(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

If you want to know what just one facet of America will look like under Trump, Vance and MAGA Republicans - simply look at Texas. You haven’t read - for the most part - about most of the deaths of pregnant women in Texas since abortions were banned in 2021. But it’s starting to trend in Texas, and the rest of the U.S. will likely follow during Trump’s reign.

There are exceptions to save the mother's life or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function" theoretically. However, the Texas law is written so ambiguously that life-threatening or harmful pregnancies don’t necessarily constitute an exception…and doctors don’t want to make decisions that are second-guessed easily.

Women bleed out in a bathroom at home…or die from sepsis at home…or in the hospital.

It’s every physician’s fear…trying to snatch life from death’s door because a government of mostly men decided…woman must be within moment’s of dying or that doctor can lose his or her medical licenses, face up to 99 years in prison as a felon, and incur fines of at least $100,000.

It remains among the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S., not providing enough guidance about which exceptions are allowed. Don’t forget that this is a personal loss of unprecedented proportions…women - often already cherished mothers of children with loving husbands and fathers - with what would be a new baby…all die. It is right out of the Old West…don’t mess with Texas, indeed.

The Texas Supreme Court - all high-minded Conservatives - upheld the draconian abortion ban…voting 9 to zip. The U.S. Supreme Court - a laughing stock of majority Trump and Bush appointees - refused to review the case.

Women should be outraged…and many are. But how submissively blind…how ridiculously pious…must you be to be against saving your fellow women’s lives…again, when many are already mothers of toddlers and small children? Texan Republicans seem to care more about unborn fetuses than living, breathing children and their mothers.

People - sooner than later - will look back on this shameful and chauvinistic behaviour as we look upon burning witches at the stake in another dark era. Hmmm…they, too, persecuted women. It’s almost like a pattern, isn’t it?

Consider some facts…truths…which Republicans - from Texas and every other state - really like to disavow. Fake news…again, it’s almost like a pattern.

In a three-year period, maternal mortality cases in Texas rose by 56 percent…while the 49 other states rose by just 11 percent, according to an analysis by the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

Another disturbing trend…women living in states like Texas with strict abortion laws are far more likely to go without prenatal care and much less likely to have OB-GYN appointments. 

Manatt Health Care, a consulting firm that surveyed all Texas-based members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, reported more than 70 percent of practicing OB-GYNs in Texas feel the abortion ban has prohibited them from providing high quality, evidence-based care for their patients.

About 35,000 women who live (or lived) in Texas have traveled elsewhere to get the healthcare they deserve. The anti-abortion folks in Texas are mostly religious. But don’t think for a minute that Texas is overwhelmingly so-called “pro-life”…as opposed to “pro-choice” folks.

The framing by Right Wing Republicans - not only in Texas - that people against abortions are pro-life…and people favouring abortions are pro-choice...is a minority demonizing the majority. Believe me, all women who are called pro-choice by the Religious Right very much consider themselves in favour of life…not just for unborn fetuses…but for children…and those who give birth to children.

Just like every other aspect of social, cultural and political American life, MAGA Republicans who oppose abortions are in the minority…and yet they command attention by speaking the loudest and telling others how to live. Harsh judgment? Well, let’s consider…facts.

Texas lawmakers are proposing criminal penalties for anyone providing information over the phone or online about abortion care…even maintaining a website that promotes choice. Freedom of speech and the right to travel are under attack by Texas Republicans.

It’s not like Trump Republicans didn’t tip their hand before the election. But what can I say…too many Americans stayed away from the polls…and of those those who showed up…half simply don’t know fact from fiction. A strong case can be made for voter ignorance among Republicans…and that will become clearly evident as the next four years wear on.

Really, you’d never lose betting on what dystopian methods the minority - MAGA Republicans who oppose abortion - might employ to force their will on the majority. Remember, legal abortions are favoured by two-thirds of Americans.

My guess - and it’s a pretty good one knowing Republicans - is that Trump and his MAGA minions will use the Comstock Act…rather than a congressional ban on abortions. The Comstack Act is a 19th-century obscenity law that conservatives claim - with little support in the law’s history or text - is a de facto, no-exceptions ban on mailing, or even receiving or using the internet to order any abortion-related drug or paraphernalia.

Republicans aren’t worried about voting fraud anymore…funny how that’s not a concern if you win. Instead, expect them to focus on ways to force the majority to live. I look forward to being able to look those who voted for Trump in the eye in four years. There will be a lot wrong with America…worse healthcare, worse economy, worse standing in the world…pretty much everything.

Sadly, Republicans who always want to make things a cultural war…will have the deaths of many woman seeking good healthcare on their hands. Immigrants - who not only cause less crime in America than Americans, but smuggle less fentanyl into America than Americans - will be worse off…and so will Americans who lose billions of dollars in taxes paid by - yes - illegal immigrants.

America, get ready to look more like Texas. And just for the record, that’s not a good thing.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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