Roe is gone, one more round
“There never was another man who could
inspire more love or hate
if you were in the park and it was 1968.”
“Daley’s Gone” – Steve Goodman (1977)
tl;dr “A movement animated by rage and fear isn’t ready to embrace life and love.”
I try to keep abreast of readings and videos across the political spectrum, only consciously avoiding those that go beyond protected speech, skimming maybe a thousand headlines/thumbnails daily and reading/watching quite a few. I try to pay particular attention to those who are likely to help me understand perspectives different from my own, particularly those that deviate from the stereotypes associated with their groupings.
For example, Marvin Olasky might still be editor-in-chief of World magazine if not for stereotypical forces there. Anticipating the Roe reversal, he tweeted in early May “If Roe is overturned, pro-lifers especially need to show an awareness that we’re all sinners desperately in need of God’s grace.”
More substantial was the latest from David French, pro-reversal but not stereotypically so. In Roe Is Reversed, and the Right Isn’t Ready, he says “In a time of hate and death, too many members of pro-life America are contributing to both phenomena. Is that too much to say? Is that too strong? I don’t think so.”
I would have preferred that Roe remain the law of the land. I once encountered Sarah Weddington in the airport and expressed awe and gratitude. But for years, if not decades, Roe had seemed at risk. Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg questioned whether Roe had gone too far, legally and politically: “A less encompassing Roe, one that merely struck down the extreme Texas law and went no further on that day, I believe and will summarize why, might have served to reduce rather than to fuel controversy.”
French, in that same writing, also bemoans the COVID-19 deaths that might have been halved in the U.S. if there had been 100% vaccination.
We need to move forward and not accept the unacceptable. But we also need to find love and tolerance for those with whom we disagree. And, we need to refrain from casting the first stone.
[Addendum July 1, 2022: And, we need to listen in spite of the media landscape. 33 Problems With Media in One Chart]
[Addendum July 3, 2022: And, hope. This July Fourth, Meet Three Americas (the red, the blue, and the tired)]
[Addendum July 18, 2022: And, do something better. The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Contempt for Women Is Worse Than I Imagined