Kendall Stanley: Beyond the pale
If you want to see how rabid some in the anti-abortion world are look no further than Texas where some towns are setting themselves up to ban the use of roads in the towns for “abortion trafficking” — people helping women go out of state for an abortion
Say what?
As reported in The Washington Post, “More than a year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, many conservatives have grown frustrated by the number of people able to circumvent antiabortion laws — with some advocates grasping for even stricter measures they hope will fully eradicate abortion nationwide.
“That frustration is driving a new strategy in heavily conservative cities and counties across Texas. Designed by the architects of the state’s “heartbeat” ban that took effect months before Roe fell, ordinances like the one proposed in Llano — where some 80 percent of voters in the county backed President Donald Trump in 2020 — make it illegal to transport anyone to get an abortion on roads within the city or county limits. The laws allow any private citizen to sue a person or organization they suspect of violating the ordinance.”
Those advocating such ordinances are targeting places with an airport or proximity to expressways to stop women from heading out of state as Texas has virtually banned abortion. Adjacent state New Mexico still allows abortions and many Texas women are headed that way.
Never mind the vigilante aspect of turning your fellow citizens in because you think they may be helping women get an abortion which is abominable on its face — since when do we stifle the free movement of citizens on our roads?
Here’s what anti-abortionists fail to remember — no matter how many laws were on the books before Roe v. Wade, women had abortions.
From back alley quacks to the neighborhood abortionist to the doctor willing to perform an abortion if they could find a medical reason to perform one, there were abortions happening each and every day. And it has thus been that way for centuries.
If there is a will, as they say, there will be a way.
This means this — if you ban it, there will always be people ready, willing and able to find ways around said ban. Abortion activists did it before and they will do it again.
Pre-Roe v. Wade, The Jane Collective was a group of women in Chicago that helped women who needed an abortion to get one. In all they provided about 11,000 women with abortions.
Several members of the cooperative were arrested but as soon as that happened, another woman took her place.
Where there’s a will or a need, there will always be a way, Texas.
The casual friend
There are the folks you see on a recurring basis that you might consider casual friends — not best buds but not just acquaintances either.
John Collins was one of those.
John, who was 58 when he died recently, was a butcher at Meijer. Along with his sidekick Eugene, he’d frequently asked about the state of the newspaper business, from here to the Detroit Free Press. Warmed my heart it did, as commiserating about the newspaper industry is almost a cottage industry these days.
And he was a great butcher, always offering suggestions on this cut or that, or how he preferred his ribeye steaks.
I’ll never forget the day I approached the counter (when they still had a solid meat counter) to get my usual one pound of salmon off the head end. The young butcher behind the counter was about to make the cut when John pointed to a spot just a little farther from the head.
The cut was made, the salmon slapped on the scale and the price tag made for 1 pound of salmon. Oh yeah, John knew his weight and just where to cut!
It’s the easy-going familiarity that makes relationships like that work. Nothing too serious, just acknowledgment that we can spend a little time together, share a story and bring a smile to each other’s countenance.
I’ll miss that.
— Kendall P. Stanley is retired editor of the News-Review. He can be contacted at kendallstanley@charter.net. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily of the Petoskey News-Review or its employees.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kendall Stanley: Beyond the pale
