Democrats and "Abortion Rights"
What a crazy Orwellian term
Democrats Are Using Abortion As A Wedge Issue
Hillary Clinton, at the Democratic National Convention, said, “Yes, she [Kamala Harris] will restore abortion rights nationwide.”
By casting this as a right, the Democrats are trying to engage a majority into the position that abortion is part of the right to control your own body. The Right to Life automatically includes the right to have sovereignty over your own body so long as you are mentally healthy in our American (that is Liberal in the Enlightenment Sense) set of values.
But do you have the right to terminate a baby human simply because it resides in your womb? Does that make it just part of you? What about the half of the baby that came from the father? What about once the baby is able to live outside the womb, but has not yet been born?
So, the idea here on the Democrats part is to tell us that the evil Supreme Court took away our rights and we need to restore them.
But do they actually have that power?
The President has no power to “restore” or “take away” rights of any sort. The President has the power to enforce law and constitution. We need to look to Congress and the Courts on this topic.
Update to address Alexander Scipio response
Congress has no power to legislate directly on abortion, although they can use the power of the purse to indirectly influence the practice. The Courts power is to determine if state and federal law and executive branch rules and orders are Constitutional and/or Legal. Additionally, the Congress and the State Legislatures could amend the Constitution, although in practice I don’t think that is ever going to happen on this one. But, as we have seen on other contentious topics, when the Biden-Harris Administration can’t get their way in Congress, Courts, and the Constitution, they resort to Executive Branch rule making and Executive Orders. And we can expect a Kamala Harris Administration to continue this practice. So, Health & Human Services will promulgate all sorts of rules that have the effect of legislation without Congress ever voting on it. And Kamala will sign off on EO’s.
But what are Abortion Rights?
What the left means by abortion rights is, well, Orwellian.
A right is something that is intrinsic to being a human. The Right to Life, for example. As a living human being, you have the right to continue living, you own your own body, and you can choose what to do with it. it is this understanding of the Right to Life that leads to the Right to Liberty, which means that you can do as you choose so long as you don’t injure another person or their property.
This understanding is what led to America ending indentured servitude, chattel slavery and granting all citizens, regardless of creed, color, and gender, the ability to vote in all elections.
The Left has taken the ideas of Right to Life and Right to Liberty and argued that Abortion Rights stem from there. That, since you have full control over your own body, you have full control over the baby in your womb because it is part of your body. In practical terms, of course, this is true. In moral terms, though, it is generally felt by something like 80% of the population to not be true, to some degree, or another.
Essentially, what they are saying is that a woman has absolute control over the baby in her womb until it is actually born. Until then, no matter its age, health status, viability status, the woman has the power of life and death. That’s literally what the Democrats mean when they talk about “abortion rights”.
The Left has defined the power to kill a human being residing in your womb as a right inherent to being human. I posit that the vast majority of us find this idea at least a bit repellent if not completely immoral.
How does Average Joe and Average Jane feel?
Finally, I think most of us in this country have a much more middle of the road position on abortion. Neither to the extreme of absolutely no abortion ever or the extreme of absolutely all abortion ever.
Abortion during the first 15 weeks, give or take, of a pregnancy is totally up to the mother and acceptable.
Abortion when the mother is in danger if the pregnancy is carried to term is acceptable.
Abortion in cases of rape, sexual abuse, and incest is acceptable.
Abortion should be exceedingly rare, not a method of birth control.
Abortion law is something for state/local government to decide, the federal government needs to get out of the mess entirely.
There are perhaps 20% that believe there should never, ever be a legal abortion. This position is morally defensible, but realistically indefensible. Realistic, practical assessments tell us that going to this place means that there will be illegal abortions, black markets, doctors breaking the law, and abortion tourism. It’s going to happen.
There are perhaps 20% that believe there should be legal abortion right up until the baby is born. This position is morally indefensible, but realistically possible. In fact, it is de facto the way things are in at least 10 states right now. Still, it is not morally defensible to kill a living human being just because the mother decides to do so. After all, a 22 week old fetus can survive outside the mother’s womb.
It should be noted that the “liberal” Europeans generally prevent voluntary abortion after somewhere in the 10-15 week range, varying country by country. So, if you want to compare to Europe, go for it. Personally, I much prefer to use American Enlightenment values, morals, and common law to reach an appropriate understanding since we long ago rejected Old Europe.
Finally, What’s The Point?
Here’s the points to be made on this.
The Democrats are appealing to your emotions. This is, of course, a logical fallacy. More importantly, do you wish to be controlled by your emotions or by your rational mind?
The Democrats are using this as a wedge issue because they cannot win by talking about the facts of America today. If you care about the cost of groceries, 7 million illegal aliens, multiple wars across the globe, and a government that cannot function competently, you need to reject this wedge issue.
Finally, the President cannot restore your abortion rights. If that is important to you, you need to vote for, and empower, a Congress that agrees with you. The President is not king or dictator, even though Hillary clearly wants Dictator Kamala elected.
This is a tough topic, but one that needs to be discussed in a rational and calm fashion, not used as a wedge issue to attack your feelings for political gain.