Top of Mind Thursday – June 30, 2022: An Equal and Opposite Reaction

Isaac Newton’s Third Law says for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. It follows then that

a very large action would generate an equally large reaction.

That’s what’s happened in the last week since the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, which protected a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body.

Throwing away 50 years of precedents is a big action. The reaction in some states is to enact laws that force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term–no matter the situation. In others, actions are being taken to ensure women’s rights are protected and to help those who may need to seek abortion services far from their homes.

I’ve met many women through the years who were forced with the tough decision to end a pregnancy. None of these women were pro-abortion: they all had to make a tough decision in a difficult situation. Some of these women were victims of rape and incest. In many cases, the fetus was so badly deformed it could not sustain life on its own. In others, the fetus had died in utero but not been expelled. Continuing the pregnancy would possibly harm or kill the mother without changing the outcome for the fetus.

I understand there are people who believe it’s morally wrong to terminate a pregnancy. I hope they never are in the situation where they have to make this terrible choice. But just as they are entitled to make their life choices, other women should be allowed to make their own decisions as well.

Prohibition didn’t do a think to stop drinking–it just moved the activity underground. Data shows that eliminating legal protections for women doesn’t reduce the number of abortions–it just means fewer procedures are done safely.

In this case, the reaction to the Supreme Court decision will likely mean more women will die and fewer people will be born. All the healthy children born to a woman who has terminated a previous pregnancy wouldn’t exist if that mother died. I suspect that’s not a result those in charge of these laws have seriously considered.

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