Abortion Ruling

  

                                       

 

Roe v. Wade was not a law but a Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws restricting or banning abortion. Now the Court has overturned its ruling of almost 50 years ago, and claimed that Roe vs. Wade and subsequent rulings were mistakenly decided. It appears that the Court’s decision was based on three foundations. First, following the opinion of most legal scholars, it found no right to abortion in the Federal Constitution, and therefore,  no legal basis for the overturning of long-standing laws prohibiting or restricting it. Second, the science of fetology was in its infancy 50 years ago, but now the scientific ground  has shifted. We just have to note Chief Justice Robert’s discussion of “viability.” Finally, Justice Alioto argued in his majority opinion that the earlier Court decisions had failed in their intended purpose to quell the Nation’s deep division on the subject of abortion. 

Now, it will be up to the individual states to pass laws permitting, banning or restricting abortion in their jurisdictions. Since the Court has decided that there is no right to abortion in the Constitution, the Federal government is now out of the business of abortion.  The governor and legislators of my home state of Connecticut jumped into action immediately with new laws facilitating abortion for even out of state residents. For example, the procedure will no longer require a doctor to be present. It is not hard to imagine that they will soon be practiced at CVS or Walgreens. The legislators are concerned about minority women, or are they?

No matter what you think about abortion or Roe v. Wade, it should be clear to any fair-minded person that a very large percentage of the abortions performed since the original ruling have involved black women. White women have accounted for about half of the approximately 50 Million abortions performed since 1973 but black women, who make up a much smaller share of the total population, have accounted for about 20 Million abortions or 40% of the total. It is clear that Roe v. Wade has played a significant role in limiting the increase of the black population in this country.

Some sociologists think that this phenomenon is a good thing, and that abortion has worked to keep down the crime rate and poverty rate in the country, especially among the “lower classes.” That was certainly the objective of Margaret Sanger, the famed birth-control pioneer on the 1920s. 

Back then, Sanger would not have been called a racist. She was a “eugenicist” a word derived from the so-called science of eugenics that claimed that some races and ethnic groups were inherently inferior to others. She argued that immigration from some poor countries like Italy where poverty, ignorance, superstition, immorality, and crime prevailed should be restricted. She also believed that blacks were inherently inferior, and that they should be discouraged from “breeding,” or reproducing themselves.

Eugenics provided a kind of scientific basis for laws in the South prohibiting “miscegenation”, or marriage between members of different races. They said it led to “mongrelization.” In the 1930s the Nazis in Germany became the greatest advocates of eugenics. It provided a scientific basis for policies to eliminate not only the Jews, but also any inferior racial or ethnic types. Their idea of a master race was a creation of eugenics. Of course, eugenics went out of favor after World War II and the Holocaust.

Many years ago, I went to a conference where a female, black doctor predicted that abortion would eventually lead to the disappearance of the black race in America. I don’t think her prediction will come true, but it is clear that abortion has kept down the population of blacks in this country.

I recall that at the confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh, a conservative white male,  critical questioners sought to demonstrate that the judge would make decisions harmful to women, blacks, and other minorities. But why would a white racist be opposed to abortion when it is clear that it has been so successful in keeping down the black and Hispanic population in this country? Almost 60% of the abortions performed in my home state of Connecticut have been performed on Black and Hispanic women even though they make up only 19% of the female population. You would think that racists would be all in favor of abortion. Or would it be better to say that, despite their words and intentions, the supporters of abortion today are the real racists.

During the Vice-Presidential debate before the 2016 election, Republican candidate Mike Pence, another conservative white male, made an unabashedly Pro-Life statement, and argued that the State has an inherent interest in supporting the right to life of the most vulnerable of its citizens. He noted that as Governor he had worked hard to make Indiana a pro-adoption state. 

His opponent Tim Kaine did note that he was Catholic and proud of his Catholic heritage and education. But he argued that despite his personal opposition to abortion, he had done nothing to oppose it as Governor of Virginia, and would certainly support Hillary Clinton’s intention, if elected President, to provide federal funding for abortion.

The Democrat strategy is very cunning. They can appear to be the champions of women, especially the poor and underprivileged, but at the same time, they support measures that have kept the population of Blacks and Hispanics down. Despite contemporary left-wing rhetoric on behalf of the under-privileged, it is still outcomes or results that count. 

The young Progressives of today have been brought up viewing popular TV shows like Law and Order where the great majority of criminals are successful white males. Only rarely are the villains women, black, Hispanic or members of the LGBTQ minority. Nevertheless, the liberal creators and producers of these shows are now the ones being charged with sexual abuse. Despite professed good intentions, could the media support for abortion be regarded as racist and sexist? ###