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calimary

(80,693 posts)
85. What I'm wondering about is what might lead to complacency on THEIR part.
Sat Jun 30, 2018, 10:54 PM
Jun 2018

Hating abortion has been the Holy Grail of WAY too many fundamentalists and anti -choicers. It’s fired up umpteen bajillion CON campaigns for years now. A whole CONservative infrastructure has been built up in opposition to it. So what happens when they finally achieve their goal, at long last?

What I’ll be watching for is - if the wind starts going out of their sails. Their “Cause Celebre” would finally be gone. Over. Done. Check it off the list. No longer such a HUGE thing to rabble rouse about. If this turns into their own personal ”Mission Accomplished,” what’s still there to get all that hot and bothered about anymore? I DO know of, and have read about, people who’ve said they might actually be a Democrat except for abortion, because they agree on almost everything else. But abortion was always the deal-breaker.

Those individuals DO exist, although I’m not sure how many there are. But I’ll tell ya - this new cruelty of jailing babies and yanking little kids away from Mommy or Daddy already has some of these folks back on our doorstep. I just saw a woman at the Portland rally today, as a matter of fact, who carried a hand-made sign announcing herself as a Republican who was now voting for Democrats. She’s not alone now, either.

So what might that mean?

Maybe the most forgiving among us would welcome those “political immigrants” with open arms. I found myself doing exactly as much with that “recovering Republican” woman at the rally today, and murmuring a thank-you into her ear. Positive reinforcement and rewarding good behavior and all those parenting things.

That said, I can EASILY understand and empathize with those who look such a gift horse very closely and coldly logically in the mouth. I get that there could easily be a hesitation, a temptation NOT to trust. I’ve been there, too. There’s always the possibility of a “fair-weather Democrat,” whose awakening we can’t afford to count on. Hey, once bitten, twice shy and all that.
We’ve certainly been burned before, and the instinct to exercis caution is a VERY good thing.

But there is another factor to consider, IMO.

The abortion issue made lots of folks one-issue voters. Kinda did with me, but going the pro-choice direction. So what happens when your issue goes away? And that fire you had in your belly about them damn baby killers now allows you to think you’ve just slain the dragon. And what might a longtime “warrior” do after a battle they may have waged for decades? Rest, maybe? Set down the clubs and brickbats? Lose interest in any more fights that intense or unrelenting? Even nutcases can get tired. Or just sick of it. Or maybe since they’re not getting any younger, might it be time to hang up the gloves? And go get involved in something else? Or just chill, get off the merry-go-round?

There would of course be those who, having tasted a nice mouthful of blood, will only want MORE. But it’s the “mushies” in the middle who might becwinnable, or at least reachable. Many of them have gotten understandably sucked into the vortex of the horrifying current humanitarian crisis at the border. I bet everybody here has personally heard or heard/read about somebody having an epiphany like the woman I hugged at the rally today said she’d had. I bet everyone here has heard some version of “okay, THIS ONE goes too far” or other versions of “had enough” or “crosses the line”. Seems to me THOSE folks can become an asset on and for our side.

Either that or perhaps some will finally decide they’re just simply DONE with politics, outta here, a pox on everybody’s houses everywhere. In which case, some of those fiery GOP supporters might just feel like not bothering this November. I’m guessing that at least some of the fire will start dying out if the big bugaboo of Roe v Wade goes away. The CONS might start losing a little momentum - which will only help OUR side.

Thoughts?

and some conservatives want to jail somone like her. Yonnie3 Jun 2018 #1
the number of these kinds of personal remembrances is stunning bigtree Jun 2018 #2
I got an abortion before Roe wryter2000 Jun 2018 #3
Wow! Mine was the typical MuseRider Jun 2018 #13
Yours sounds scarier wryter2000 Jun 2018 #16
I doubt I would have been brave enough to go to MuseRider Jun 2018 #19
This, I'm afraid, is what they want. volstork Jun 2018 #61
I remember my mother telling me of a friend of hers whose baby had died in utero and she had to Maraya1969 Jun 2018 #44
Dead fetus in utero bhcodem Jun 2018 #47
26 years ago a friend lost her pregnancy at 12 weeks on a Friday. Ilsa Jun 2018 #68
And mine was a typical post-Roe one in the 1990's. kimmylavin Jun 2018 #18
Thank you all for sharing your stories lostnfound Jul 2018 #90
I dated someone whose sister went to Japan. HurricaneWarning Jun 2018 #87
My mom, (God rest her soul), told the story of what it was like in that era... The_REAL_Ecumenist Jul 2018 #92
My mother's obstetrician called them D&Cs. GeorgeGist Jun 2018 #4
That's because cannabis_flower Jun 2018 #8
D&Cs were protocol after a a miscarriage to make sure all the tissue was out. Hekate Jun 2018 #24
Late 60's when I was living in NC, the fetus no longer had a heartbeat womanofthehills Jun 2018 #45
From at least a century ago the word for non-Catholics was: Don't send your wife or daughter ... Hekate Jun 2018 #54
1994 my wife had a miscarriage benld74 Jun 2018 #74
I remember that time. I did not have a "D&C" but my sister was working in a hospital Sophia4 Jun 2018 #82
One thing I'd bet that would happen if it were overturned is border clinics would open up ... mr_lebowski Jun 2018 #5
We can have border clinics in CA wryter2000 Jun 2018 #26
Yes, yes we would. luvtheGWN Jun 2018 #36
You would MOST DEFINITELY be assuming correctly :) (nt) mr_lebowski Jun 2018 #37
We ALL need to remember this. EllieBC Jun 2018 #6
Much more than a "woman's problem". What many men do not understand. Snellius Jun 2018 #21
Soon women will have to go to IRELAND for an abortion... BigmanPigman Jun 2018 #7
Not true. shanny Jun 2018 #28
Are you really THAT sure, that after all this time ... with their golden opportunity ... mr_lebowski Jun 2018 #39
If they overturn Roe shanny Jun 2018 #57
Yeah no they can't do it in one swoop but w/o Roe, if they still hold both Houses and POTUS? mr_lebowski Jun 2018 #62
I agree. shanny Jun 2018 #72
What I'm wondering about is what might lead to complacency on THEIR part. calimary Jun 2018 #85
I think you meant to write "Ireland." And, yes, that is shocking. (eom) StevieM Jun 2018 #34
Yeah I just noticed that and corrected it. Thanks! BigmanPigman Jun 2018 #60
And Argentina too, I think. calimary Jun 2018 #86
Absolutely right. I don't think people can imagine what it was like, so many lives thrown into enough Jun 2018 #9
I do. I remember. Me too. n/t ariadne0614 Jun 2018 #65
Keep the right to a safe hygienic abortion legal uppityperson Jun 2018 #10
And the evangelicals argue that defacto7 Jun 2018 #11
Until 1973/4, service women were automatically discharged for pregnancy regardless of marital status sarge43 Jun 2018 #12
Like those in combat, the experiences are too horrific to remember or repeat Snellius Jun 2018 #29
Because she deserved that much, I'll continue to remember sarge43 Jun 2018 #63
Exactly. The rich will always have access to a discreet "D & C" while those of lesser means catbyte Jun 2018 #14
I've never understood why pro choice advocates rarely use this to fight back BlancheSplanchnik Jun 2018 #15
We do. That's why the wire coathanger is used as a symbol. Hekate Jun 2018 #30
That's true. Still, I've seen more appeals to the privacy focus BlancheSplanchnik Jun 2018 #67
If you want, you can get pins, earrings, buttons, bumper stickers with that symbol... Hekate Jun 2018 #69
Oh I have buttons with the hanger symbol! BlancheSplanchnik Jul 2018 #95
I hate it because they are essentially making us follow their religion. My beliefs say that demigoddess Jun 2018 #17
Religious freedom includes freedom FROM religion - RandomAccess Jun 2018 #23
PREACH!!! The_REAL_Ecumenist Jun 2018 #84
I have a clear memory of 2 neighborhood teenagers irisblue Jun 2018 #20
Millions of women at risk from backstreet abortions (The Telegraph) SaintLouisBlues Jun 2018 #22
When I was 9 years old...... dawnie51 Jun 2018 #25
Goddess bless your grandmother for a wise and brave woman Hekate Jun 2018 #35
Another story about a Catholic hospital: luvtheGWN Jun 2018 #40
and when she recovered sessions would have thrown her in jail.... samnsara Jun 2018 #27
And can you imagine what John Ashcroft's Justice Department would have done to her StevieM Jun 2018 #38
In a rural south Mississippi town . . . Sam McGee Jun 2018 #31
Those who speak of an Underground Railroad: start now, in Texas. In that huge state there is only Hekate Jun 2018 #32
Evangelicals rewrote *the Bible* on abortion in the 1970s for their political purposes. sharedvalues Jun 2018 #33
My late MIL, Jewish, born in 1913, raised in Vienna, said there was no Biblical justification... Hekate Jun 2018 #43
And now they want ethnic cleansing - removing brown people to get votes for Republicans. sharedvalues Jun 2018 #77
I have often thought abortion is a freedom of religion issue. It is a matter of opinion when Amaryllis Jun 2018 #80
K&R. n/t rzemanfl Jun 2018 #41
My support for women being able to decide whether to remain pregnant is absolute. aikoaiko Jun 2018 #42
The 1955 Death of Jacqueline Smith (Slate 2015) struggle4progress Jun 2018 #46
I remember the intense punishments meted out to women, girls, and those who helped them Hekate Jun 2018 #48
When Abortion was Illegal (and Deadly) struggle4progress Jun 2018 #49
I never had an experience like that but I remember jimlup Jun 2018 #50
Roe/Wade marehare Jun 2018 #51
Welcome to DU! Mountain Mule Jun 2018 #66
Welcome to the Democratic Underground marehare happynewyear Jun 2018 #76
The US of A is a Nation of Freedoms . . It's the Republicans OldManTarHeel Jun 2018 #52
Thank you bdamomma Jun 2018 #78
This type of thing happened to me as well. redstatebluegirl Jun 2018 #53
"If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament" Mountain Mule Jun 2018 #55
isn't that the truth bdamomma Jun 2018 #79
my late mom wittnessed a lot of these as a welfare offficer . never really spoke about them AllaN01Bear Jun 2018 #56
.. Demovictory9 Jun 2018 #58
My maternal grandmother was born in 1909. She died in 2009, lived to 100. phylny Jun 2018 #59
Thank you for this thread wryter2000 Jun 2018 #64
An awful lot of us have horror stories from those days. WinstonSmith4740 Jun 2018 #70
Republicans are the anti-life party. I once opened the bathroom door in similar circumstances... hunter Jun 2018 #71
Horrible ... mr_lebowski Jun 2018 #73
The problem with your proposal Nonhlanhla Jul 2018 #91
Roe v Wade had restrictions built in from Day One, something the anti-choice fanatics lie about Hekate Jul 2018 #93
Too many of us have illegal abortion horror stories mountain grammy Jun 2018 #75
kick for exposure...thank you for posting....nt Stuart G Jun 2018 #81
My straight-arrow conservative father-in-law had a similar experience. calimary Jun 2018 #83
I remember a woman speaking at a gathering in the late '70s who had an abortion back then Rhiannon12866 Jun 2018 #88
Rich people will always have access to safe and legal abortion. LastLiberal in PalmSprings Jun 2018 #89
Sadly K&R Puzzler Jul 2018 #94
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