#577 - Peace & Life: Afghanistan / Texas - September 3, 2021
Major Development: Afghanistan
How we wish we could accept the idea in the news that the war is over. But from the perspective of Afghanistan, there was war before and there may be war continuing. It’s only the official massive American military presence there that’s well defined as lasting 20 years.
Our hearts ache as we see the chaos of the last two weeks. That was acute and well-covered in the news. But a focus on that alone distorts the full picture: the chronic killing that hasn’t been so well covered by the media is also intolerable. For example, the recent U.S. drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including children, is added to a long list of such strikes.
Much as some pundits argue the evacuation could have been done better, they don’t take this into account: wars don’t lend themselves to being done better. They’re an over-simplified intervention into a complicated situation.
Once violence is considered a problem-solver, the ability to actually solve problems suffers.
Major Development: Texas
We now face a situation we haven’t faced before: the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed an abortion ban to go into effect, as of September 1. The Texas law says after 6 weeks, when the heartbeat has started, anyone can sue anyone involved in an abortion (other than the mother). This is a novel approach. Since enforcement isn’t from government officials, the courts can’t issue their normal injunction against those officials. This will still be litigated and may eventually be knocked down. But in the meantime, it’s in effect.
Our main task now is to counter biased accounts in the mainstream media, social media, and elsewhere, with our specialty of making connections and breaking stereotypes.
One resource is our website The Price of Roe, which offers documentation that achieving many peace and social justice goals has suffered because of Roe, and also that the plaintiffs in Roe and its companion Doe both wanted it overturned.
From Our Member Groups
∞ Tomorrow is the annual conference of Rehumanize International, being held online this year, so if you haven’t yet you need to register quickly.
∞ Feminists Choosing Life of New York is having a hybrid (both in-person and Zoom) book club meeting, November 2, 6:30 to 8:30 Eastern time. The book is The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision by Erika Bachiochi. The event is free, and you can register here.
∞ Democrats for Life offers a recording of a symposium - “Black Lives Matter: A Whole Life Perspective” (one hour and 21 minutes).
Our Latest Blog Post
Our communications and social media intern, Sonja Morin, tells us about an act of civil disobedience on August 27, 2021, in Philadelphia: Intervention: What a Red Rose Rescue Reminds Us About Civil Disobedience in the Consistent Life Movement.
Quotation of the Week
Carol Crossed
The Consistent Bystander, column in Harmony magazine
February, 2001, page 8
The current discussions about “single issue voting” (with an emphasis on protecting the unborn), vs. broad social concerns, miss an important point.
Because of the broad social implications of issues like civil rights and war, I would have been called a single issue voter in the mid ‘60s and in 1992 following the Gulf War. The implications of these “single issues” had fallout on a huge scale of concerns.
Taking the lives of 1.2 million unborn human beings a year can be reason enough to vote “single issue.” But the broader implications of abortion touch on many liberal or socially progressive principles which are critical to our democracy.
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