In 1864 in Arizona, only white male men who were citizens of Mexico (isn’t that interesting?) or the United States who had lived in that territory for 6 months could vote. In 1864 in Arizona, a parent who is “moderately” punishing their child and “accidentally” kills that child can be convicted of manslaughter, not murder. In 1864 in Arizona, if there was “good reason” to believe that an incarcerated woman condemned to death was pregnant, the sheriff could ask a panel of three doctors to determine her status to the best of their ability. If she wasn’t pregnant, she was executed. If she was, she was allowed to live — until she gave birth, at which point the governor could once again move the execution forward. In 1864 in Arizona, a ten-year-old girl could give consent to have sex and be convicted to a year in prison if she got an abortion. In 1864, Arizona wasn’t a state yet (it was admitted in 1912), and the Civil War was still going on.
There were no cars. There were only 36 states and 11 of them were waging war against their country to keep people of African descent enslaved. Women weren’t allowed to vote. Abraham Lincoln was still alive. In1864, the Arizona territorial Legislature passed a law that criminalized providing, supplying, or administering substances or instruments to induce miscarriage in pregnant women. Exceptions were made only if the procedure was necessary to save the woman’s life, and the penalty ranged from two to five years of imprisonment2. That law was set aside when Roe V. Wade became the law of the land. Now, it is the law of that state.
Every state has laws still in place that make no sense, and most of them are laughable (see for yourself – The Craziest Laws That Still Exist In The United States | HuffPost Life). This law in Arizona, however, is not. And while there are good reasons to have exceptions to laws, it is a slippery slope. As we have seen in other states since Roe V. Wade was overturned, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and – most importantly, women – often have different ideas of what “except when the life of the mother is in danger.” This Arizona law is not pro-life – it is, like most abortion laws, anti-woman. It opens the door for other archaic laws to be passed to allow one group in power to control other groups who, in the past, have been abused by the law. And I am not talking about laws based on religion; making abortion illegal is not biblical, since it does not appear in the Hebrew or Christian Scriptures. It isn’t a moral question – it is all about men controlling women.
It isn’t a far road to travel to wonder what other kinds of laws will be reanimated. Will Alabama be able to vote to enslave people again? Can Massachusetts renew the murder of witches? Will people in Maine be arrested for having their Christmas decorations up on January 15? These may sound insane, but I would have said the same about this situation in Arizona. We have a choice to make; keep moving forward or be dragged backwards. I think it is time we ended the Civil War and the War Against Women once and for all, don’t you?
Prayer – Holy God, save us from zealots who would shape the world into their twisted ideas of right and wrong. Help us to stay free. Amen.
Today’s art was created by Artists Against Slavery.