JASON VICTOR SERINUS

AS I SEE IT

“I don't want to move abroad, but if this country goes any more backward, then I'll have to pack my family and go.” So wrote my neighbor, a Port Townsend native, after receiving news that the all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that frozen embryos in test tubes are “extrauterine children.”

“I’ve had an abortion and am considered high-risk for pregnancy,” my neighbor continued. “I would most likely need another abortion if my birth control failed. My daughter's future as a woman in this country is at risk. You and your husband are at risk simply because you love each other. I worry for all my friends and family who are people of color or ethnic minorities. I have a not-so-secret fear of sending my children to school because guns are more important than children in this country. Or at least more important than birthed children. I don't want to fear what the future ahead may hold; I want to welcome it and all it may hold.”

Thus do national events become local issues. After Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote, in absolute defiance of the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state, “Even before birth, all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,” many who proclaim themselves fundamental champions of “life” were dismayed to discover that the Alabama Supremes’ affirmation of life would prevent the birth of many babies through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In an act as ironic as it is paradoxical, Parker and his fellow anti-abortion right-to-lifers had unintentionally legislated birth control in the name of their state-championed interpretation of the Christian Bible.

Then ensued the big scramble. Three great Republican champions of life—Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (whose affirmation of life includes facilitating the death of immigrants trying to cross the Rio Grande)—spoke out in support of IVF. At the same time, the Alabama legislature—a legislature that passed a draconian abortion ban with no exceptions for rape victims—determined to protect IVF clinics from lawsuits, “keep families moving forward,” and legislate themselves out of the mess created by one of their own. As they worked overtime to avoid undermining the legitimacy of courts their party had worked so hard to pack, they also did their darndest to avoid discussion of the use of IVF by same-sex / same-gender couples.

While all this madness unfolded at “home,” Netanyahu and his U.S.-supported forces continue to negate life by indiscriminately killing unarmed civilians and destroying homes and hospitals in Gaza. With Netanyahu defiantly declaring that no ceasefire or two-state solution campaign would get in his way, his total victory scenario put President Joe Biden’s struggle to find a solution in an increasingly harsh light. Not that his Republican critics, who claim to be 100 percent behind Netanyahu, are any less responsible for the flow of U.S. arms to Israel that accelerates the bloodshed.

None of this helps Biden’s re-election campaign. His unwillingness to declare “Enough!” has come home to roost in the form of the “Uncommitted” Democratic primary campaign. Just two days after a whopping 13.2 percent of Democratic voters cheered on “Uncommitted” over Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, Washington state’s largest labor union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, endorsed the “Uncommitted” campaign. That’s just one day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (age 82, the same age Biden reaches in November), in some ways following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (age 83) lead, declared that he would step down as Leader in November. For Biden, holding on does not look good.

As I file this column five days before publication, I’m aware of how much more could hit the fan before millions of American in 16 states vote in Super Tuesday’s Presidential primaries. It’s enough to make you want to tear your hair out or move to another country. As if doing so will stem the worldwide pull to the right as people desperately embrace undemocratic and autocratic false solutions rather than take collective responsibility for our actions and work together to find the way forward.

Jason Victor Serinus is a critic of culture, music, and audio. The oldest member of the WA State LGBTQ Commission, he’s also a professional whistler. Column tips: jvsaisi24@gmail.com.