Strange bedfellows... or just spewing on to the computer screen

I've been stewing about this for two weeks and I'm still not sure I have the words to fully express my thoughts, so we'll see how this turns out. I do know the phrase 'strange bedfellows' has floated through my head a lot because I find it a little surprising that I am siding with what some would consider to be the other side. 

So, the leaked opinion from the Supreme Court regarding Roe v. Wade. I'm not even sure where to start.

First off, I would say that I am in the pro-life end of the spectrum meaning that I really do believe that life is a precious gift and that God does seek to bless His children through children. But I am also pro-life in that I also believe that all human life is valuable... regardless of color or ethnicity or ability or socio-economic status. I am utterly baffled how the belief in those two ideas has become so politically diametrically opposed. 

The world is not black and white; it is far more complicated than that. Anyone who thinks they can take one issue and dilute it to being either right or wrong is ignorant at best. Certainly there have been many stories being shared over the past two weeks that show abortion is one of those issues which is far more complicated than its adversaries want to admit. Thinking that focuses on dichotomies of good and bad is usually overly legalistic and ceases to take the individual into consideration. 

Would I love it if abortion were extremely rare without draconian laws? Yes, of course I would. If people truly want to end abortion, they need to think more globally than just instituting laws which are not going to actually stop the procedure. What would it take? As I see it, several things need to be in place.

• Women, especially single women, need a way to earn a living wage. If you think it is a simple thing to get a job that will pay for an apartment and food and utilities and insurance, etc. then you have lost touch with the most of the population; your privilege is showing. It is not a matter of being lazy, it is a matter of an economic system that favors the wealthy over anyone else.
• Women need to have access to child care that is healthy for their children and affordable. 
• Children, those already born, need to actually matter. They need schools that are not funded by property taxes (which once again favor the wealthy), as well as safe neighborhoods, and hope.
• Women need to stop being raped and molested. I hope that needs no further elucidation.
• Society needs to stop putting the full blame of pregnancy on the woman. It takes two, but you would think that men were hapless and innocent bystanders. In all the rhetoric I've heard, not one pro-life advocate has managed to address the man's part in an intelligent way. At best, the men are absent from the discussion; at worst, the woman is blamed for doing... something... that caused the man to... act. This is... you can insert your own expletive of choice here. 

There are more, but for brevity's' sake, I'll stop here. You get the idea.

I am actually far more concerned about the implications of the leaked opinion than I am about abortion in general. My concerns are many.

• For a group of people who seem so concerned about the government interfering in their lives and their personal choices (ahem... masks... ahem), there is an overwhelming chorus of crickets singing when it comes to the implications of using the idea of people not having a right to privacy which seems to undergird this opinion. The far-reaching consequences are actually terrifying. 
• All the justices in favor of this opinion are on record as saying they had no intention of over-turning Roe v. Wade. I do not appreciate being governed by people willing to outright lie in order to gain power. It is exactly the same feeling I have about Trump as well. 
• The extreme lack of concern for people who are in distress is appalling. I am tired of the pro-life movement painting women in distress as joyfully heading to get an abortion. This is not the case in the majority of cases, and it dehumanizes the women in distress.
• And the idea of charging a woman with murder (and who would then be eligible for the death penalty) because she had an abortion? Are you truly pro-life if you are willing to take a life? No truly pro-life person would be in favor of the death penalty. 
• That this heralds the ending of a democracy with a separation between church and state and ushers in the beginning of a religious state. Power and religion do not mix. Should not mix. At no point did Jesus ever say to gain power to get the right things done. This is completely and totally opposed to the Gospel. If you believe this is Christ-like, then you must have a different Bible from mine. If this were a different religion using the court to impose its beliefs, how would you feel? This is no different. 

Finally, let's address the 'domestic supply of infants' issue. This was in a footnote attributed to the CDC. The idea that there should be a 'supply of infants', regardless of who said it, has absolutely no bearing on this issue. If you want abortion to be outlawed because it would make it easier for couples to adopt healthy infants, then 1. you must not have been reading here for very long or actually listened to what I have said and 2. your entitlement is showing that somewhere in your world view you truly believe that other people — the poor, the disenfranchised, the helpless — are there just to make your life easier, including providing children. 

Children are not a commodity. They are not things to be bought, sold, or traded. Trauma as a result of losing one's family of origin is real. In a perfect world, adoptions would also be extremely rare because it is best for a child to stay with their first family. 

If you are truly pro-life then you are working for equity for all people. You are making a difference in the lives of children who are already here, making sure that they have stable and healthy homes to grow up in. You are making sure that families have access to housing and food and medical care, even if those families do not look like you or think like you or believe like you. You are working to end the death penalty. You are working for prison reform so that people of color are not unjustly warehoused. You are holding men responsible for their actions and not giving them a slap on the wrist because 'they hold so much promise' or 'they have a caring heart' (The first would be Brock Turner, the last would be Josh Dugger... don't even get me started.) Oh, but we have womanizers on the Supreme Court, silly me for thinking that is going to happen. 

And now I realize that I am just spewing at this point. It is all so infuriating, and I hate being forced to actually support something that I don't actually support but understand we don't live in a perfect world and I would rather it be safe. (I may be so annoyed that I have resorted to run-on sentences.)