Good things come to those who wait.
At least we like to hope so. Two things I’ve wished for my entire adult life have been in the news lately. Tony Oliva was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. And Roe v. Wade is likely to be overturned.
First, the lighter fare. Jim Kaat was chosen for the Hall along with Oliva, making it a double treat for Minnesotans. Tony O. and Kitty Kaat were stars on the Twins of my youth. They were vital cogs on the 1965 American League pennant winners. Being nine, that will forever be my favorite team. Stupid Dodgers.
Oliva spent his whole career with the Twins. In the ’60s, he was one of the best hitters in the game, on a career arc to be one of the greatest ever. Unfortunately, knee injuries and surgeries meant he literally limped to the end of a shortened career. Instead of gracefully gliding across right field at old Met Stadium, he was forced to DH. It was painful to watch him run the bases at the end.
The question for Hall of Fame voters was what to do with someone who was so amazingly gifted, but not for very long. Every year when voting came round, I had discussions with friends about the relative merits of quality vs. quantity.
Kaat’s career was the polar opposite. He was a stalwart on the mound for the Twins before leaving in 1973. He went on to pitch for four more teams before retiring after a 25-year career. For Kaat, it was a different debate than for Oliva. Kaat was good, but not great. He was just good for so long.
Both became ambassadors for the game. Oliva has worked for the Twins in several capacities. Kaat had a lengthy announcing career following his lengthy baseball career. They’ve both been pleasant and insightful the many times I’ve heard them. I even met Tony at Hardees in Sleepy Eye!
When the announcement came on Dec. 5 that they’d been elected, a few of us got together for a celebratory beer. After initial expressions of relief and joy, I said, “Now what do we do?” Something we’d talked about for 40 years had come to pass. I wasn’t quite sure what would fill that space.
Now I’ll put down the sports page and pick up the front page. Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court January 1973. I was a junior in high school and had no idea the impact that would have on our country and my political involvement. For every discussion I had about Tony Oliva, I probably had a thousand about abortion.
It is an issue I, like many of you, have cared deeply about. I can’t see around the fetus as an unborn child. As science advances, the proof of that grows. I don’t think the argument in favor of abortion is a strong one.
I have friends who are pro-choice who I respectfully disagree with. I have had good talks with people on the other side, although not many lately, as those never seem to go anywhere. I also understand democracy is messy and we don’t get our way all the time.
I’ve spent time in both parties, but the great majority of my votes have been for pro-life candidates. It’s interesting that Roe v. Wade didn’t immediately sort the way it would later. In the ’70s, there were large numbers of pro-life Democrats and pro-choice Republicans.
For years we heard we needed a Supreme Court that would reverse Roe. Now that is in place. It is also a court that could do damage to rights for all of us, born and yet-to-be-born. By predictable 6-3 votes, this court looks like it will weaken voting rights, environmental protections, immigrant rights, workers’ rights, meanwhile defending wealth and power.
There is concern the Supreme Court has become politicized. In a democracy, an independent judiciary is essential. Historians will point to the Democrats rejecting Robert Bork in 1987 as setting us down this path. The shameless blocking of Merrick Garland for nine months and ramming through Amy Barret in two cemented a view that the Court has become a wing of one party.
Senate confirmation hearings have become circus, more akin to drunks in a bar than statesmen and women in a prestigious hall of democracy. Of the most recent, conservative columnist George Will wrote of, “Ketanji Brown Jackson, who in a reasonable era would be confirmed 100-0.”
Regardless, I support the defeat of Roe v. Wade. But it will not mean the end of abortion. It will turn it back to the states. Our country will not look appreciably different than it does now: in some states it will be easy to get an abortion and in others, not.
I have thought for a while that pro-lifers should shift our focus. The unsatisfying world of politics might change legislation. But I wonder whether we should be about the business of changing hearts.
What if every child in America was welcomed and valued from conception on? What if every mother felt supported and protected? Right now, many children are born into situations that are difficult. What if those of us who are pro-life make sure we are pro all lives?
Here in Brown County, we have First Choice Pregnancy Services. That is a wonderful example of good work that can be done for mothers.
At the same time, our nation has a health care system that is great if you are well off, not so if you are poor. My daughter who lived in Spain, France, and Switzerland will tell you how health care in those places is not dependent on income. Here, it absolutely is. Maternal mortality rates are consistently higher in economically depressed areas.
We need to get to work solving large gaps in our country in education and housing. Paid parental leave is available to well off and not to the poor. Affordable day care reduces stress for those having a child and is lacking. All these things make choosing life more difficult.
We need be honest with ourselves. When Roe is overturned, wealthy women will go where abortion is legal, and poor women will seek unsafe alternatives.
But if every newly pregnant mother felt safe and protected by the community around her, if she knew her child would be born into a caring, nurturing society, there would be less abortions.
We can all contribute to making this a good place to have and to be a baby. A kinder, fairer, more decent place doesn’t sound like a bad place to be an old guy either.
