Abortion rights and abortion wrongs

I spoke recently with a retired Episcopal priest who I’ve known since she was in college. I asked her what she thought about the Supreme Court Dobbs decision dumping Roe v. Wade after 50 effective years. Her response was surprisingly clear. She used words I didn’t even know she knew, and I was certainly glad she was no longer in the pulpit. Someone in the congregation defending the court’s decision could have been injured racing for the door to escape her divine wrath.

The nice thing about the conversation is that we agreed. Even nicer is that 61 percent of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. That certainly must include people of all faiths, including significant numbers of Roman Catholics. Many Catholics would leave the question of abortion to the women and their families. It’s regrettable that seven of the nine Justices aren’t among them. They seem to have reached a decision in search of justification.

It’s hard for a guy like me to write about church and state issues without sounding not just irreligious, but anti. I’m not. Religion has had a huge and positive effect in defining who we are. In most cases, we have pursued a more civil society without forcing our religious views on others. But the destruction of a woman’s right to a safe abortion demands critical comment.

My earlier experience with church and state was different from what I see today. In 1964, religious leaders brought their passion and convictions to a secular mission. The Civil Rights Act would not have passed without the involvement of priests, pastors, and rabbis. They informed and inspired their congregations everywhere in the country although rarely in the bigoted South. At the March on Washington in August 1963, we heard the words of the Reverend Martin Luther King. It was a glorious moment. But it was a secular one of believers, non-believers, and a few registered religious independents. It was about jobs and freedom, not salvation. It was here, not hereafter.

That is the spirit I don’t see at work today. The separation of church and state does continue to inspire me today — to worry. Believers, like the rest of us, have the right to speak up, but the attacks on Roe v. Wade derived from no secular need. Christians are still a majority in the country, but that does not make us a Christian nation. The Christian population has declined and continues to fall. It will be under 50 percent soon and down to about 30 percent by 2070.

Watching Roe v. Wade disappear and not by secular demand leaves me uneasy. It gets worse when I read what some state legislatures are planning to do. Near-total abortion bans are in effect in13 states. Republican lawmakers have been preparing bills that would prohibit government entities from giving someone money that might be used to travel out of state for an abortion. Another would eliminate state tax breaks for businesses that help cover their employees’ travel costs associated with getting an abortion.

The Supreme Court has exercised its right to a legal abortion: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.