The L.A. Times called Mississippi an Abortion Desert. How about a Life Oasis?
During the latest swirl of controversy after our Senate and House last week passed a bill to ban abortions before the 15th week of pregnancy, national media has pummeled us.
We've actually been harangued for being the first state to achieve this pro-life goal.
The L.A. Times likened Mississippi to an "abortion desert."
Does this mean that Mississippi has turned up the heat on such abortion apologists as Planned Parenthood? Do we really mind that?
It's great being the first (for a change) in championing a good cause. (So much more remains to do with respect to other life issues including terrible poverty and often-bad post-natal care, etc.)
And it's not so bad being America's "life oasis."
If Mississippi is a life oasis for unborn babies, we have many to thank for hauling these children some cool water.
Thousands of volunteers and feebly paid workers committed to the pro-life effort.
Courageous leaders in our House and Senate who passed the new Mississippi bill.
Gov. Phil Bryant, who is unabashedly pro-life.
Our pro-life U.S. senators and congressmen.
And the Mississippi Center for Pubic Policy, which helped craft the bill and has defended it and our state in the past few days to a pouncing national press.
Jameson Taylor, Acting President of the Miss. Center for Public Policy, wears the new bill as a badge of honor before media pundits often disguised as "objective reporters." (There is no "objective reporting" any more, and really never was, but that is a topic for another article.)
Indeed, Mississippi is helping lead the nation toward a more humane position, one that offers respite to endangered babies and hope that America will quit acting like a life-threatening communist regime.
Notes Taylor, "The United States is one of only four nations that permit abortion-on-demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Any democracy that values life should not have abortion laws that align with North Korea and China."
States Jameson's MCPP: "The 15-week Abortion Limit bill. ... strikes the right balance for Mississippi by protecting the health of the woman considering abortion and by protecting the life of the unborn. In doing so, this commonsense bill protects women from serious and significant risks and protects the life of the unborn child with a beating heart who can move, hear, taste, see, and feel pain."
Not even an "anti-woman" label long foisted on pro-lifers really sticks any more, given the immense data to the contrary, even from pro-choicers' own lobbies. Consider the following.
According to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood’s own think tank!), the risk of a mother dying from an abortion increases more than 2,100 percent between 8-weeks and 18-weeks of pregnancy. Maternal mortality increases by 38 percent with every week after 8-weeks gestation. That only helps the argument for a 15-week ban.
As well, there is post-abortion depression that women who abort often endure. There is the great success pro-lifers have had in helping women--those who changed their mind about having abortion--to care for their child, achieve a better life than before their child's birth, and maintain a healthy mental and spiritual condition (none of which the major media wants to report). Of course, issues such as rape, incest, and the health of the mother are vital and emotional, and both "sides" must take great care in dealing with both the babies and mothers' rights and needs.
Many on political left say the new Mississippi bill won't withstand court challenges. Others like Taylor say to bring it on.
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BELOW ARE EXCELLENT RECENT STATEMENTS BY TAYLOR
TO THE MEDIA SINCE THE MISSISSIPPI BILL PASSED.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADOPT THEM AS PERSONAL "TALKING POINTS."
ABC News
“'We would welcome the court to clarify the extent to which states can regulate abortions, particularly with regard to maternal health.'
Los Angeles Times
"The legislation would bring Mississippi in line with the majority of countries across the world that limit abortion after the first trimester." "The bill is important because it takes another step in protecting maternal health and advancing the state's interest in protecting pre-born life." "'The question of viability is no longer the preeminent question that the courts look at. The question is, what kind of burden does this regulation place? Does this basically make some kind of rational sense? We believe that the 15-week limit certainly meets that standard because you have 75% of countries around the world that limit abortion after the first trimester." "'Clearly, the court's thinking on this issue is evolving, as it should be. Science is also evolving.'" LifeSiteNews
“Abortion policy in the United States is based on outdated science that the rest of the world rejects."
“Health care professionals around the world recognize that late-term abortions, those performed after the first trimester, are harmful for women and also violate the integrity of the medical profession itself."
“Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Senate deserve our support and prayers for making Mississippi a leading voice in protecting basic human rights and women’s health.”
___________ The Center also offers many other pro-life facts including the following.
HB 1510 will increase the safety of abortions for the mother by limiting elective abortions to 15-weeks. It will also preserve the legality of abortion where it is necessary to preserve the life of the mother.
The medical and scientific consensus around the world is that abortion after the first trimester is an unsafe option that should be limited. 92 percent of countries limit abortion after the first trimester.
Recent national polling (January 2018) indicates the vast majority (76 percent) of voters support commonsense laws regarding abortion, with a limit after the first trimester being one of the preferred options.
THIS COLUMN DOES NOT REPRESENT ANY OFFICIAL POSITION BY MISSISSIPPI MATTERS, RATHER SIMPLY THAT OF THE AUTHOR'S. MM WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS OFFERING OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS ON ANY COMMENTARY INCLUDING THIS TOUGH ISSUE OF ABORTION.