Kansas and Georgia - Leaders Should Listen
Between the 2 to 1 rejection of a state constitutional amendment to eliminate the right to abortion - in *Kansas*, of all astonishing places - and the pending passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, this week looked to be a pretty good week. On the flip side, of course, Georgia passed a law deeming a six week fetus (remember, that’s four weeks to you and me) to be a legal person for tax purposes. Which raises all sorts of interesting and important questions – how will anyone declare a fetus a tax dependent in Georgia without a social security number, which is issued by the Feds? How will the state verify the fetus’ existence? If the fetus is miscarried, how will the state verify that it ever existed, and will they then rescind the already-claimed tax dependent? Will insurance companies have to issue life insurance for the fetus? If the fetus of an military member or a veteran doesn’t make it, will the government provide a Veteran’s Cemetery plot and a funeral? Can the fetus have a bank account? A college savings account? A health insurance policy independent of the mother’s? This is what happens when legislators pass laws with one goal in mind – here, to control women – and don’t stop to think through the ramifications of their actions.
I find it interesting that Catholic Bishops and a variety of Catholic organizations spent a cumulative $4 million-plus to defeat the Kansas right to abortion, but were resoundingly defeated even so. It’s almost like the folks most opposed to a woman’s right to bodily autonomy have lost touch with society in general and their members specifically. Ignorance of your constituents’ needs and wants tends to result in leaders, whether religious or political, instituting untenable policy and law, which then oppresses and harms the people those leaders are supposed to represent.
Ignorance of the science and facts about women’s bodies and pregnancy have already caused some of our leaders to make and enforce policy and law that cause harm – bodily, emotional, financial, and familial harm – to millions of Americans: doctors unwilling to assist a woman in mortal danger because of a miscarriage, for fear of prosecution; legislators who believe that “[i]f it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” (Todd Akin, Republican Congressional Representative from Missouri for twelve years); women being punished for pregnancy and prosecuted for miscarriage. The list is endless.
As it turns out, half a century of safe, legal abortion under Roe has taught several generations of Americans to expect it, to believe without question that a woman has a right to bodily autonomy and to determine her own future. And fortunately for those of us reared in a Roe v. Wade world, a huge number of women have taken advantage of the opportunities open to those who are not limited by their biology. Many of those women now walk the halls of power, and fight the good fight for equal rights.
Ignorance is no excuse. We can’t force our representatives to get educated about the subjects they legislate and manufacture sound bites about, but we *can* vote them out when they reveal themselves to be ignorant and unconcerned. I suggest we do just that.