Okay, I needed a few days to digest it because I have many feelings, looking at this from north of the border. Yes, I find it sad. Yes, it’s way out of touch with many in society. And it really shows the big divide, perhaps an even larger one they have there compared to Canada. And it’s scary. What’s happening there could turn back the clock decades. And if they can overturn Roe v Wade, who knows what else? Equal marriage? Loving? Holy, heck, maybe even Brown v Board of Education. Of course, some states, like California or New York, wouldn’t be affected, at least not directly. They’ll just go about their own ways. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll avoid it all. And it’s not just related to elected officials. It’s about people crossing borders (NOTE: I am NOT going to write about why some people seek out abortions (e.g. rape, health issues, etc…) since there are already a lot of articles about it).
Speaking of borders, it’s not just a state border issue. A few states who’d likely directly be affected by the reversal border Canada. Who’s to say that someone from Michigan wouldn’t go to Windsor to have the procedure done? And there are only so many providers with so many appointments. If there’s an influx, wouldn’t that take appointment times away from people who live in the Windsor area? Or in Ontario, for that matter? This goes for those done domestically within the US, as well. People are also going to go to other states. It’s interesting that I have yet to hear that part being fully addressed – they’ve only talked about it being possible that people in need of the procedure could be charged anyway, even though it’s legal in the state or country where they had it done. Of course, stopping the Supreme Court from actually overturning the law is of utmost importance.
There’s also the medicated issue. I just heard a podcast where one of the speakers talked about pills and how easily they could be purchased online, perhaps illegally without a prescription (though they’re more likely going to try to get it done via telehealth, and under VPN, if needed). Is that even safe? How would one even know that it’s legit? I mean, I’ve purchased supplements such as Vitamin D online, but they’re supplements and from legit health food stores. Dark web? Sounds scary to me.
Some will say that it’s about state’s rights and a state’s right to decide what’s right for its people. But what if ISN’T the right thing? What if people THERE actually want something to be available? And then there’s corporate money. If businesses move away due to these issues, then these states’ economies will tank. And people living there who were already not doing too well will fare even WORSE. Do they REALLY want that? Fewer people living there means fewer people paying taxes. Fewer people paying taxes means fewer services. It’s a downward spiral. I suppose people don’t use their heads very much. And that’s all over the world, not just in the US.
I’m not usually the person who accuses others of being out-of-touch. In fact, I’m often the accusee, believe it or not. But in this case, I’m echoing just about the entire world. Or at least, my world. And really, what does life begins at conception mean? If the law was reversed, what happens to all those embryos in labs? Many more embryos are created than transferred, which means many are left unused if families don’t decide to donate them to other intended parents or to labs for scientific research. Are those not lives? Does that mean that embryos can either be donated to intended parents or left in the deep freeze, so to speak? And they can’t be sent for scientific research because it means a life is being killed? When does life begin? Of course, people, regardless of which side of the debate they sit, don’t think about these embryos unless they’ve experienced IVF, either as an observer or someone who went through the procedure.
Anyway, I’m not an expert in this area, but I DO know that we need to mind our own business and let people decide for themselves as to what they want to do – in this situation (and others, such as equal marriage…of course, in the case of marriage, the two parties must be of age), especially. So it’s important to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the US, here, or anywhere in the world. Other parts of the world are liberalizing, not going backwards.
Image credit: zimmytws/Shutterstock
