I did not speak out. Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews. And I did not speak out. Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me. And there was no one left. To speak for me.”