MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. — For Melanie Barker, it wasn’t just the details of the Virginia abortion bill that unnerved her, it was also how it was covered by the national press that poured ice in her veins.
“I am surprised, because I feel like it’s so detached, and there is no heart in it. And when you look at the general population’s sentiments on third trimester abortions, the press’s depiction of the procedure came across as though people who were distressed by it were the ones who were odd,” the 43-year-old Michigan nursery school teacher said.
Set aside for just a moment the second scandal Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam faced last week when the racist photo from his yearbook page emerged, and turn instead to his dispassionate response to a question regarding his viewpoint of a new abortion bill. The measure would allow an abortion to occur even when a woman begins labor.
Northam explained a scenario of a female in labor with an infant — yes, he said “infant,” — that may have deformities and may or may not be viable. Northam said, under the new bill, the baby would be kept comfortable after being delivered, then the family would decide whether or not it would be resuscitated or cared for by the hospital.
It was a description that brought Barker to her knees.
“I have had a lot of experience with choice in my life,” said Barker, explaining that both of her children were born prematurely and that her husband, who was adopted, was also born prematurely.
Barker paused and said, “My niece, she just died, but she was born with Trisomy 18,” a rare chromosomal disorder that occurs in about 1 in 2,500 pregnancies.
“My brother and sister-in-law decided to have her. She lived for eight months, They kept telling her that she wasn’t going to survive, that she would never make it past delivery. They had her, and she did. She lived for eight months, and she was wonderful. She changed all of our lives. I mean, she was worth something. Those months were worth something,” Barker said.
“They’re supposed to be here for a reason. There is something. For us just to guess that, for doctors or legislatures or anybody to tell us, ‘Not viable. Don’t waste your time with it.’ Well, that’s not life. That’s not how you’re supposed to experience life. That’s not what God teaches us, either. The things that are dealt to us, we’re just supposed to handle it the best way we can. Just love, and that’s all we can really do,” she explained.
Northam’s description also caused local and national Democrats across the country to run for cover. Why? Simply put, they did not want to address the issue. Calls to Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania or Joe Manchin of West Virginia on the issue were declined.
Maybe they did not want to be the Democrat to say, “I am for,” or, “I oppose,” this type of legislation. Maybe they think this is a rhetorical tool for conservatives to bash Democrats over the head with, or maybe they know that the law that just passed in New York and that was proposed in Virginia expanding abortion access all the way up to birth is going to be popping up in blue states all across the country this year.
And maybe they fear Roe v Wade is going to be upended because of Trump’s reshaping of the Supreme Court.
They should just take a stand. The majority of voters, including pro-choice voters, would have their back on this: In the most recent Gallup survey on late-term abortions, only 28 percent favor legal abortion in the second trimester — a number which plummets to 13 percent for the final three months.
So, dancing around the support of at-the-moment-of-birth abortions, even if the child is deformed, is not going to sit well with independent suburban men and women who either sat out last year’s midterm elections or voted Democrat because of their distaste for President Trump.
These skittish voters are not die-hard Democrats, and this is the kind of cultural issue which could persuade them back to the Republicans in 2020.
All Republicans have to do in 2020 is to get the populists in their party to vote their cause and the conservatives in their party to vote their values. This is one issue both could pull together over.
It also is a question every reporter worth their salt should put to every candidate running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 or running for office — is this the type of legislation or bill you would support? Where do you stand on the new legislation in New York and how did you view Gov. Cuomo’s decision to light up the Freedom Tower in New York after signing the bill?
It is an answer they have to give directly and let the people decide if this is the direction they want the country to go.
