July 2020 – Bobbie R. Byrd

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(AUTHOR NOTE: Originally written in 2017)

The first shot fired in America’s longest Civil War drew first blood Jan. 22, 1973. That’s the date on which the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision on Roe vs. Wade and its companion suit Doe vs. Bolton. The Civil War over abortion was born, and it has raged ever since.

The most recent battlefronts opened in the Texas Legislature and the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. The Lone Star State’s Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, introduced House Bill 948 which would see women and providers charged criminally for participating in an abortion procedure. A second battlefield formed Jan. 12, 2017, in the House of Representatives when Rep. Steve A. King, R-Iowa, introduced H.R. 490, the Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017. This proposed legislation would extend legal protection under the law to unborn children upon the medical detection of a beating heart.

Forty-four years, this war has raged. It rears its divisive, ugly head anew every four years when a presidential election rolls around. Skirmishes pop up here and there during states’ gubernatorial elections and local legislative races.

Forty-four years and we still haven’t come together over a peace agreement. We’ve drawn blood, some are permanently wounded, and we suffer renewed casualties with every national election. Forty-four years and We the People are still fighting a war that should have ended long ago.

The resolution of the Civil War over abortion lies in a simple concept: personal responsibility. It is a concept that has become more and more elusive in our national culture. It is the cultural norm that We the People must rediscover and cultivate anew if we are to allow this Civil War to end finally.

Simply put, abortion as a method of birth prevention, needs to end. If there is a medical necessity for the procedure, such as the mother’s health (physical or mental), the woman and her doctor should make the decision. If the motivation for the performance of an abortion is nothing more than a form of post-coital birth control, then the procedure should not be an option.

This is where personal responsibility comes into play. There are multiple treatments available to women that will prevent conception or implantation of products of conception into the uterus. There are numerous avenues of treatment available to men that will prevent their sperm from coming into contact with an egg. (Basic biology teaches us that conception does not take place if sperm do not come into contact with eggs.)

Economics tells us that products to prevent pregnancy, many available without a prescription, are far less costly than an abortion procedure. Nonsurgical methods that prevent egg and sperm from coming into contact with each other, or prevent the products of cell division from implanting in the uterus (resulting in pregnancy) are far less costly to insurance companies than an abortion procedure.

Women are at far less risk for catastrophic side-effects from noninvasive methods of birth control. But women must take responsibility for their bodies by actually taking the pills or getting the implants or practicing self-control when the risk of pregnancy is high.

Ignorance of the workings of one’s body is no excuse for an unwanted pregnancy. Learn how your body works and do what is necessary to take care of it, including preventing it from reproducing if you are not ready to be a parent. This applies to women and men.

Men are not without responsibility in ending this war. Men can obtain the simplest of pregnancy preventatives (a condom) without prescription. Often it can be obtained from a vending machine. If no such preventative is available, then practicing some self-control is the responsible thing to do when the risk of an unwanted pregnancy is high.

This American Civil War can end when the medical procedure called abortion returns to its rightful place as a therapeutic tool used only when necessary to preserve a woman’s life and health. This war can end with a shift in cultural mores to embrace, actively practice, and teach our next generations the art of self-responsibility.

That truly is all it would take.

The first amendment to the constitution of the United States reads as follows:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (Source: Constitution.Congress.gov)

As a citizen of the United States, the rights granted in this first amendment apply to me. So why am I allowing the abridging of my freedom of speech?

Several years ago, I lost my teaching job because I dared to voice an opinion in a public forum that did not agree with the views of my immediate supervisor or the board that ruled over my employer. I received no warning, no verbal or written reprimands, was afforded no opportunity to present my side of the story, or to dispute the charges against me, which included insubordination, violation of company policy, and, worst of all….wait for it…racism.

Yes. Racism.

As a result of opinions I held and publicly stated, my boss (who I considered a close friend) said, and I quote…“You’re not fit to teach African-American children.” I can’t discuss any more particulars than that because of the court instructions given in settlement of the lawsuit I filed. All you need to know is I did cash the check.

The reason for this writing is because I find myself now silenced once again. I find myself refraining from practicing my right to freedom of speech. But this time, it isn’t a vindictive, radicalized, misguided supervisor at the root of the problem.

This time, the one abridging my free speech is me.

Why? For the same reason the ‘silent majority’ is silent—fear.

Fear of flaming, shaming, and/or banning on social media forums. Fear of potential clients refusing to contract with me or continue using my freelance writing services. Fear of potential literary agents or publishing houses rejecting my fictional works from consideration for publication because I express views that are counter to or don’t fall acceptably in line with theirs.

I look at the ‘cancel culture’ sweeping across the United States today, and I read up on what the hell this ‘wokeness’ is all about, and it scares me. It makes me wonder what the hell happened to the U.S. of my younger years? What happened to the notion of ‘I don’t agree with your opinions, but I’ll defend to the death your right to express them?’

What has happened to America?

I don’t know. I have a good idea, but it hasn’t entirely jelled in my mind yet. The only thing I know for sure is that this abridging of free speech—whether it’s mine or anyone’s—is not a good thing. Fear to speak freely and openly on any subject is a plague that’s putting our existence as a nation in danger. It’s putting our pursuit of happiness in question. It’s stifling the free will granted to us by God (or whatever you want to call Deity.)

Here’s the question I asked myself that led to this writing: “If God Himself won’t override the free will He gave to His creations, why the hell am I allowing mere mortal humans to do it?”

So…after days of consideration, meditation, researching, cussing, and discussing, I’ve concluded that I will no longer abridge my free speech to appease any person or group of persons. Not family members, not friends, not persons known or unknown who may read my words in print or a virtual setting. Not political groups, not religious groups. Not ‘social justice groups.’ No one.

If doing so costs me the approval of family or friends, so be it. If it costs me freelance jobs, so be it. If I am unable to secure literary representation when I seek it (coming soon) or if established publishing houses reject my work because the powers that be there don’t agree with my views of various subjects, so be it.

I will no longer remain silent. Not because of fear or anything else.

My time remaining in this life is limited. I’m on the downhill slide, as they say. I don’t intend to spend my remaining time cowering in fear of ridicule, non-approval, or ostracization by persons or groups who think they have a right to control my freedom of speech.

Want to call me a racist? Go ahead. You saying it doesn’t make it the truth. Think I’m a white supremacist? Knock your socks off. Again, you saying it doesn’t make it reality. Your opinion of me has no bearing on who I am or my self-worth. Want to trash talk me all over social media? Go ahead. I doubt there’s anything you can call me that I haven’t been called once or twice before in my lifetime.

So….from this day forward, let freedom ring.

And consider Bobbie unleashed.