It’s not about abortion.
Amendment 4 that will be on the November ballot in Florida would restore abortion rights to where they were under Roe. That would kill the state’s current six-week abortion law which allows unrestricted abortion only during a time many, if not most, women don’t know they are pregnant.
If the amendment passes, you can count on the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature enacting enabling legislation to limit abortion as much as possible, such as defining viability not in the generally accepted 24-weeks but in a much shorter time.
A court fight is probably in Florida’s future.
The amendment probably will pass despite Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration distorting what it would actually do.
But to my mind, the issue really isn’t about abortion. It’s about whether a government, whether federal or state, should have the power to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her reproductive system.
With the six-week abortion ban, Florida and states with similar laws have entered the world of totalitarian regimes which control the private lives of their citizens.
Another way to look at it, is that they have turned the clock back to pre-Roe days when desperate women would have abortions performed by unqualified people, often having serious health impacts and even ending in death.
Do we really want to go back to those days?
A woman's right to control her reproductive system, like any right, has its limits. Neither the First nor the Second Amendments are unrestricted. Libel and slander laws, laws limiting demonstrations and even some limits on religion are recognized in our laws. And try owning a .50-caliber machine gun without a permit.
But like any right, abortion laws should be the minimum necessary to protect society, and the individuals in it, from abuse.
For instance, opponents to Amendment 4 like to argue that it allows unrestricted late term abortions, such as in the eighth or ninth month.
It would not.
What it does do is allow a woman and her doctor to protect her life and health, or in the case of a fetus having a fatal flaw, such as no brain, it ends the pregnancy. Ask yourself this: Would a woman who has carried her baby for all that time suddenly decide to have an abortion just because? And would a doctor perform such an abortion?
There is one case that I know of where a doctor would. He is no longer practicing medicine.
I think we need to keep the government out of the bedroom and out of the doctor’s office.
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