The Anti-Abortion Agenda in Full Swing

Two years ago, before the 2004 election, my brother invited me down to Richmond for Thanksgiving. He is committed Republican (largely because he is rich and wants to keep his money) and I am a committed Liberal (I would say Democrat, but I am not loving many Dems right now). Anyway, I tried to steer all conversations away from the election. But, he kept trying to bait me. What he found out in his fishing expedition was that his boss's wife had voted for Kerry. This shocked him since he thought for sure he had me surrounded by Republicans. He took a few steps back, and said "How could you vote for Kerry?" Her answer was simple: "Because I am trying to preserve my right to choose."

I was psyched. Of course I opposed Bush and the wacky evangelicals he was courting. My brother, by the way, is 100% pro-Choice. But, it isn't high on his list of priorities. He also had fooled himself into believing that a woman's right to choose would never really go away. He dismissed Bush's anti-abortion rhetoric as wholly political and believed that, at the end of the day, he wouldn't act on it.

Well, two conservative SCOTUS justice appointments later, a bill banning abortion in South Dakota waiting for the governor's signature, and now a new bill in Mississippi banning all abortions except in the case of the woman's life, it appears that my brother did in fact sell out his sister's rights to protect his cash. Misogyny is in full swing, empowered, and ready to send women packing, back into the neanderthal days of pre-Roe and pre-Second Wave feminism.

Let's stop fooling ourselves people. The move to ban all abortions, even when women have been raped or victims of incest, is just plain misogyny. Stop with the bullshit that it's to protect an innocent life. Anyone who thinks feminism is passe is a lunatic to me at this point.

I have also decided to stop taking seriously anyone who fervently supports George Bush at this point. If you voted for him because you're rich and want to save your money, fine. But, if you are a true believer, the conversation is over.

UPDATE: See Amanda's post today on a Utah law that does not make an exception to parental notification laws in the case of incest. SICK!