Lori Sturdevant interviewed me on the evening of August 18th at the bookstore Magers and Quinn which is on Hennepin Avenue. What a great bookstore!
We had a great turnout, especially given the stormy weather that evening.
I signed books for the participants that evening and it was fun to connect with each of the participants.
I thank Lori for her time and participation as well as her support for the concept of freedom of religion and its impact on the issue of reproductive health care and the rights of women.
Despite the strong support in our society for the right of women to decide what happens to their body, it is amazing how little information there is in the general press about the connection of this issue to the concept of freedom of religion. As I emphasized in my talk that night, Justice Alito, in his majority opinion in the Dobbs case, did not refer at all to the concept of freedom of religion. That basic right was put in the first amendment to our Constitution and so has been a part of the history of our country from the very beginning. How the majority of the justices of our Supreme Court could ignore this basic concept, as well as the 50 years of established law, is a mind-boggling event.
It shows how passionate the debate is about the abortion issue in our country. But as I say in my book, the concept of freedom of religion requires "pro-lifers" to respect the different beliefs of those who are "pro-choice". That is why my pro-choice/pro-life concept is so important. I truly believe that we are more "pro-life" when we support the "pro-choice" position than the traditional pro-life position. We can reduce the need for abortion by encouraging the use of birth control by all- and that men can participate more in the responsibility of this process than has been traditionally the case. We can respect life and reduce the number of needed abortions by many practical methods. But we should not take away the right of the woman to decide the path of her life. If we can force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term and substantially increase her risk of death from pregnancy complications, then we should be able to force men to do likewise. If a man had a tumor growing inside him and we tell him he cannot remove that tumor that increases his chance of death, society would laugh at that concept.
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