Sherm: Abortion debate, with clarity

Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick

If it takes a comedian to get us talking in clear terms about abortion, then so be it.

Sherman Frederick

On April 13, Bill Maher on his HBO show Real Time said this about abortion: “Pro-lifers think it’s murder, and it kind of is. I’m just okay with that. I am. I mean there’s 8 billion people in the world. I’m sorry. We won’t miss you. That’s my position on that.”

Thank you, Bill Maher. Now, as we move forward in the state-by-state debate on abortion, let’s stop sanitizing the language and talk plainly about what’s actually going on.

I don’t have the answers to the many questions surrounding this debate. I’m just calling on the use of plain language, which, among other things, means describing abortion for what it is: Killing a gestating baby. It’s not a “procedure” to trim off a cluster of cells. It’s almost always NOT done for the health of the mother. It’s usually done for the convenience of the mother.

An estimated 1 million abortions take place in the U.S. annually, which is about 18% of all pregnancies. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 45 percent of abortions are repeat abortions. In Nevada, about 10,000 abortions were done in 2017.

This is the quick-and-dirty science of it. Why obfuscate the argument? Yet, that’s what pro-choice advocates do.

For example, here’s how Amnesty International frames the argument for abortion. It loads up on euphemistic language, even including the goofy modern conceit that biological men can become pregnant:

“You’re not free when you can’t make decisions about what you do with your own body. You’re not free when you can’t make decisions about what you do with your future. Everyone has a right to control their own fertility and exercise reproductive autonomy. This is particularly important for all women, girls and people who can become pregnant.”

If we spoke the unvarnished truth, however, the argument would be made like this:

“You’re not free when you can’t make decisions about what you do with your own body, including killing a gestating baby. You’re not free when you can’t get pregnant and then decide to live baby free. Women have a right to kill a baby growing inside them.”

That gets more quickly to the heart of the issue, doesn’t it? Should the state sanction the killing of a gestating baby? If so, for what reasons? What are the rules? How many abortions may a mother have? Is there any point in a pregnancy in which the gestating baby gains civil rights?

These are hard questions. I am largely unsettled by the task at hand. But, this is life after The Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, a bad law that bent over backwards to avoid the science of these questions.

Now you and I, state by state, must decide for ourselves. All I’m saying is that to get to the best decision, we need to use accurate language. That’s only common sense.

PROTESTS

Like most, I’m still digesting the “Free Palestine” protests that sprang up around the country last week.

Three things come to mind:

– Remember that a trade-off Americans make for greater freedom is the toleration of civil unrest. Citizens have a right to assemble and a right to free speech and these displays by their organic nature are messy. Better to have it messy than to live under a government in which unrest is scheduled and allowed only in “safe” places established by the state.

– No matter which side of any particular argument you rest, treasure a robust First Amendment that allows free and meaningful expression. Keep it that way. Resist authoritarianism.

– What best describes this movement? The term “Free Palestine” seems fair, but it is perhaps too broad because it covers up other undeniable facets of the protest. A streak of protesters were “Pro-Hamas.” And, there was an even wider band of protesters who could be called “Anti-Israel.” This hate for the state of Israel also took form in clear hate for individual Jews, which was, to say the least, unnerving.

Seeing the “kill Jews” wing of this movement so boldly public is something not seen in this country for a long time. Even more disappointing was to find our president and way too many alleged leaders either egging on the hate, or remaining silent for too long in hearing it. That failure demands more discussion.