In the days since Dr. Tiller's assassination, I have read and heard the word "legal" too many times. The procedures were legal. Women were exercising their legal rights. Etc. In fact, Rachel Maddow is doing it right now (6/10). This bothers me for two reasons.
First, use of the modifier indicates the precariousness of reproductive rights. Thirty-six years after Roe v. Wade, more than a generation since the days of coat hanger desperation, the right to abortion should be thoroughly ingrained into our societal fabric. Yet women in most counties of the United States have to travel, sometimes quite a distance, to access a procedure which, particularly during the first trimester, should be offered in every clinic and hospital in the nation. Women, especially minors, can't reliably access convenient and affordable contraception.
Second, use of the modifier is a weak argument and suggests timidity in supporting a basic human right to choose when to reproduce.
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