Cray-Cray in Alabama

 

                                                                                Ann Telnaes

I have to say that I get a fair number of wacky emails from various publishers and organizations who notice that I write a blog but don't seem to give any attention to the content. Many of them are so far to the Christian right that they are barely visible on the horizon and I"m definitely left of centre on the theologial spectrum.

A few weeks ago I got an invitation to support a project in the States to "rescue" frozen human eggs with the purpose of implanting them in willing human hosts so that they could become the persons God intended them to be. It was one of the most bizarre proposals I'd read along the way for so many reasons. Shades of The Handmaid's Tale. 

Well, we aren't done yet with the cray-cray. Last Friday the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, a first-of-its-kind decision. Alabama has the second lowest rating of any state for healthcare and a fairly high infant mortality rate. It also scores 44th of 50 states for education. So, sure, focus on a frozen non-child instead of the well-being of children in your midst. 

Already one medical centre has paused in vitro fertilization procedures because of the possible liability. 

We have seen and heard of the increasing control over the reproductive rights of women in the US, often encouraged and supported by conservative Christians. In the Supreme Court ruling the Chief Justice referred to the book of Genesis which is bizarre in itself, along with John Calvin and other theologians dead for centuries. This white male was a key figure in overturning Roe v Wade. 

Whenever I hear the words "freedom" or "liberty" emanating from these groups I assume they mean the opposite. Women and their medical care-givers are increasingly anxious about complications in pregnancies, afraid of the legal repercussions if they come to an end for any reason,  

 It is alarming, and while we assume this couldn't happen in Canada, I wonder. We seem to be listing to starboard in a number of ways. I wonder if Margaret Atwood will express thoughts on this latest development.