Anti-abortion demonstration. Oct 19^th

On Sunday, Oct. 11 the Parkway along the bay in Traverse City was lined shoulder to shoulder with people holding signs. These were anti-abortion activists being active. The signs variously claimed that abortion was murder and other similar phrases we’ve come to expect from activists. To their credit I saw no colorful pictures of partially dismembered fetuses among the signs. Doing what these folks did was certainly their right and as far as I know no driver who disagreed with their position tried to interfere with their protest.

I really don’t know the political position of these people but I doubt if many of them are Democrats. It is fairly typical of conservatives to “oppose” and that’s just what was happening here. If a woman does not want a child she can either take action to prevent a pregnancy or take action to end one. Not one sign along that parkway, and there must have been hundreds of sign carriers, suggested the regular use of contraceptives as an alternative to abortion. Of course some forms of contraception are believed to produce abortions because they prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, but other contraceptive methods have no such action. Better to rail against abortion than to even suggest the use of condoms What a curious position. (Thanks to the Comstock Laws American troops in WW 1 were the only troops not issued condoms.)

There are other curiosities here as well: Why was there not a single sign advocating for prenatal health care for the prospective mother. These folks care deeply that the fetus not be aborted but its health and the health of the mother seem to have a very low priority. Of course prenatal health care could be expensive, perhaps leading to an increase in taxes, and we all know that is not acceptable in conservative circles.

If the child is born with severe health problems and the family qualifies for Medicaid they will get government help with their medical bills. If they aren’t eligible for Medicaid their savings will be exhausted very quickly. The treatment and care of a baby with severe spina bifida can bankrupt a middle class family in a few months. The expenses will, of course, continue even if the family has filed for bankruptcy. Why not a push for government provided child healthcare until age five? No freeway placards recommend that.

Are these placard holders opposed to all abortions? What about tubal pregnancies? Here the ovum travels partway down a fallopian tube and implants there instead of continuing to the uterus. Surgery is required to save the mother’s life; is that a prohibited abortion?  There are a number of other situations where knee jerk responses to this issue are simply irresponsible.