#483 Dems, Ranked-Choice Voting October 18, 2019
Democrats Debate Again Neither capital punishment nor euthanasia came up in the October 15 debate; as usual, many thoughts on combating poverty and racism were offered. Unlike previous debates, the huge catastrophic war in Yemen did get mentioned (twice) as something which needs to be ended. While thoughts on war varied, an underlying current was the understanding that a war means horrific violence and that competence in the job of president includes trying to avoid wars. On abortion, however, candidates remain clueless. The euphemisms of “reproductive rights” and “freedom” and “codifying Roe v. Wade” prevailed, totally oblivious to the little human corpses that abortion always generates through horrific violence. They were also oblivious to the ways abortion availability actually empowers abusive men and otherwise takes away true choice. We cover examples in these blog posts: The Myth of Sexual Autonomy by Julianne Wiley When “Choice” Itself Hurts the Quality of Life by Richard Stith How Abortion is Useful for Rape Culture by Rachel MacNair Abortion and Violence against Pregnant Women by Martha Shuping, M.D. The Wages of War, Part 1: How Abortion Came to Japan by John Whitehead Wars Cause Abortion by Rachel MacNair Gendercide: Millions of “Missing” (Dead) Women For another resource to counter these euphemisms, see our website, The Price of Roe. Here, we go into length about how the damage Roe has done goes beyond abortion itself. For example, it has hurt progressive causes at election time and resulted in the missed change of stopping discrimination against females; the women who were plaintiffs in the Roe and Doe cases felt unheard.
Wendi Enright, New York State Coordinator of member group
Democrats for Life, gives a pre-debate interview October 14, 2019
Video: Different Understandings Work Together
Member group Democrats for Life of America held their national conference this past summer, and CLN President John Whitehead spoke there. The theme of John’s talk, “The Meaning of ‘Pro-Life for the Whole Life,’” was different understandings of the consistent life ethic and how people with these different understandings can still work together. The talk is now on YouTube.
Latest CLN Blog Post: Ranked-Choice Voting Only two options? Voters are expected to pick the least objectionable of just two, but there are plenty of people whose views don’t fit this two-party binary. This is especially true of consistent-lifers. Rachel MacNair offers How Consistent Life Advocacy Would Benefit from Ranked-Choice Voting.
Quotation of the Week
Mark Charles, independent U.S. presidential candidate Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, 2019, pp. 93-94 Discussing the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1866 The Amendment starts with the inclusive language “all persons” . . . However, Section 2 . . . is not nearly as inclusive . . . Indigenous peoples were still explicitly excluded. Women were again left out . . . Women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920 . . . The entirety of the Native community didn’t become citizens until 1924, and in some states like Arizona and New Mexico, didn’t get the right to vote until 1948. Jim Crow laws were still written . . . [and there was still] lynching, Indian removal, internment camps, segregation, and mass incarceration of people of color . . . And in 1973 the Fourteenth Amendment was used in Roe v. Wade, which concluded unborn babies are not human enough to be considered a person by the Constitution and therefore could be aborted. . . . there is the persistent practice of marginalization and dehumanization.
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