Reply not working again. They are backwoods x-tian white men.

They don't believe women should be in charge of their own bodies. I got pregnant at 42. Having one handicapped child I was warned I would have another. My own parents and sister wanted me to have an abortion. My decision not theirs. Alabama is a backward state with Rethuglican women who know nothing of their existing rights. Mike Pence is evil and Fuhrer Trump rides on Evangelical base. It's ugly for women in Alabama.

Can't say we hate every man , just the men and woman who decided women are less than slaves - no contraceptives , no abortion , 99 years in prison for both the women and the doctors , but no jail time for the impregnators .

The real problem is that the war is between the men and women of Alabama and other women who don't share the same beliefs. What gives them the right to dictate to anyone what constitutes a "baby" or "when life begins"?

Everyone in Alabama is free to believe as they wish, just as everyone is anywhere. It's imposing their beliefs on others through the tyranny of law that makes that belief a problem. (And no, that's not the same thing as being "forced" to serve same-sex couples. Those couples exist regardless of one's belief. Being forced to participate in a same-sex couple against your will, that one would be a violation of religious beliefs.)

Conservatives try to compare the anti-abortion activists with abolitionists in the 1800s. The difference is that anti-slavery activists fought for the freedom of people to do with their lives as they wanted, without answering to any master; whereas anti-abortion activists want to restrict women's rights to do as they will, until they have no right whatsoever except to give birth once they're pregnant.

I ain't buying it. They elect these people. I am not interested in why people in Alabama are ignorant and immoral. I only care they are. I have been all over the South and the Southeast, and I have the utmost disregard for all of it. I feel the same way about Texas, where I currently live, and Oklahoma, where I grew up (except for Austin).

This is a problem with a certain type of Old Testament religion being deeply ingrained into the population in Alabama. The problem about that is that it is taken into the political sphere where it should have no place. I’m sure you know these people better than anyone, and I, an outsider wouldn’t presume to disagree with your analysis. We have a similar situation here where Iive in Northern Ireland. As a Scot who came here to live 46 years ago I was appalled at how backward in certain social issues they were, such as the availability of abortion. There were even chemists here who wouldn’t dispense the contraceptive pill, as it was against the teachings of the Catholic Church. We still do not have the same abortion rights as the rest of the United Kingdom, and it is illegal to obtain an abortion on all grounds except the mother’s mental or physical health. We export our problem to the mainland, boats and planes carry women to Scotland and England every day to have abortions on the mainland. Now the Republic of Ireland, which used to have the same restrictive laws, has voted in a referendum to reform their abortion laws, there will be a flood of women going south over the border to obtain one there. The reason here is the extreme Protestant DUP, who are evangelical in their Old Testament beliefs, and are blocking any legislation for reform. I know there are women here who are against abortion under any circumstances, they are simply brainwashed by their religious upbringing into believing that it’s what god has ordained. That is a very difficult thing to counteract, they put god’s laws above everything else, there is simply no way of making them see it any other way. I believe the women of Alabama see it the same way, that’s why they agree with the men.

A lot of us struggle with what we see as the stereotypical white southerner. We meet and talk to so many over the years. But situations on the level of this abortion ban always happen. Southerners pride themselves on being friendly. But it is a surface friendliness. There are just too many of them who when scratched below the surface, show this face. That's an observation. My judgment is seperate. Their religious teachings just seem to have ingrained so much. Their friendliness is a taught behavior, not necessarily deep sincerity. Maybe most of the human race is the same, but some more than others. And some are so narrow minded when it comes to views on how life should be. Just how the bible teaches them.

Reply buttons took the day off today so...
@thinktwice
I don't think Alabama has much awareness of cultures outside its own really, except by way of rumor and cultural distortion. Like most humans, they focus on fear of the unknown more than the facts.

I'd guess my assessment would not apply as much to black women and the very poor, as much as to middle class whites, which is also to say that the whole issue is more likely to be racially motivated (in Alabama) than gender biased.

As a fellow Alabamian I second that. You can find any opinion you want in Alabama, though as a whole the state is conservative. What I have experienced is that women here are very assertive, poised and self-confident, and they usually get their ways.

You're just shifting the blame around, figured it'd be a couple weeks before someone was blaming women for this.

If they're such good people then WHY AREN'T THEY DOING ANYTHING TO STOP THIS?