Nothing arouses more heated rhetoric than the subject of abortion. 

In 2020 the Supreme Court overrode Roe v Wade, and decisions on the availability of abortion are now up to each state. Some will place severe restrictions on abortions, others much less so.

In addition to allowing women to abort throughout the nine months of pregnancy, a few states might opt for state funding for abortions. After all, why should poor women be suffer discrimination? And what about Maryland? Some years ago the Baltimore Sun published a lead editorial that said it was perpetuating a double standard to tell “women that they can only get an abortion if they are not poor enough to require taxpayer assistance.”

At that time I wrote the following in a letter to the editor of the Sun: 

“Let us assume, for a moment, that the Maryland legislature decided to eliminate laws against prostitution.  To many of our citizens, this would be a deeply troubling decision, a moral offense, yet the proponents of such a move could make logical arguments about ‘you can’t legislate morality’; ‘it’s a victimless crime,’ etc.  And though such a decision would stir up powerful opposition, it’s just possible that it might stand.  After all, it happened in Nevada.

“Let us now take this one step further and assume that the state then decided to operate its own houses of prostitution.  Proponents could point  out that this action would deny ownership of these businesses to society’s more unsavory elements (the Mob), the state could ensure that the prostitutes were healthy (board certified), special rates (or ‘love stamps’) might be made available to economically disadvantaged patrons, and last (but not least) it would be an excellent money-making enterprise as well as being the means of providing tourist attractions unmatched on the east coast of the United States.“

Legalized abortions up to the ninth month are evidently favored by many Marylanders, “but going from legalization to federal funding of abortion would be almost like a leap from legalized prostitution to state operated bordellos — the first is a moral offense, the second an abomination.  It would make every taxpayer a collaborator in ‘the slaughter of the innocents’.”