The South is Rising Again

Coming out of the Circus Friday afternoon my eyes fell upon the belt-buckle of a teenager sporting a cowboy hat. In triumphant lettering it announced to the world that "the South will rise again!" I had to swallow hard to resist the urge to prove him wrong right then and there. I chalked it up to the ignorance of youth. Little did I know how quickly his prophecy would come true.

Today South Dakota voted into law sweeping anti-choice legislation that codifies the belief that "life begins at fertilization" and makes abortion a criminal offense if performed or received for any reason other than that delivery would threaten the mother's life (how hard is that going to be to prove?).

Now, I can appreciate the belief that life begins at conception. Although I disagree (a fetus may have the utmost potential for life, but one is hard pressed to make the case that it is a thriving, independent, sentient human being in and of itself at that point in its development), you've got to respect the desire to honor the sanctity of life. I stand in solidarity with efforts made to emphasize the many alternatives to abortion and respect efforts to convince women not to abort. I am even more encouraged by efforts to alleviate the socio-economic realities that make abortion recourse for so many in the first place. I too long for the day that abortions are unnecessary and no more. However, when it comes to writing those spiritual longings public policy, I cringe.

I cringe because the thought takes me back to a not so distant enough past. Abortion as a spiritual or moral concern is noble. Nevertheless, to pursue an anti- or no-choice public policy is to pursue a public policy of slavery. That's right, I said "slavery"… and not just for effect. I think many of us misunderstand what made slavery a political concern, i.e. requiring a public policy resolution.

Slavery became a political concern not because some people had spiritual or moral objections to it. Don't get me wrong. As a descendent of slaves I definitely appreciate those objections, but people had since the founding of this nation argued their spiritual, scriptural and moral convictions for and against slavery. Moral objection in terms of public discourse was a moot point. That's what made this country unique. People had the right to debate and protest issues. Such social activism was protected as freedom of speech and religion. And the ideal of the separation of church and state meant that no one group would ever be able to institute a law to limit the rights of another based solely upon their religious convictions. Slavery was a grave concern no doubt, but not just a moral one.

Slavery was a public policy concern because America as a system of laws could not long exist unreconciled between a declaration of birth that pronounce "all men [humanity]… created equal" and a constitutional birthright that ascribe some men 3/5 recognition in some instances and no recognition in others. It was the same regarding women's suffrage. These were the issues that could be resolved within the parameters of politics. Slaves and women were a part of the totality of humanity to whom Thomas Jefferson was appealing and must have recognition as such. The peculiar institution (peculiar for this very reason, for the first time in the history of "slavery" slaves were considered sub-human, property) and Anglo gender norms sought to recognize the full, unequivocal, independent, self-determining humanity of some and not of others. Such a public policy was unsustainable for a variety of reasons; thus, demanded political redress.

Now with a majority "vote of conscience" the S Dakota legislature has re-enacted the same failed, unjust public policy, seeking to protect the rights of the unborn who are not yet thriving, independent, self-determining individuals, while willfully abridging the freedom of self-determination for women who are indisputably vital, independent, sentient individuals. That's slavery. I understand the heart, but must take exception to the actions.

What's next? Telling people when and where they can protest… political denial of basic human dignities (food, shelter, clothing, education, work and healthcare)... government sanctioned corporate maltreatment of individuals... forced "stop-lost" conscription... waging unjust wars on half the earth... gobal economic colonialism...

The South is rising.