There are conservatives who don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned. Meet one of them.
When mom found out she was pregnant with me — her sixth child— my dad said, “We have options.”
She said, “Absolutely not.”
This was not a couple that thought highly of abortion.
At the time of this discussion, it had been 5 1/2 years since my parents welcomed my older brother, and having a sixth whining mouth to feed was not No. 1 on the To Do list.
A few months after the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, I was born. The gratitude to my parents is a bottomless well — not just for this decision, but so many others.
Now both in their 80s, my parents remain true to their conservative convictions. They regularly attend church, although dad gave up his deacon role years ago.
Mom is a straight-ticket voting Republican whose father served in the Navy during World War II. He was not a fan of President Franklin D. Roosevelt — not because of the war, but because FDR was a Democrat.
She fits the profile of the person who was upset in 1973 when the Supreme Court effectively legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade.
“Well, I didn’t fit the profile of people who have gout, and I had it,” she told me in a recent conversation.
This woman’s profile says she is the person who wants to Roe overturned.
“For me, it was not an issue (of wanting an abortion). For me,” she said. “For a lot of girls it is, and it should not be from somebody wearing a black robe making the decision, or an ax in his hand or an ax to grind. I just don’t think it should be anybody else’s business.”
When she said that, a flea could have knocked me down.
Overturning Roe is a distinct possibility as the Supreme Court is expected to soon rule in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
On Friday morning, the court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade.
For years, the pro-life movement strategically waited for a conservative-leaning majority court to challenge Roe v. Wade, which now exists. This is the first case in which the court has been asked overturn a constitutional right to an abortion.
Despite her religious and political beliefs, mom is a part of the generation who feel this is a step backwards for women, and “all of these girls who need help,” she said. “(The court) is overstepping their bounds in a big way.
“I know a lot of people disagree with me on this, but this is my thought.”
She knows what’s coming.
The women who have money will find a way to have a safe abortion.
The women who don’t have money will try anyway.
“This is going to make everything worse. We already see enough young people trying to kill themselves, and this will be another addition to it,” she said. “The little girls who can’t afford it will try it with a coat hanger. God almighty, it curdles my blood.
“This is going to happen, like the night and the day.”
Her own mother was not able to vote until 1920.
When my mom was growing up in Charleston, West Virginia, the chance to play sports really didn’t exist.
When she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was a only a two-year school for women.
As recently as the 1970s, women could not get credit cards in their names.
She has seen, and lived, all of this.
Politically speaking, mom would not be aligned with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, except for this issue.
A few months ago, Newsom wrote on Twitter, “If men could get pregnant, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.”
To which my mother said, “That is exactly right.”
Mom is like any other rational thinker — she’s not someone who likes the idea of abortion.
She is a God-fearing, conservative Republican who is staunchly on the side of a woman’s right to choose, because she has lived long enough to know how this goes when they can’t.
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 4:56 PM.
