Indiana

The A-Word

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

One subject I rarely blog or talk about on the air is abortion.  I find these discussions usually to be counter-productive and all it does is inflame both sides of the issue and resolves nothing.

However, with recent marking of the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though I argue the more relevant legal authority is Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvannia v. Casey, I have reflected more on the subject as of late.

My thoughts have always been would turning the abortion issue back over to the states really solve anything?  A couple years ago The Atlantic did an analysis of  state abortion laws and found that if the issue was turned back over to the states no woman would ever be more than a half-day drive, at best, from being from a state where the procedure was legal.

And for that matter would making abortion illegal altogether really make it go away?  We have tons of laws, making tons of things illegal, but our prison population continues to grow.

And speaking of prison, if abortion were made illegal, who goes to jail? The woman?  The doctor?  The doctor’s assistant?  The person who drove her to the clinic? Lots of questions.  I personally think the best way to deal with this issue is not through a change of law, but a change of heart.

By making sure women and men (I only know of one pregnancy that reportedly occurred without a man’s help) have access to birth control and information about preventive pregnancy measures, making adoption easier, foster care more workable and going after men who won’t pay child support, would probably go a long way to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and making the abortion less of an issue.

Just a thought.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on January 24, 2009 (boomark / email).