by Edd Doerr
Roe v Wade's 39th anniversary came and went this past weekend with scarcely a mention in the media. Yet Roe v Wade was one of the most important rulings ever handed down by the Supreme Court. It ranks with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in importance. It liberated women from the bonds of misogynism endemic in society for millenia.
Roe did not "create" the right to terminate problem pregnancies. It acknowledged a right already there in the 1st, 9th, 13th and 14th Amendments, a right that existed throughout the lifetimes of the Founders. Roe consolidated in one fell swoop women's freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.
But conservative misogynists have not given up, not by a long shot. In 2011 conservatives in state legislatures passed more anti-choice laws than ever. And while President Obama praised the ruling over the weekend, all -- ALL -- of the Republican White House aspirants have made it clear that they will press on to reinslave women to the "fetal personhood" nonsense emanating from ultraconservative religious forces.
Humanists who value freedom of conscience for all cannot back down.
We certainly cannot back down. Obviously no one has ever had any linguistic communication with a featal cell mass. The asserted "personhood" of these non-cognitive entities is purely a religious fiction. What the religous right wants to do is mark their territory by coercing others to live within their preposterous fantasy worlds.
ReplyDeleteMy next column in Free Inquiry will deal with this.
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