#621 - Peace & Life: Events & Books & Natural Experiments - July 22, 2022
So Many Webinars
The end of Roe brought an outburst of many thoughtful webinars about what it all means. We’re particularly pleased with one that had around 2,500 people registered that focused explicitly on the consistent life ethic, done by Georgetown University.
Top, from left to right: Bishop Daniel Flores, Kim Daniels, Erika Bachiochi
Bottom, from left to right: Kathleen Domingo, Justin Giboney, Mollie Wilson O’Reilly
Wild Goose Festival
Our annual trek to the Wild Goose Festival went well as usual this year, with much interest and good discussion.
Unusual this year: because of Dobbs, organizers had a bit of trepidation about having us there. Patrick O’Neill covered us (with other controversies) in Abortion Ruling Cramps Welcoming Spirit at Wild Goose Festival.
Updates on Referendums: State Constitutions & Abortion
The Pennsylvania legislature just voted on a no right to abortion amendment, while the New York legislature voted on a confirming right to abortion amendment. For both, they must do it again in the next session to get it on the ballot. Also for future years, South Dakota, which has a trigger ban, has a petition registered for a right-to-abortion amendment. Fortunately, this year SD will be voting on raising the state’s minimum wage. We include this under alleviating poverty in our website Peace and Life Referendums.
Book Now Out!
Rehumanize: A Vision to Secure Human Rights for All, by Aimee Murphy of our member group Rehumanize International.
There will be a Zoom Book Launch Event on August 9, 2022.
Aimee’s spending August 22-December 14 on a book tour.
Symposium
Our member group Democrats for Life is holding a Post-Roe Symposium on Thursday, August 4, 2022. See here for registration. They say, “You will learn about medical myths and facts surrounding the abortion limitation laws, the possibility of a child care tax credit, and the exciting opportunities in the states! In addition to sharing our legislative plans for the state and federal levels, we are proud to announce that we will present our Whole Life Leadership Award to Rep. Treneé McGee [pictured] for her fearless leadership in Connecticut.”
Our Latest Blog Post
Rachel MacNair, with her professional interest in social psychological research, reflects on Post-Roe Stats: the Natural Experiment. A “natural experiment” means things are already set up like an experiment and we only have to collect the data. Since we’re about to have a grand experiment with some U.S. states banning abortion and others promoting it, we can build on past research with a clearer comparison.
On women’s deaths and maternal mortality, poverty, child abuse, and crime, she lays out reasoning for predictions that they may go down.
A case in the news especially illustrates the dynamic for one form of child abuse: sexual abuse. There’s been an uproar over the ten-year-old child impregnated through rape who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion. Don’t let this fact slip by you: the rapist was caught.
In contrast to cases where the rapist took the victim to the nearby abortion facility, the cover-up wasn’t so easy. Perhaps the publicity will help communicate to other potential abusers that cover-ups in some states aren’t as easy as they once were.
Quotation of the Week
Aimee Murphy
The exclusionary ethics of both hawkish Republicans and pro-choice Democrats results in discrimination . . . but all human beings have human rights. No exceptions. Indeed, there aren’t “born rights” or “white rights” or “rich rights” – they are human rights.