Mainly related to the demise of Roe vs. Wade – A mysterious hiking death – Evening statistics
Biden has signed an executive order to try to protect access to abortion and has, moreover, condemned the Supreme Court decision of June 24th in an impassioned speech. I am bound to say that his fervor on this point is a great deal more rational than the emotional intensity he invested in transgenderism. I can only hope that his advocacy for abortion rights will not be tainted by association with the latter. That vigorous measures are required, there can be no doubt. More than a dozen states now have strict limits or ban abortion entirely, and a dozen more states are poised to enact similar restrictions. Soon women in half of the states in the country will be required to travel great distances to terminate a pregnancy, even if the pregnancy endangers her life or has come about as a consequence of rape.
Incidentally, if religious laws are invoked in support of the new measures, it may be observed in passing that Jewish religious practice states explicitly that when a mother’s life is endangered by a pregnancy, the mother’s life takes precedence over that of the unborn child. It will be a curious development, but by no means an impossible one, if some future court case ensues in which an Orthodox Jewish couple, denied an abortion when the mother is dangerously ill, becomes a plaintiff versus one of the states for violating their religious rights.
I have always felt a kind of grudging admiration for AOC, despite her extreme left-wing views, on account of her “don’t tread on me” attitude; and this sentiment has been reinforced by her comments upon an incident in which Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh abruptly quitted a DC steakhouse on Wednesday night amid pro-abortion protests outside – he having, of course, consistently been determined to overturn the Roe vs. Wade ruling ever since his nomination to the position four years ago. “Poor guy. He left before his soufflé because he decided half the country should risk death if they have an ectopic pregnancy within the wrong state lines,” she wrote on Twitter. “It’s all very unfair to him. The least they could do is let him eat cake.”
Whatever may be said about the Republicans, at least they understand what their candidates’ stances are. The same cannot be said of Democrats, at any rate those in Alabama. In June, Yolanda Flowers defeated state Senator Malika Sanders-Fortier to lead the Democratic ticket. She is now set to run against Governor Kay Ivey, who does not appear overly concerned. After reading some of Flowers’ tweets, it is easy to see why. (As an aside, how is it that Twitter has become a major political tool?) “Roe v. Wade: Pro-life/Whole-life, what’s the difference? Pro-choice/Real-choice, what’s the difference? Our choice/God’s choice, what’s the difference? #Deuteronomy3019 #AlabamaHealth #VoteBlueIn2022 #Yolandaforgov” The Biblical verse that she cites runs as follows: ““I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”
That’s right: the Alabama Democrats, quite unwittingly, have nominated a determined anti-abortionist. No matter who wins Alabama’s gubernatorial election, Alabaman women are out of luck.
On a different note: because I do so much hiking, reports of hiking accidents tend to arrest my attention – such as the one about Brad Utegaar, a 27-year old hiker whose body was found today in the White Sands desert of New Mexico. White Sands has seen several fatalities, since its trails are subject to extreme temperatures and are completely devoid of shade and water. But Utegaar’s backpack was well-equipped with both water and food. There was no evidence of foul play. The Alkali Flats Trail is only five miles in length. It is, however, easy to go astray on the sand dunes; his body was found two miles from the trail itself. It sounds like an episode similar to that of Geraldine Largay, the hiker on the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Maine, when she went some yards from the trail to relieve herself and then was unable to find her way back to it.
Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 559,521,942; # of deaths worldwide: 6,371,118; # of cases U.S.: 90,233,460; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,045,609.