It isn't easy trying to explain the efforts of Republican state legislatures to outdo each other in cruel "pro-life" legislation they know will be struck down to someone not raised in this godforsaken land. One can say that they are giving a simple answer to a tough question - "human life" begins at "conception," they say, end of story. Biologically ignorant, to say the least! But the posturing, most visible in refusing exceptions for incest and rape but present also in fantasies of little six-week old humans with "heartbeats" being murdered by their mothers, reveals a deeper refusal to recognize moral reality.Human reproduction is a messy business in all the times and ways it happens (and doesn't), often forcing tragic choices. Sexual violence against women is widespread, causing lifelong harm. Women live these complexities and vulnerabilities in ways men never have to. I imagine every woman who has had to contemplate having an abortion has thought about it more deeply - with body, mind and spirit - than any man juggling definitions and Bible quotes. (Remember the real story of the white supremacist Religious Right; their love for the unborn is of recent vintage, though their hatred of women goes way back.)
The laws passed in Georgia and Alabama, with more to come, do not protect life, but protect their supporters from the moral challenges of being human. The struggle against them is the true "pro-life" position.
