Domestic Supply of Infants is Not That Hard to Understand

The difference between being seen as breeding stock and a fully-fledged human being with responsibilities, dreams, ambitions, etc comes down to one word: rights.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a very damning and unnerving statement in the body of the leaked draft of the opinion that could potentially overturn Roe V. Wade. Buried in the footnotes is a quote from a 2002 CDC report about adoption within the United States.

“Whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted has become virtually nonexistent.”

I’m going to let NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the late George Carlin take it from here.

What bothers me are two things. The first thing is that it opens the door to a slippery slope. Abortion is low-hanging fruit to these people. What’s next? Losing access to birth control? Taking away the ability to marry for LGBTQ couples and biracial couples? Undoing the 19th amendment and the 14th amendment?

The second thing is that this opinion is based on rulings that are centuries old. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that they are grasping at straws, finding any legal theory (even the archaic ones) that they believe will support their cause.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about SCOTUS judges. Their appointments are for life. But we can vote for Democrats at every level. They are the only ones who are both working for the people of this nation and fighting for the freedoms that we all hold dear.

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It Would Have Been Nice to Say “Madam President” in 2020

If nothing else, America is an idealistic nation. We are dreamers and fighters, we do not give up because we are told no.

We are also a nation that can be hypocritical.

August 18th is the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. In the nearly 100 years since the ratification of the 19th amendment, American women (and women across the world) have achieved what our grandmothers and great-grandmothers could have only dreamed of.

But with every battle that we have won, there is still much more work that is required of us if there is to be true equality between the sexes.

I would have liked very much to use the term “Madam President” this year. But there will be no women in either party on the ticket come this fall.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s loss to you know who was heartbreaking. This year, we had brilliant and capable women who might have done a bang up job as President. Senators Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar had all of the qualities one would want in a President.

Of all of the female nominees, Senator Elizabeth Warren came the closest. Some in the press are arguing that it was sexism that ultimately doomed her campaign. I can’t disagree with their arguments, even if she was not my first choice for President.

Though it is indisputable that these women will forever have a place in American history, it still does not dull the frustration of not being able to say “Madam President” in 2020.

Thoughts On Kirsten Gillibrand’s 2020 Presidential Election Announcement

Yesterday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced that she was throwing her hat into the ring for the 2020 Presidential election on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

I am absolutely thrilled with this announcement. Not just because she is my Senator, but because I think (and hope) that she has a shot of winning the party nomination and getting a certain person out of office. It’s about time that America caught up with the rest of the world and elected a woman to lead us. Unlike the current occupant in Washington D.C., she understands the needs of the average American. She is not just saying what we want to hear, she is saying what has to be done to move this country forward. She is a woman balancing a marriage, raising children, working and dealing with what we all deal with.

If I am being honest, I don’t believe that Elizabeth Warren would be able to win the election. I believe that Senator Gillibrand would be able to win the nomination and the election.

Next year is the centenary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. To know that Americans have elected a woman into the highest political office in the land a century after American women were given the vote would be more than a dream come true. It would finally shatter the glass ceiling and prove once and for all that women are much more than we are made out to be.

Only time will tell, but I am crossing fingers that fall, we will be able to say President Elect Gillibrand.