Letters to the Editor
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Anniversary of the Firing of the Starting Gun
Roe v. Wade is undeniably important and it is well both to celebrate it and to be concerned over its fate as the Supreme Court becomes more and more likely to overturn it. ("Conservatism" is the enemy du jour, but a true conservative would not be rooting for an overturn of this ruling).
Roe was only the first shot in a battle that has yet to be waged. It was important, certainly, and in my humble opinion must be preserved, but it also is long over due for the rest of the business to be completed that Roe only started; that is a human's right not only to control over his or her body and its privacy, but over his or her right to live or not to live, given reasonable cause. It is the vanguard of issues having to do not only with privacy, the protection of life and of healthcare in general, but also the responsibility of healthcare providers under the law, and of the right of a human being to live or to end his/her life; it is part of a long-ignored and/or thwarted movement to get the government's nose out of our bedrooms, our living rooms, our private and personal lives and affairs.
To lose this one very important foothold would be more than a tragedy and a travesty; it would set back the rights of individuals to live their lives as they will, where others are not adversely affected in their persons and their own peace.
Props to Renegade Iconoclast for providing a link to the ruling for those legions who know next to nothing about the actual ruling and its intentions. Roe v. wade becomes all the more significant when it is fully understood, including the painstaking process by which it was reached. That it could be struck down in a single-page decision is a terrifying thought, but we are likely closer to that possibility right now than we have been at any time since 1973.
Had we all been actively persuing the consumation of the rest of the deal over the past 35 years we might well have evolved a little more than we have, but reading law is so dry and boring. It's little wonder, then, that we have wound up living through the surreal experience of the past seven years. We may just have to pay for our apathy even as the winds of change clean out the White House. The Supreme Court doesn't permit opportunity for that kind of regular turnover.
Instead of celebrating perhaps we should all be brushing up on the rights we think we have and how we might lose those we actually do have. Thirty five years and this is all we have to show?