Joe Henderson: Abortion leak means party of freedom wins another restriction

The debate rages on.

I suppose we knew what would happen to Roe v. Wade after Republicans stacked the U.S. Supreme Court with justices like Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. It was just a matter of when.

Thanks to a bombshell story from POLITICO, we have a pretty good idea that D-Day will come by the end of June or early July. The website published a leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. It flatly stated “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and added, “it must be overturned.”

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the document.

The opinion, supported by four other justices, is enough to overturn nearly a half-century of what Kavanaugh described in his confirmation hearings “settled as precedent.”

That will further empower lawmakers in Florida and other red states to outlaw abortion. Desperate women — and let’s not forget teenagers —will die because of this. They’ll opt for some dangerous back-alley remedy.

Or we’ll have terrified women unprepared for the responsibility of parenthood. To the pro-birth (not pro-life) supporters of this decision, that won’t matter.

What we see here is Republican-backed social engineering. Do it their way, or don’t do it at all. The party stands for freedom — as long it’s their brand of freedom. That became clear during the recent Legislative Session. Florida Republicans pushed through a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Sen. Kelli Stargel of Lakeland sponsored the bill, which makes no exception for rape, human trafficking, or incest.

I wish Florida lawmakers cared as much about disadvantaged children after they’re born. Right now, though, they’re too busy telling everyone how to live.

I know women who have had abortions, and it’s a deeply personal and painful decision. Men, particularly, can’t understand what that is like. They didn’t terminate the pregnancy because having a baby would be inconvenient. Instead, they were up against an impossible choice.

Soon, they will have no choice. Conservative judges will have made it for them.

And many people who recoiled against mask and vaccine mandates during a pandemic will cheer. Those things saved lives too, but whatever.

I suppose it’s a matter of whose body you’re controlling, right guys?

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court apparently is about to turn control of women’s bodies over to Republican-dominated lawmakers who believe they know best.

Yes, this case won’t be “settled as precedent” until the opinion is published in two months or so. But does anyone believe anything will change?

Dupes like Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine expressed horror that she got played by Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.

“If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office,” Collins said in a statement. “Obviously, we won’t know each Justice’s decision and reasoning until the Supreme Court officially announces its opinion in this case.”

Oh, my goodness!

Try explaining that to all the women in your state.

Or, closer to home, explain to Florida women how they will care for a child when they can barely care for themselves. Try not to smugly smile when you do.