Hi

 

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the COPELAND’S CORNER blog. I thought to make things easy, since this missive will be very different from a lot of my other work, I’d give it the same name as my weekly podcast, which also tends to be very political.  The format here is simple. There isn’t one. I’m going to write about whatever hair I happen to have up my keister any given week. And boy… are there a lot of them.

 

The news story that has outraged me the most over the last week is the one about the 10-year-old Ohio girl who was left pregnant as the result of a rape and, because the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) allowed a “trigger law” signed in 2019 to go into effect, the little girl was unable to terminate the pregnancy in that state. The law, signed by current Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, outlaws abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is at approximately five to six weeks into a pregnancy. In other words, before most women even know that they’re pregnant. There is no exception for rape or incest. The little girl was six weeks and three days along.

 

The child was referred by her Ohio doctor to Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis based OB/GYN, who was able to perform the procedure due to Indiana’s current laws regarding reproductive rights. By the way, the GOP legislature in Indiana is currently attempting to craft legislation that will outlaw the procedure under most circumstances in that state.

 

Before I go any further, I should address the fact that since it is impossible to in anyway defend the indefensible, pro-birthers (I don’t call them “pro-lifers” because most of them don’t give a damn about a child once he/she is viable outside the mother’s womb) are attempting to cast doubt on the story by calling it “anecdotal” or denying that it happened because, due to HIPAA laws and the fact that it deals with the sexual abuse of a minor, it’s virtually impossible to corroborate. The primary source is Dr. Bernard, who has gone on the record as saying that she performed the procedure in Indianapolis after being notified of the situation by a colleague in Ohio who sent the girl to Indiana. There is a documented case, reported by CBS News in 2019 (the year DeWine signed the law), of an 11-year-old girl, who was raped multiple times by a 26-year-old in Ohio and became pregnant, who was able to terminate in the state because Roe was the law of the land. Child rape and child pregnancy happens. The Columbus Dispatch reports that in 2020, 52 children under the age of 15 received abortions in Ohio.

 

In the interest of disclosure, I want to mention that I was born in Akron and spent the first five years of my life in Ohio where my extended family still resides.

 

The story of the case of the 10-year-old has made headlines around the world. President Biden has cited it as a sad byproduct of a misguided ideological Supreme Court decision. What I really find fascinating are the reactions of those responsible for draconian laws like these. When DeWine signed this piece of legislation back in 2019, he said that he was signing it because, “The essential function of government is to protect the most vulnerable among us, those who don’t have a voice.” When asked about the current story, he gave an incoherent answer about what a “terrible tragedy” the rape was and how the rapist “should be locked up forever.” I may be a little out of the loop on some things, but the last time I checked, 10-year-old rape victims were among our most vulnerable and didn’t have a heck of a lot in the area of voice in the public arena.

 

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was asked about raped children being forced to carry the spawn of their often blood related attackers in his state, his solution was simple, direct and to the point. Abbott said that the state of Texas would “eliminate rape.” I wish that I could say that I was making that up but, that’s what he said. Never mind the fact that Texas has more forcible rapes than any state in the union, including California, which has ten million more residents.

 

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose state has a similar law that does not provide exceptions for rape and incest said, “As much as we can talk about what we can do for that little girl, I think we also need to be addressing those sick individuals that do this to our children.” Nice deflection.

 

None of these “defenders of our children” and “protectors of the sanctity of life” gave a single concrete answer to the question of why some kid in a red state should be forced to carry her rapist’s baby to term, even if said rapist is her father or uncle or other relative. Their reason for avoiding the issue at hand is one that I can answer for them.

 

Obliterating reproductive rights isn’t about protecting children or the sanctity of life. It’s about controlling women. Period.

 

Brian Copeland

 

 

The first three editions of the Copeland’s Corner blog come out on Wednesdays and will be sent to everyone on Brian’s mailing list. After that, it will only go to those who SPECIFICALLY SIGN UP FOR IT. To subscribe for free, go to briancopeland.substack.com.