Light a Candle...

Abortion rights - time to let Americans have their say?

Back before the pro-life/pro-abortion 'debate' was co-opted by the gender aligned (all men are bad) feminist movement, there was actually some real debate and discussion of the issue going on the news magazines and other 'news' sources in America.

As a member of a in-class debate team in the early/mid 70's, I had the fortune/misfortune to have to argue both sides of this issue. The one point that both sides agreed on at the time, was that the decision of the Supreme Court effectively stopped 'public' discourse on the subject. As a consequence the issue remained(s) an unresolved, untreated, festering wound within our political process. In effect, the American public was denied their right to debate, discuss, and reach an agreement, denied by an arbitrary, activist judicial body intent on creating new law.

An article in one of the news magazines of the time pointed out that the French (forgive me for using them as an example), had avoided judicial intervention and reached a legislated solution supported by the majority of their citizenry. As a result, abortion was a relative non-issue to them. The lack of resolution to our internal debate, wrought by judicial intervention, was pointed out as the primary cause to the increasingly acrimonious atmosphere surrounding this debate. The sense of 'helplessnes' of the body politic before this judicial 'trump' was (and has) driving the issue/debate to the extremists on both sides of the issue.

A recent article reveals that the original plaintiff is now filing to have the decision overturned, saying she was misrepresented and misinformed by her legal counsel. My own views on this issue have changed over time, as they should as one gains both perspective, experience, and new information. I feel strongly that the judicially interrupted political discussion and search for consensus needs to be resumed, if the topic is not already too poisoned for that. For this reason, I hope the Supremes do decide to overturn their earlier decision and put this back in the arean of public debate and legislation.

That way, when the decision/legislation is made, it will be the decision of the American people, whom the founders trusted above all others, and not by 9 judical tyrants, secluded from review or rebuke.

posted by Clayton @ 11:11 AM