“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.'”

–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ( from his “I Have a Dream” speech; August 28, 1963)

We all knew the Supremes would issue a ruling on Mississippi’s abortion case in early summer, but little did we know someone would commit the unprecedented act of leaking the draft of that ruling. The reason for that breach remains purely speculative.

It’s hard to be optimistic about the way we’ve responded to the leak. People on both sides of the aisle are attempting to use it for their political advantage, subjecting a highly moral issue to political demagoguery. A pox on them all.

I’ve read numerous articles and reviewed opinions on Roe v. Wade, including the Court’s 1973 opinion. Using a perturbed interpretation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, the majority construed a decision that a woman has a right to the privacy of her body and what she does with it.

I’ve argued previously in these pages on the error of that opinion–one that even Justice Ginsburg later said went way beyond the Court’s jurisprudence. With that decision, the justices ignored the fact that the 14th Amendment includes verbiage regarding the equal protection for due process of life and, in doing so, also ignored the protection and life of the baby.

But what’s done is done. Perhaps Roe will be overturned; that remains to be seen. If it is reversed, it will not end the possibility of abortion but rather return that decision to the legislatures of individual states. That’s federalism, meaning anything that’s not specified in the Constitution as being in the federal government’s purview should be left to the states.

It is patently wrong to use scare tactics to make our citizens think there will be no avenue leading to abortion. Even some conservative states would still allow abortion up to a certain age gestation, or allow it more liberally for the physical health protection of the mother, rape, incest, or a fetal diagnosis incompatible with life.

Perhaps the left sees this as another George Floyd moment–using an issue that stirs great emotion to motivate their supporters in advance of the mid-term elections. Get people out on the streets and in others’ faces. It seemed to work in 2020, and then it backfired as the reduction in police department sizes and authority resulted in an uptick in lawlessness.

Maybe the right views the overturning of Roe, should it occur, as a time to bask in their decades-long attempt to achieve that decision. That would also be wrong and ill-advised.

I’ve seen no better view on this issue than what Peggy Noonan wrote in her article, “The End of Roe Will be Good for America” (Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2022). While the title suggests it to be an anti-abortion article, it’s not. It’s much more than that. Her writing informs mine.

She lays out how the reversal of Roe could give both sides an opportunity to hit re-start or, as she states, “…the end of Roe could be a historic gift for both parties, a chance to become their better selves.”

But how? By the grownups in the room having a reasoned discussion, hearing one another, and compromising; not by people screaming at each other from opposite sides of the streets in innocent citizens’ neighborhoods.

For the left, a chance to return to the bread and butter issues that resonate with the majority of their constituents, while not turning their backs on those women in crisis who need an abortion.

For the right, an opportunity to say, while we don’t approve of abortion and we want it to be rarely used, we also want it to be safely available when necessary.

By all of us advocating for women’s issues: pregnancy prevention, better pre-natal care, more child care options, and parenting classes.

And for everyone, choosing not to abandon, shame, or castigate those women who are pregnant and desperate not to be, but standing with them during their pregnancies, discussing their options, advocating for adoption, and showing them, having made the decision to keep their babies, there is still a path to prosperity and happiness. As Lincoln said, by appealing to “the better angels of our nature.” Who could be against this?

In his iconic speech, Dr. King quoted from the Declaration of Independence. We all know the speech’s context was civil rights. But don’t those unalienable rights of equal creation, life, and liberty extend more broadly to all facets of our lives, and to all men, women, and children, from conception to the death bed? If so, then the way in which Roe v. Wade is resolved matters greatly.