The abortion issue won't go away, as so many politicians wish it would.
It persists because the discussion and debate are about our very existence. What is life?
The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which has defined the abortion landscape in the United States since 1973. That landscape defined a right to abortion protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Dobbs reversed this, concluding that the Constitution contains no such right, directing that the issue be "returned back to the people and their elected representatives." In the wake of this, each state has taken initiative to define their own abortion regime.
But can that really work?
It didn't work in the first great issue that tore apart our nation: slavery. Are all men equal in the eyes of God? If yes, then aren't all equal in the eyes of our government? Slavery accepted the inferiority of some. We ultimately fought and rejected the premise that equality of all in the eyes of our Creator could be different from state to state.
And so is the case with abortion.
Our Declaration of Independence states that we give the government responsibility to protect our God-given right to life.
How can this understanding be different from state to state? Understanding of life and its nature and sanctity defines the core fabric of our country. It is a national value.
We're now dealing with this issue in an abortion-inducing drug called mifepristone.
When the drug first became available there was a requirement that it only be dispensed in a personal visit to a physician.
This was relaxed temporarily in 2021 under COVID-19 and then made permanent in 2023 during the Biden administration.
But can we really allow anyone to go online and order a drug that destroys an unborn child, no different than going online to order a book or a pair of shoes?
We need a doctor to prescribe something as basic as an antibiotic.
Given the current reality in the country in which some states ban abortion and some states permit it, how do we deal with those living in a state in which abortion is illegal ordering mifepristone online from a provider in a state where abortion is legal?
Stories now abound regarding women's integrity being undermined by those wanting her to abort against her wishes, e.g., a boyfriend wanting his girlfriend to abort against her wishes who furtively slips her the drug.
There are also wide-ranging opinions about how safe the drug is.
The state of Louisiana sued the FDA last year, claiming legal availability of mifepristone through the mail undermined the abortion ban in their state. Last week Louisiana achieved a ruling in its favor in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Now the manufacturers of the drug have petitioned the Supreme Court challenging the circuit court decision and Justice Samuel Alito has put a temporary hold on it while the Court considers the request. The technical issues of why the ban on dispensing the drug online, without a doctor visit, should be upheld -- undermining bans on abortion in various states, exposure of women to someone surreptitiously causing her to take the drug against her wishes, safety of the drug -- are all relevant.
But most relevant is the most core issue of what sanctity of life means to our nation.
The social problems that abound in our nation today reflect the culture of Roe v Wade, which put choice of life on a plane with planning one's next vacation.
Sex without love. Relationships without commitment. Childbearing without marriage. Bringing children without responsibility for them.
We now have an aging nation with marriage, family and children disappearing.
In other words, as the sanctity of life has been comprised, our future has been compromised.
Our present and our future are what is at stake. Nothing less.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, "What Is the CURE for America?" is available now.
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