This thread has gone quiet for a bit in part due to our lengthy AMTRAK adventure across America, and now, travel to New York, a trip to be completed in a couple days. No matter what the conveniences, it is difficult to keep up with all while on travel, at least for me.
.....................
My college-aged daughter Lily, home for the summer, ran into the kitchen early Friday morning with The New York Times in her hand in disbelief.
"Mom, have you seen this? It's just wrong."
She opened the paper and pointed to an op-ed titled "Why Pro-Choice Is a Bad Choice for Democrats" by Melinda Henneberger.
Lily couldn't be more right. And Henneberger couldn't be more wrong.
The "opinion" piece attempted to justify Ms. Henneberger's own conclusion about the issue of women's rights by anecdotal conversations she has held across America -- eerily similar to Justice Kennedy's opinion in the recent Supreme Court decision, in which he opined that, despite the fact that there is no reliable data, women might later come to regret an abortion -- implying, therefore, it shouldn't be fully their decision.
What have we come to?
The majority of this country has supported and continues to support women making their own decisions about pregnancy -- even when those decisions are complicated or difficult. In fact, Americans believe that even if they might make a different decision about abortion, they recognize that every woman's case is different, and they aren't prepared to make such an important personal decision for another person. You only have to cast your mind back to the Terry Schiavo case, with some members of the United States Senate interfering in a family's very personal, private decision to see what it may look like as politicians increasingly intervene in matters that need to be made by women and their families and doctors.
8mm