Idaho faith: Legislature proves to be full of hypocrites when it comes to religion
In yet another shameful milestone in Idaho’s race to the bottom, our reactionary Legislature passed a Texas-style anti-choice bill that would effectively ban almost all abortions. The bill empowers the family of the potential father of a 6-week old fetus to sue an abortion provider. In other words, our lawmakers are denying women’s reproductive freedoms and have now included a system of vigilante “justice.”
On paper, this law has an exception in cases of rape, but it is limited to instances when the victim files a police report. Given the small percentage of women who report such crimes to the authorities — especially when the perpetrator is a close acquaintance or family member — this legislation is callously cruel.
As its sponsor, Republican state Rep. Steven Harris, has acknowledged, if a rapist has 10 siblings, each can sue for $20,000. Under this law, Idaho would be punishing women victimized by sexual assault and those who help them, while incentivizing and rewarding their abusers.
The vast majority of Idahoans do not want to live in a culture that pits family members against one another, and inevitably sides with the bullies. Nor do we appreciate the government impinging on our religious liberty. In my Jewish tradition, an embryo is not a human being; it remains a potential life until the moment of birth.
As I have previously noted in these pages, in this, we are not alone. Many faith communities espouse abortion-rights positions that are grounded in deep-seated religious conviction. We envision a society where every child born is wanted and loved by those who freely decide to bring a new life into this world. We believe this is what a loving God, who values human autonomy and respects women, asks of us.
We, too, treasure life — and therefore respect the lives and decisions of women who face difficult reproductive choices. When our Legislature puts its thumb on the scales of justice on behalf of anti-choice conservatives whose insidious methods reward intimidation and duplicity, they make a mockery of the religious freedom they purport to honor.
One of my tradition’s great sages, Rabbi Israel Salanter, was rightfully skeptical about the tendency of superficially pious people to impose their morality on others. He summed up this reality brilliantly, noting: “Most people worry about (filling) their own bellies and the state of other people’s souls, when we all ought to be concerned with the state of our own souls and other people’s bellies.”
Instead of legislating a narrow version of morality, we should be providing for our neighbors’ essential needs. Lawmakers who ban abortion while decrying efforts at universal health care are the worst form of hypocrites.
Idaho deserves better.