Musings – on the editor's mind

Hatfield was pacing, hopping on and off his bar stool, waiting for McCoy. As soon as his friend sat down, Hatfield flagged the barkeep for double bourbons with their beers and dove into the topic at hand.

“Oh, boy, instead of one hornet nest kicked over now two hornets nests are kicked over. It's a dangerous moment. Everyone pro or con, is energized, unsettled and angry. Those hornets are mighty stirred up. There is no patching the nests back together. No one is in a mood to calm down.” His words were flying out of his mouth.

"Those six supreme Court justices seem pretty calm," McCoy said. ."They are sure forthright in their certainty. They say the Constitution, properly understood, does not confer a right to obtain an abortion. Case closed."

Hatfield stared hard at his companion. "Hold on a second, friend. Since the word women isn't anywhere in the Constitution, how could abortion be?

That's a pretty narrow reading for the needs of a country deep into the 21st century.

McCoy was opening his mouth to form a word but Hatfield was on a roll. “You're a proud mountain man, but we ain't in that parchment either. Our ancestors in eastern Kentucky were cutting timber and clearing land back in 1789. They worked it hard but they didn't own a square foot. Without property they couldn't vote. The game was rigged from the start. Our folks weren't part of that ‘we the people’ till we got to vote decades later. That insure domestic tranquility, our folks were surely working so the land owners could be tranquil.”

McCoy took a long pull of his beer. “The majority examined ordered liberty in our history and couldn't find abortion in the nation's history and tradition. It wasn’t in any state’s constitution, either, till recently.”

Hatfield snorted. “Slavery isn't in the Constitution, either. It took the Civil War to fess up to that. History and tradition.” He slammed his glass down.

“Our gentlemen framers weren't assisting when their wives and mistresses were ending their pregnancies. The midwifes were called in and a lot of them were enslaved women. That was the order of the day back then. You think there weren’t any abortions at the country’s founding?”

“Look Hat,” McCoy took a breath. "Those six justices are ordering that women’s liberty for reproductive choice be limited, that when a state legislature outlaws abortion, abortion providers are outlaws. It is up to the state legislatures. The justices made it clear: The decision makers for whether or not a woman can have an abortion are ‘the people and their elected representatives’ of each state. They decide if the woman or her pregnancy is primary. All those red states are saying the pregnancy is more important than the woman.”

“McCoy, the hornets are swarming from all directions. It is one big mess. With everyone getting stung, who is going to take care of those newborn babies? They are going to be in a world of hurt, too. Are the people and their elected repreentatives going to rush to their aid?”