California Moving Rapidly Toward Abortion on Demand: Rest of Country Toward Gilead

Nothing more thoroughly disproves the "constant progress" theory of history than the 40-year war on the human rights of female human beings.

Digby :

This piece by Irin Carmen about the new California law allowing non-doctor medical professionals to perform abortions ins a must read. This legislation was based upon real science and a genuine belief that the right to control your reproduction is fundamental and should be available to women who need to end unwanted or unhealthy pregnancies.

Unfortunately, that story of rationality and progress on this issue is all too rare:

This is going the wrong way in most of the country. Even as gay rights have become accepted at warp speed by historical standards, women's fundamental rights have been eroded in equal measure.

I hate to be a grudge about this, but I have to blame Democrats, including Democratic women, for being all too willing to accommodate the right's onslaught and allow their propaganda to flourish. The mere fact that we are simultaneously fighting over birth control should prove that this is not about squeamishness over abortion. And the people who continue to advise us that the best strategy is to enthusiastically support "pro-choice" politicians who insist that the goal of "zero abortions" is desirable and attainable if only we provide enough birth control and economic support are affirmatively helping them. Too many people only hear the "zero abortions" part and come away with the belief that members of both parties believe that abortion is so bad that we must try to eliminate it.

It would be nice to think that the old saw of "as California goes, so goes the nation" still applies.  But it's a very heavy task trying to reverse the momentum on this issue. It's going at full speed in the other direction.

 SNIP

Now that it's been brought to their attention that it's ok to think abortion after 20 weeks is wrong, (and that some of the avatars of the pro-choice movement are on board) why shouldn't most people think the 20 week cut-off is perfectly fine?

And when the anti-abortion zealots move the goalposts again, I'm sure there will be many Democrats telling us that we can't draw any lines in the sand because people are uncomfortable with abortion. And over time, step by step,  their dream will be realized: we'll have "zero" abortions.

Or, I should say, "zero legal abortions." 

 Abortion on Demand. Free of charge, no questions asked, safe and legal on every street corner. Anything else is a violation of human rights.