By the time I get to Arizona

Addendum to an earlier post: thank you, Arizona, for making the real issues in the war on women exceedingly clear. Today, the Arizona governor signed a law outlawing abortion after 20 weeks — and the time a woman has been pregnant begins with the onset of her last period. This Orwellian rule is, of course, designed to keep women from making the choice to abort a pregnancy that, only during tests around 20 weeks, is determined to be non-viable in any way that’s less than utterly tragic. But what the rule shows more than anything is that the whole movement against women’s reproductive choice simply has nothing to do with children or their protection. The rule is, by definition, about women’s bodies and their regulation. As chilling as the passing of this kind of law is, at least it makes plain the intent of the whole movement — not to protect innocent fetuses but to make sure that the state has more power over what women do with their bodies than they do. It’s always been about women, not about children. Now, at least, the “pro-life” idea is unmasked for the “anti-woman” agenda it’s always been. What will come of this moment remains to be seen, but at least the terms are clear.