WHO’S NEXT?

WHO’S NEXT?

By Ruth A. Sheets

May 27, 2019

In recent months, many, perhaps as many as 400 bills have been passed in legislatures in the United States to restrict or eliminate abortion.  This is despite the fact that Roe vs Wade is the law of the land and has been for more than 46 years.  The states are passing “laws” that they know are against the Constitution, hoping the Supreme Court will fix things in their favor.

The anti-choice movement has sunk their teeth in to the idea that their personal lives will be better if only abortion is stopped and those dear little fetuses are born.  They become more and more restrictive in their demands on women to the point that in addition to eliminating abortion, they don’t want to allow any kinds of birth control either.

I can't help but wonder, if Rowe v Wade is overturned, who will the appalling anti-choicers go after next.  Whose rights will they then move to restrict or take away?

What we all need to understand is that when taking people's rights away, it does not stop with the stated purpose.  For example, one state started with stupid "Three Strikes" laws and the movement kept going until we had more than 2 million Americans incarcerated, many, perhaps even most for minor offenses or drug use crimes which then required life in prison.  What stupid, outrageous laws!  But a lot of people bought the fantasy that this would stop all crime and they would be safe in their little American dream houses.  Who cares what happened to those in prison, that was not their problem.  Then, they wanted to arm everyone and passed concealed and open carry laws.  Carrying around automatic weapons is now on the agenda of many of the “Three strikes” bunch.

The self-righteous do not stop with one issue.  They get their power and jollies from hurting other people to prove they are so much better, holier, more worthy than those people.  It is a guarantee this group will find new targets.  I am thinking Muslims, progressives, teachers, and a host of folks who make a positive difference by helping others.

We who care about human rights need to be getting this message out loud and clear.  The anti-choicers will not stop with abortion!!!  These currently anti-reproductive rights individuals can't stand not spouting their hatred of everyone who does not live, think, and do things that make them feel comfortable and "secure."

We must get the media on board to let people understand how the process works.  The genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda did not just happen.  They began with neighbors being told to hate neighbors for one reason or another, but primarily because they were not of the right group or didn’t act in the right way.

The Germans of the 1930s got this.  They didn’t go after all their enemies at one time.  They built up to it, little by little in one place at a time, restricting rights until people got used to the new normal they’d created.  When appalling atrocities were committed, it was pretty easy for most people to blame the victims whom they thought were working to destroy their community, culture, nation, etc.

Mr. Trump and his cult are introducing these same factors into American society and they are getting a lot of help from outlets like Fox News and Facebook.  They are also getting lots of support and cooperation from Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures, who of course, are mostly men, as it always is in movements to take away or restrict human rights.

I suspect this whole anti-choice movement is not about abortion at all.  To prove it, I have a modest proposal.  My sister gave me the idea and I think it’s a good one that should be seriously explored.

The stated goal of the anti-choicers is to end abortion.  Why do women need abortions?  They have had sex with fertile men.  So, I propose that at age 13, all boys have vasectomies.  This would be part of their coming-of-age ceremony and would be accompanied by a lot of pomp and circumstance as such a ceremony should be.  The pain would be a minor inconvenience for the joy of knowing they would not produce an “unwanted” pregnancy.

Then when the “man” is older and marries, he can get permission from his wife to have his vasectomy reversed so he can be responsible for the children the wife decides to allow him to father.  The rate of abortion would go down so far that it would truly be rare or perhaps, nonexistent.   

Of course, even though this would be a great way to stop abortions, it could never happen because men, in general, particularly the anti-choice men are not about stopping abortion really.  They are about keeping women from moving into the realms they believe are their own.  Many women have been so brainwashed  that they agree to the BS the men are spewing.  And they will buy whatever hate they can dump on the next targeted group.

So, sisters and men who believe in human rights, stand up and yell with your strongest voices to stop the anti-choicers and expose the fact that abortion is not the final phase to their quest.  There is even darker stuff ahead unless it gets stopped here.