The Strangling of Church on State: Christianity’s Imagined Claim on Morality.
As we witness what appears to be nothing less than a tidal wave of red states enacting abortion bans across the country, they all share a single justification: the moral obligation to the unborn. But make no mistake, this veil of “morality” once lifted, is a half-ass vulgar attempt in cementing Christianity’s continued influence in our State’s laws. America’s earliest settlers sought a new land free from religious persecution. Now in contemporary times, American women’s reproductive rights seek to be unshackled from the 415 year constraints of Christianity. But these restraints are reinforced with the steel fanaticism of today’s conservative legislators and politicians. Their (current) constitutional right to choose is under siege from this fanaticism, thinly veiled under the prerogative of seeking to protect the unborn. Christianity’s invasive roots in perceived morals is no accident, but sprouts from historic precedent aimed at obstructing the founding father’s mission to create a true separation of church and state.
At the beginning of the first American settlement in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, Christianity still formed much of the basis for our nations’ cultural laws. Abortion access was nonexistent, Christianity was the religion of all settlement’s leaders and elected officials, and gay men and women hid their sexuality as homosexuality was outlawed and punishable by death. This religion, while practiced without prejudice by some, has served as the basis for justifying slavery, the Jim Crow laws of separate but “equal”, denial of the right to vote, and was heralded by history’s legislators who opposed measures such as the 14th amendment. Fast forward to today, we now set our eyes on the horizon of this upcoming Summer, when the justices of our nation’s highest court have signaled their commitment to overturn the landmark case Roe v. Wade. This pivotal 1973 case has served as the steward, the ultimate guardian of a woman’s constitutional right to choose. She has shielded endless attempts to break her defense of women’s reproductive rights, and soon it’s predicted the Supreme Court will elect to replace her shield with a cross. No landmark case in American history is destined to a more perverse act of violation. The goddess Justicia is weeping.
Now what we can predict with an almost degree of certainty is that Alito’s decision will cloak the underbelly of conservatives fervor for Christian-induced abortion “rights” under the guise of the 10th amendment. The enumerated powers amendment has historically curtailed the federal government’s power and reserved certain rights to the state governments. However, this is a farce - and not a well concealed one. Its lack of clandestine intent is clumsy and lacking, as the conservative majority’s opinion is insultingly transparent. This is shown in each of the conservative justice’s devotion to a shared religion: Christianity. In the later years of Trump’s presidency, there was a rare occurrence when a single-term president had the opportunity to place a staggering three justices on the high court. Each one a devoted member of the Christian faith, and each one in their confirmation hearing before our federal legislature pledged their view on Roe v. Wade as settled law. But these perjurious declarations were mere pretext, a concealment as to their true objective: to overturn this nation’s landmark decision that replaced the coat hangers held in women’s hands across the country with safe, medically-specialized healthcare. The enumerated powers amendment is simply this nation’s conservative politician’s trojan horse, and we are cast as the Trojans. Despite a 80% national support for a woman’s right to choose, Alito and the conservative majority somehow failed to grasp the true extent of the trojan population.
The overturn of Roe v. Wade is expected to be released sometime in late June or early July, with the trigger of multiple conservative state abortion bans whose governors and state legislatures are overwhelmingly subscribed to the Christian faith. References within these “trigger bans” allude to the “preciousness of life” and “sanctity of birth”. Shame that none of these elected representatives chose to refer to their female constituents’ right to bodily autonomy, a long preserved right in constitutional precedent.
While subject to individual perspective, the progression of time has traditionally resulted in the evolution of cultural ideals and expansion of individual rights. However, as we approach the quartennial mark of the 21st century the rights of a woman’s bodily autonomy is set to take a half-century leap backwards. This signifies a dark retreat into the shadows, as a woman’s right to choose represented the pinnacle of autonomy. As the pre-overturn of Roe v. Wade gasps for its last breath, the constitution’s most trusted stewards rip this constitutional precedent and deprive the right of bodily autonomy instead of protect it. Soon millions of women in conservative constituencies will read and hear how a cloaked agenda for their bodies will determine their right to choose. Someone get Lady Liberty to an operating room, her wounds are growing more profuse by the week.
“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” - The late, great, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
