(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
The Dobbs Decision. A Watershed Moment that has galvanized the Progressive Movement in Indiana [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-09-14
People are angry.
I have lived in the state of Indiana for nearly my entire life. Fifty six years in all. The only periods of time I spent elsewhere was over three decades ago -- a year as an exchange student in Innsbruck, Austria when I was twenty and another eight months or so in Omaha Nebraska a few years after that.
Every four years on election night, Indiana is invariably among the first states to declare their electoral votes for whoever the Republican presidential candidate happens to be at the time. There are occasionally exceptions, but suffice it to say, that Indiana is the reddest of the red Great Lake states. In many social settings, it is not uncommon for me to be the the sole progressive person amid a dozen or so MAGA devotees. That is not hyperbole. While at restaurants with other parents from my daughter's softball team, conversations invariably drift towards uncomfortable right wing topics -- guns, abortion, election denial -- the whole nine yards. Like the main character in Bob Seeger's masterpiece "Turn the Page" -- in such company, I always felt outnumbered, and taking a stand seems pointless.
But take a stand, we must. And as it so happens, people in Indiana are starting to do just that.
In the wake of the Dobbs decision in June, four weeks ago, the Indiana State legislature was the first state to pass new legislation outlawing abortion in nearly all instances. One would have thought that, based upon the incessant right wing, anti-choice sanctimony we've been forced to endure for the last four decades, Republicans would be absolutely giddy and thrilled with their political victory.
But such is not the case. The Republican Party has long brandished the abortion issue as a means to tout their putative moral superiority and to mobilize their base. Now that states Have the carte blanche green light to pass restrictive abortion laws, the Republican moral voices have become nearly silent. Apparently protecting the rights of inviable fetuses Is no longer a major concern for them. Republicans would prefer that Lindsey Graham keep his mouth shut. Discussing women’s reproductive rights is not currently a hot topic among the Republican crowd at the moment.
Two major Indiana companies Eli Lilly and Cummins, however, have not remained silent. Eli Lilly and Cummins are among Indiana's largest employers –each employs more than 10,000 workers. Both of these companies have spoken out strongly against Indiana’s new restrictive anti-abortion laws passed by Indiana's legislature.
After passing these restrictive laws, Eli Lilly has stated that they plan to increase their company’s future growth in other states. Good for them. Progressive state politicians such as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot have already been in contact with several Indiana companies to talk about relocating their company operations to Illinois – a state that both respects and protects the reproductive rights of all women.
I welcome this sort of economic action in response to the Dobbs decision. In this country, nothing wield political power more than the almighty dollar. When major companies start to leave red States for blue ones, Republican politicians will change their stance on abortion issue as quickly as they re-embraced Donald Trump after initially condemning his actions on January 6.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/14/2122824/-The-Dobbs-Decision-A-Watershed-Moment-that-has-galvanized-the-Progressive-Movement-in-Indiana
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
