My case for life
It's been awhile since I put up a reminder of what's right.
Because last week was the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, our Three Stooges had to make the complaint that they missed the good old days of abortion being the law of the land thanks to the mistaken Roe v. Wade decision the Supreme Court thankfully rectified with Dobbs.
I’m going to circle back to what they said in a bit but allow me first to give you a short history and lay of the land here in the First State.
Prior to 2017, Delaware state law was restrictive on abortion, only allowing it to be done in hospitals with the approval with a “hospital abortion review authority” and only in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother - common-sense restrictions I could grudgingly allow as a compromise measure.
As a knee-jerk reaction to the incoming Trump administration, though, that year’s General Assembly rushed through Senate Bill 5, establishing that:
The United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases established that access to abortion is a constitutional right and that states may not prohibit abortion prior to viability. As a result of these decisions, and the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the Attorney General, see Del. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 73-030, § III (Apr. 12, 1973), the Delaware Code's prohibitions against abortion are unconstitutional, and thus unenforceable. This Substitute makes Delaware’s laws on abortion consistent with the scope of the right protected by the United States Constitution and the practice in Delaware for the past 43 years.
However, even though abortion is no longer the law of the land thanks to Dobbs, the state hasn’t rushed to restore the previous law, which they allowed to languish on the books for over four decades until a President who threatened it took office. Something like SB5 never passed in previous attempts prior to 2017 because there was still such a thing as a pro-life Democrat, and enough of them still roamed Leg Hall to keep the law in place. That changed as the Democrat Party slid further and further to the left, with regressives replacing the moderates over time.
Instead, this year they’re reusing the SB5 vehicle to try and enshrine abortion into the Delaware Constitution. Unlike the original SB5, which had a handful of brave Democrats still voting no while one RINO was a co-sponsor, let’s pray the GOP in the House stays strong against the advancement of the bill and we don’t lose that last seat in the upcoming election that maintains their authority to stop these foolish changes. (As currently constituted, the House is 27-14 Democrat, leaving them one vote short of a 2/3 majority required to change the state Constitution. Voters in Delaware have no say, the only state like that in the country; meanwhile Republicans in the Senate are powerless since they’re at a 15-6 disadvantage. A two-seat Senate pickup in this election would be most helpful, but difficult because only 11 of 21 Senate seats are up this year. Republicans are defending three of their six.)
Now we can talk about our Three Stooges, and I’ll go ladies first. Junior Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester had this graphic on her social media to start:
“Four years ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, creating chaos and uncertainty for healthcare access — leaving our communities vulnerable,” LBR whined. “No one should question their ability to get the care they need. We must restore access to reproductive care now.”
Piped in her Senatorial counterpart, Chris Coons, “Today marks four years since Trump's handpicked Supreme Court justices undermined reproductive freedom across the country and made American women less safe and less free. In the Senate, I'll continue to proudly stand with women and their right to choose.”
As I replied, “Nope, four years ago today SCOTUS rectified a 49-year-old mistake.”
Of course, Timmy Sarah McBride had to have a say as well:
Today marks four years since the Supreme Court stripped the constitutional right to abortion from millions of women, forcing many of our neighbors — from patients to providers — to live in fear.
I’m proud that Delaware continues to remain a safe haven for reproductive freedom, but we must never settle for a patchwork of laws that prevent women from accessing this often life-saving care.
First of all, there never was a Constitutional right to abortion, nor would life-saving care be a question because life of the mother was already an allowable exception in Delaware. But I can guarantee no one will tell McBride he should have no say in the matter because he’s a man, like those in favor of baby murder often complain to me when I make a pro-life comment.
So why is this so important to me, particularly when I’ve had that issue addressed many years ago?
As a firm believer in conformity with the Constitution, I understand its relationship to the Declaration of Independence which stated our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I believe our Founders, who carefully debated and chose the language of both of these documents, placed those rights in order intentionally, for you cannot enjoy liberty without life nor can you pursue happiness without the other two. Thus, the right to life is paramount in the hierarchy.
In the case of a pregnancy, planned or not, the right of the child to be born trumps the argument that the baby is denying liberty to the mother by its very existence in her body. (Never mind one other person was involved in the creation of the child. No one ever talks about his opinions on the matter, particularly if he wants to be a dad.) In the hierarchy, life is greater than liberty so a libertarian should be mindful of that distinction.
It’s often been said (and I heard this from the great Rush Limbaugh) that the only form of birth control that’s 100% effective is abstinence. That’s just an undeniable truth. Granted, women are raped every day, but that shouldn’t necessarily be an excuse for abortion when there are many others who would willingly take care of the child and leave their origins a secret until an appropriate time in the child’s life to reveal it.
Finally, I often hear the bromide that if I’m so pro-life, I should also support the welfare state because otherwise I’m consigning the child to a life of poverty and abuse because the mother is poor or in a bad relationship. Yet adoption remains an option and it’s not government’s place to be the father in the relationship as that’s a significant factor with the societal woes we experience now. You have the right to life, but you do not have the right to others’ labor to support yourself. If you aren’t ready to have a child, as noted above abstinence is 100% effective at pregnancy protection. It may not be what people want to hear because nookie is fun, but it is the truth.
Democrats used to state (back in the era of Bill Clinton) that they wanted abortions to be “safe, legal, and rare.” Well, Delaware Democrats, here’s your chance: we can go back to the pre-2017 rules and not just provide so-called “reproductive freedom” but a much better opportunity for the unborn to enjoy true liberty thanks to the preservation of life.
In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there.