Her Own Best Interests
POST 1103.
Brutal Truth
Amber Thurman and her son. Say her name.
The awful day will come. There will be no avoiding it and the now 6-year-old son of Amber Nicole Thurman will hear the brutal truth.
He will be told that his mother was cut down by Donald Trump, Gov. Brian Kemp and all the self-righteous bigots who are sure they know best how Amber Thurman should have lived her life. They call themselves “pro-life” but they killed Amber Thurman with their cruel laws, just as surely as if they had used a gun to shoot her.
That little boy will hear the grisly story of how the people who could have helped his mom, who could have saved her life so that that little boy would have had his mom as he grew up, instead sat on their hands and let her die. He will hear how the Trump judges, Justices and state legislators threatened the doctors, nurses and hospital administrators with prison terms, should they help her. So, they sat idle because the self-important politicians and judges cared far more for thumping their Bibles than they did for saving the the life of the mom of that little boy, or the life of anyone else. They were certain that they should impose their opinions on her and every other woman and girl.
By the time that little boy learns the truth, an uncountable number of other women will have died from that same repugnant arrogance and self-righteousness, that putrid, primitive stench that hangs in the air in our domed state legislatures and the in vaulted halls of justice and in Congress.
Those in charge were told that many women would die and still more would be permanently damaged by their cruel certainties, but they charged ahead as though causing suffering and death were a virtue. Those Bible thumpers will have their way with these women and girls, like gods sanctimoniously holding the lightning bolt of death in their hands. How glorious and triumphant they must feel.
I want every one of them to face one raped 10-year-old girl they abandoned. I want them to attend the funeral of just one woman they condemned to death. I want them to tell their own daughters that they will turn their backs on them in their hour of need, just like they did to Amber Thurman.
Perhaps one of Amber Thurman’s sisters or her own mother will care for that little boy. We can hope, but it won’t be the same for him.
We’ll remember Amber Nicole Thurman every bit as powerfully as we remember George Floyd. We will keep their spirits alive because we will say their names. The cruel ones won’t. They will just forget her.
Here’s the Pro Publica story about this, as well as Lawrence O’Donnell’s report. It’s a hard video to watch, so have a box of tissues at hand. This story is heartbreaking, because Amber Thurman’s death was tragically and entirely unnecessary.
Amber Nicole Thurman lived. She was a real person and she knew what was in her best interests. She tried to get it, but Donald Trump, Brian Kemp, the Republican Georgia legislature and six black-robed, black-hearted Supreme Court Justices declared they knew better. They did violence to that woman. Now she’s dead and her little boy has lost his mom.
The self-certain bigots waged a 50-year war on freedom and rights. They won and brought this triumph of cruelty to all of us. How proud they must be.
Special Note to Pro-Life Zealots
You have your strongly held beliefs. Perhaps they are buttressed by your religion and your certainties about what God wants. You know what’s right. There is no balance for you to maintain and there are no complexities for you to consider. Got it. Here’s the thing.
It’s your right to believe as you do. You get to have the values you hold and to live as you choose. I will forever stand in defense of that. And I will forever stand in opposition to you imposing your beliefs, your values and your absolutism on me or anyone else.
Believe as you do. If you oppose and perhaps hate abortion, then don’t have one. Stay true to yourself. Maintain your integrity. But keep your integrity and your certainties the hell away from me and mine. Or, as our soon-to-be new Vice President instructs, “Mind your own damn business.” And I amend that with, “Keep the hell out of my business.”
Because when you meddle in the business of others, freedom disappears and people die.
And that isn’t in our own best interests.
It’s not the vibes, it’s not the polls: it’s the votes.
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these sites:
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https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/
https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration
https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/
“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
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– Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016
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