In my younger days, I had three late-term miscarriages.
Because this was pre-Roe America, I was not subjected to the post-Roe cruelty faced by women in several states, including Texas, of being denied timely medical care for a miscarriage because of suspicion of a possible abortion attempt. In Texas, as long as the fetal heart is beating, medically induced removal of the fetus must be postponed until it is clear that the mother is suffering a health emergency. By that time, it could be too late for the fetus and the mother. I could have died under this law.
Even if I had survived, had I been living in contemporary Texas, it seems that I would be lucky not to be doing serious time in jail for murder. There, the fetus is a person from the time of a “detectable heartbeat” (about 6 weeks), so anything threatening the end of the fetus’s life, including a miscarriage, can be interpreted as an attempted abortion. Would someone be charged with attempted murder?
I am no radical. I grew up in a Republican household. In the ’40s and ’50s, my dad, a prominent attorney, was head of the New York State Young Republicans. I know what it means to be a moderate Republican. My dad would be absolutely appalled to see what has happened to his party, not just in its cruelty above but also in its cruelty at the border, in its denial of the science of climate change and in its attempts to subvert democracy.
I am pleading with women and men who care about our country to come out in droves and vote against the radicalized Republican Party in all elections where they present themselves. Only then will our government once again return to policies promoting liberty and justice for all.
Julia Sperry
Hockessin
