"As I wrote last week, I think the Dobbs decision was a good one, but I’m not sure that Republicans will like where it leads. Ultimately, I don’t think it will change things very much, especially when the prevalence of pharmaceutical abortions is taken into account. Dobbs may be a decision that, even though it was five decades in the making, came too late to keep up with advances in technology."
The thing I'm keeping my eyes on is how this accelerates The Big Sort[1], where we see outcomes such as SpaceX in Boca Chica TX or Austin's video game development industry finding it difficult to hire and recruit educated staff that are generally pretty pro-choice, especially women engineers. A lot of hay has been made about enterprises relocating to Texas for the freer economic and political climate - I wonder how many HR folks are evaluating how to unwind those plans. Red States may be wise to not go zealously after local citizens engaging abortion tourism in Blue States or employers offering abortion-related benefits, as that may be the last thread keeping any number of enterprises within its borders and paying its taxes.
Interesting days ahead!
I'm also keeping an eye on the contraceptive "rights" that will be brought up in a future term. For all the impact that Roe had, it wasn't a particularly novel case when it came to Constitutional innovations. The vast bulk of Row was built on Griswold, and for everyone whose last name doesn't rhyme with Scalito, Roe inherited the weak legal justification from Griswold, which is certainly in danger of being sent back to the States as well. (CTRL-F: "Griswold" in Constitution.txt. 0 matches found.)
Back in the day we had homes for unwed mothers. One was located close to my high school and my school class basically adopted them. It was laid out like a nursing home where the kids (and they were all most all fellow teens), got their own room and were fed and talked to and taken care of. The security was brutal because sometime some mad boyfriend would show up demanding to see his girlfriend and Bruno would make short work of him. This was at a time that assault wasn't such a big deal.
It was funded by some sect of the Lutheran Church. We provided Christmas, Birthdays, sometime food from the local stores who donated, and company. In some regards it was like a college dorm at the time. Some girls kept their babies and some didn't. They put them up for adoption. Hopefully they all found good homes. The girls that kept the babes either had supportive parents or didn't. For the didn't we (my class) brought baby stuff for them which was a pretty small amount of help. This was before you got welfare for children. These girls were mostly not high school grads and their futures grim.
I do think a return to Unwed Homes is something to consider. It would be somewhat a different clientele now because society has gone diving down the tubes but some kind of shelter on a long term basis for non drug addicted is something to think about. You would really need to separate the druggies from the nons.
I think it matters a lot less today than it did a few years ago. Science is catching up to belief as there are more and more windows into the womb. Knowing her baby is alive and kicking, even if she can't feel it has to make a future mother hesitate if not completely change her mind about killing it, even sight unseen.
And, the more human science makes fetuses in the womb, the less people will support tearing them apart or feeding them poison.
Jun 27, 2022·edited Jun 27, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr, David Thornton
I always enjoy your reads David, even if i don't always agree. I would take exception to one comment about "not thinking it will change things much." Probably not for you, how about for that 16 year old who finds herself pregnant? Let's say she lives with her single mom and they live day to day just getting by. No health insurance but now she will need to carry to term and the liabilities and costs crushes them further. The impact will indeed change her life, clearly more than yours.
My friends at the Bulwark have been positively brilliant on their takes since the decision came down. I won't recant all of their writings, but most of them were pro-life and have been amazingly objective about what this will do; how bad it could become. They also saw no value in rubbing the decision in anyone's face, as at least one writer here elected to do.
The overall commentary was spot on. The Red states are the most likely to be unwilling to offer the support needed to those being forced to carry to term. The stats mentioned in one of the articles included a summary of more abortions are done on Latino and African American women. The question simply became, how will those red state legislators help the minority population get through these difficult times?
Even more on point was, if they really gave a rat's ass, they would have been working to that end all along. The reality is, they are more concerned about punishing potential violators than they are about providing safety nets to help them. If they didn't care before, why start caring now?
You know the answer better than i. I don't claim to be some righteous Christian. I freely admit to being a sinner, less than perfect and hoping my God is forgiving. I have no interest in judging others, well maybe trump, but i hate con artists and scammers.
My best guess is this decision will tip the scales back to the left. It will become a rallying cry. As i said to my wife, they need to stop marching in the streets and start signing up voters. They need to become more focused on the right message, not the optics of crazed people trying to get even. The idea anyone would want to stop birth control or morning after pills, or ban gay marriages is powerful and motivating beyond imagination. Thank you justice Thomas, good to know you are listening to Ginny and the rest of the maga/q-anon crowd.
I have virtually no skin in the game, soon to be 74, no kids and none planned. That said, the idea this country should fall that far backward is unfathomable to me. Apparently my God is different from others. In the end, i will leave it up to him/her to decide right from wrong, just or unjust. Sadly, the arrogance of the former president has rubbed off on too many who have bought into his narcissistic sense of self-importance.
"As I wrote last week, I think the Dobbs decision was a good one, but I’m not sure that Republicans will like where it leads. Ultimately, I don’t think it will change things very much, especially when the prevalence of pharmaceutical abortions is taken into account. Dobbs may be a decision that, even though it was five decades in the making, came too late to keep up with advances in technology."
The thing I'm keeping my eyes on is how this accelerates The Big Sort[1], where we see outcomes such as SpaceX in Boca Chica TX or Austin's video game development industry finding it difficult to hire and recruit educated staff that are generally pretty pro-choice, especially women engineers. A lot of hay has been made about enterprises relocating to Texas for the freer economic and political climate - I wonder how many HR folks are evaluating how to unwind those plans. Red States may be wise to not go zealously after local citizens engaging abortion tourism in Blue States or employers offering abortion-related benefits, as that may be the last thread keeping any number of enterprises within its borders and paying its taxes.
Interesting days ahead!
I'm also keeping an eye on the contraceptive "rights" that will be brought up in a future term. For all the impact that Roe had, it wasn't a particularly novel case when it came to Constitutional innovations. The vast bulk of Row was built on Griswold, and for everyone whose last name doesn't rhyme with Scalito, Roe inherited the weak legal justification from Griswold, which is certainly in danger of being sent back to the States as well. (CTRL-F: "Griswold" in Constitution.txt. 0 matches found.)
[1] https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/the-big-sort-continues-with-trump-as-a-driving-force/
Back in the day we had homes for unwed mothers. One was located close to my high school and my school class basically adopted them. It was laid out like a nursing home where the kids (and they were all most all fellow teens), got their own room and were fed and talked to and taken care of. The security was brutal because sometime some mad boyfriend would show up demanding to see his girlfriend and Bruno would make short work of him. This was at a time that assault wasn't such a big deal.
It was funded by some sect of the Lutheran Church. We provided Christmas, Birthdays, sometime food from the local stores who donated, and company. In some regards it was like a college dorm at the time. Some girls kept their babies and some didn't. They put them up for adoption. Hopefully they all found good homes. The girls that kept the babes either had supportive parents or didn't. For the didn't we (my class) brought baby stuff for them which was a pretty small amount of help. This was before you got welfare for children. These girls were mostly not high school grads and their futures grim.
I do think a return to Unwed Homes is something to consider. It would be somewhat a different clientele now because society has gone diving down the tubes but some kind of shelter on a long term basis for non drug addicted is something to think about. You would really need to separate the druggies from the nons.
I think it matters a lot less today than it did a few years ago. Science is catching up to belief as there are more and more windows into the womb. Knowing her baby is alive and kicking, even if she can't feel it has to make a future mother hesitate if not completely change her mind about killing it, even sight unseen.
And, the more human science makes fetuses in the womb, the less people will support tearing them apart or feeding them poison.
I always enjoy your reads David, even if i don't always agree. I would take exception to one comment about "not thinking it will change things much." Probably not for you, how about for that 16 year old who finds herself pregnant? Let's say she lives with her single mom and they live day to day just getting by. No health insurance but now she will need to carry to term and the liabilities and costs crushes them further. The impact will indeed change her life, clearly more than yours.
My friends at the Bulwark have been positively brilliant on their takes since the decision came down. I won't recant all of their writings, but most of them were pro-life and have been amazingly objective about what this will do; how bad it could become. They also saw no value in rubbing the decision in anyone's face, as at least one writer here elected to do.
The overall commentary was spot on. The Red states are the most likely to be unwilling to offer the support needed to those being forced to carry to term. The stats mentioned in one of the articles included a summary of more abortions are done on Latino and African American women. The question simply became, how will those red state legislators help the minority population get through these difficult times?
Even more on point was, if they really gave a rat's ass, they would have been working to that end all along. The reality is, they are more concerned about punishing potential violators than they are about providing safety nets to help them. If they didn't care before, why start caring now?
You know the answer better than i. I don't claim to be some righteous Christian. I freely admit to being a sinner, less than perfect and hoping my God is forgiving. I have no interest in judging others, well maybe trump, but i hate con artists and scammers.
My best guess is this decision will tip the scales back to the left. It will become a rallying cry. As i said to my wife, they need to stop marching in the streets and start signing up voters. They need to become more focused on the right message, not the optics of crazed people trying to get even. The idea anyone would want to stop birth control or morning after pills, or ban gay marriages is powerful and motivating beyond imagination. Thank you justice Thomas, good to know you are listening to Ginny and the rest of the maga/q-anon crowd.
I have virtually no skin in the game, soon to be 74, no kids and none planned. That said, the idea this country should fall that far backward is unfathomable to me. Apparently my God is different from others. In the end, i will leave it up to him/her to decide right from wrong, just or unjust. Sadly, the arrogance of the former president has rubbed off on too many who have bought into his narcissistic sense of self-importance.
Limiting/banning abortion and cutting social services is gonna lead to a lot of unnecessary pain: https://www.yahoo.com/news/help-care-texas-post-roe-121815219.html
Very interesting response by Israel: https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-loosens-abortion-regulations-response-174738368.html
David Frum's Atlantic article on the similarities between Prohibition and abortion are worth a read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/06/abortion-roe-prolife-movement-prohibition/661402/