#459 Arms Treaty & Kansas Abortion, Eugenic Apology - May 3, 2019
When “Sovereignty” Means Brutality In front of a cheering crowd at the National Rifle Association, President Trump announced the U.S. is withdrawing from the U.N. arms trade treaty: “we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone. We will never allow foreign bureaucrats to trample on your second amendment freedom.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Kansas declared in Hodes v. Schmidt that the Kansas state constitution requires abortion on demand. Quoting from the majority opinion: “The dissent mentions pregnant women only when discussing the graphic details of the D & E and other medical procedures. By avoiding any other aspect of the lives of pregnant women, the dissent appears to maintain that upon becoming pregnant, women relinquish virtually all rights of personal sovereignty in favor of the Legislature's determination of what is in the common good.” These decisions both share that asserting “sovereignty” means to ignore the gore. They also share a markedly limited idea of what “sovereignty” means. Those “foreign bureaucrats” know about innocent victims in other countries better than companies who profit by selling arms do. And the “legislature’s determination” of abortion policy is where women who’ve had abortions can go to get redress of their grievances. The court has now blocked that basic right for those women.
Making Amends to Eugenics’ Victims Survivors of forcible sterilization under Japan’s Eugenic Protection Law (1948-1996) have finally received an apology and cash compensation from the Japanese government. The 1948 Eugenic Protection Law legalized both forced sterilization and abortion in Japan, with politicians using discriminatory eugenicist arguments to justify the law. An estimated 60,000 women were also subjected to forced abortions on eugenicist grounds. That the injustice of the law has now been partly recognized is a positive step.
Jizo statues in Japan mourning children who were aborted.
Peace Vigil against Drones Next Week CLN will join our member group Pax Christ Metro DC-Baltimore, as well as Langley Hill Friends and others, for their latest monthly peace vigil outside the White House to protest the US government’s ongoing practice of killing by drones. The next vigil will be from 10 to 11:30 am on Saturday, May 11th. All are welcome. For more information, contact Bob More at rmore.paxchristi@gmail.com or Jack McHale at jjmchale@verizon.net.
New Life Matters Journal Edition Out
Member Rehumanize International has just published the latest edition of their magazine Life Matters Journal. This edition focuses on legal systems and imprisonment, especially how to build a humane criminal justice system that protects communities and helps victims while recognizing the humanity of offenders. An account from a former prisoner, a debate on prison reform, and an application of restorative justice to the abortion debate are among this edition’s articles.
Unplanned CLN supporter Marilyn Kopp had an excellent review published in the Washington Examiner: You Really Need to See Unplanned.
Latest CLN Blog Post: Abby Johnson on Daniel Berrigan April 30 was the third anniversary of the death of Daniel Berrigan. So we published a memory of Dan that Abby Johnson wrote, relating him to her own life story as a former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life activist, in Abby Johnson Remembers Dan Berrigan.
Quotation of the Week Sahih International translation of Qur’an 4:29 Ramadan this year runs from sundown May 5 to sundown June 4. O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only in lawful business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.
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