CARLTON FLETCHER: A hypocrisy that belies political partisanship

“I had no time to choose what I chose to do, So go easy on me.”

— Adele

I think the abortion issue is an important one, as it involves lives of unborn children. But I certainly don’t feel that I’m qualified to talk about the ultimate right or wrong of the issue. Yes, I’ve heard the extreme pro and con talking points, neither of which I’m inclined to listen to because neither side leaves any room to consider the other side’s argument, but I have not done enough of my own research to make an informed decision.

I do not, though, buy into the “my way or no way” arguments of those extremes.

But I do, even given my limited knowledge, believe I can speak on some of the hypocrisies surrounding the issue. One is the way many women use abortion as birth control. They are so callous as to eschew protection during sex, proclaiming they aren’t worried about pregnancies because they can “just get rid of it.” And, often, these women who have multiple abortions do so at taxpayer expense.

On the other hand are the hypocrites who proclaim each pregnancy involves a “precious life” that should be protected … at least until it’s born. Then the children born into often loveless homes to parents who have neither the capacity nor the desire to give the child a happy home, becomes another “welfare baby” and “drain on society.”

Another hypocrisy that has arisen in the age of COVID concerns individuals who are part of the growing “anti-vaxxer” movement. These are people who, many for political reasons — a show of support for a failed candidate who could not care less if they are struck with the disease, so long as they show him fealty, and a show of defiance against a candidate their leader has assured them is illegitimate (despite gaining 7 million more votes!) — have declared attempts to mandate COVID vaccinations goes against “their rights as Americans.”

I would argue that your “right as an American,” as has frequently been pointed out, ends when it infringes upon the rights of other Americans, in this case the right not to catch a possibly fatal disease because you refuse you wear a mask or get a vaccination that has been proven to ward off or lessen the severity of the disease. But that’s just me.

As is often the case in this time of heightened political partisanship, one thing I’ve noticed about many of the anti-vaxxers I’ve encountered — in person and on social media — is that a lot of them are also members of so-called right to life groups. (Their stances on the two issues are, after all, part of their side of the political spectrum.)

Again, that’s cool on the surface. If a person feels strongly about an issue, he or she has the right to express those feelings. But there’s that hypocrisy thing.

Many of the sign-waving or Facebook-posting zealots who are most outspoken against COVID vaccinations have expressed their outrage with slogans such as “My Body, My Rights” … “No One Can Tell Me What I Can or Can’t Do With My Body” … “Mandatory Vaccinations Are Un-American” … And yet, in different posts, they scream that women should have no right to abort an unborn child, that even if a woman doesn’t want to raise a child, she should carry it to term and then give it up for adoption. Simple as that.

So, the logic goes, if a woman is brutally raped by an unknown person, a vicious gang member or even a deranged relative, she should be forced to have the baby … carry it for nine months, go through the pain of childbirth, live with the constant reminder of the brutal act that led to her pregnancy as her stomach expands — with no recourse. These people argue that “this baby didn’t ask to be born,” but they don’t take into account that this woman didn’t ask to be impregnated.

Plus, it should be noted, that the argument that no one should be allowed to force them to do something with their body that they don’t want (take a shot to ward off a pandemic) rings hollow when they tell women they should be forced to carry unwanted children to term. In other words, my body is sacred … yours, not so much.

Abortion, I believe is an issue of women, and they should be the ones to make decisions about it … not a bunch of old men seeking to impose their will on a process most of them don’t even understand.