THE GANTT REPORT, By Lucius Gantt
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers around the world and a pleasant, peaceful and stress-free day to the mothers that enjoy reading The Gantt Report sometimes.
This column may appear in your publications after the holiday but I want good mothers to know that every day should be mothers day.
Nobody loves you like your mother.
The first week of May 2022 also commemorates World Press Freedom Day, a day to recognize and celebrate independent journalists that have risked their lives, lost their reputations and jeopardized their careers to be messengers for the people and the truth.
Today, I’ll try to opine about a possible Supreme Court upcoming decision that could ban abortions and throw in what journalists should do in reporting and commenting about rights.
Well, there’s a time and place for everything. And, oftentimes one has to exceed a so-called right, to prevent or stop a wrong. Rosa Parks sat on a bus seat that she wasn’t supposed to so you could sit anywhere you want to.
About 70% of Americans have no problem with laws that gives women a Constitutional right to choose and about 30% of US residents believes the government should ban abortions.
Hmmm? Republican elected officials, following the orders of the Russian Babayka, say they want “life” but they vote against child care, health care, affordable housing, school lunches, baby medicines and other things that living children need.
I’m not going to get into the debate about abortions. Anything said will be unacceptable to some men or women.
I will suggest that you look at the big picture. If politicians can plot and scheme and fight to change the laws on women’s rights, how easy can it be for the same elected officials to change laws about civil rights, voting rights, land rights, water rights, privacy rights, patient rights and other rights?
As bad as the draft of a possible Supreme Court rulings is, the devilish people that wrote the decision, in cahoots with federal, state and local Republicans that don’t support the wishes of the majority of Americans, are worse!
Brother and sisters, it’s all about money, power and politics. They want that money. They want that power.
The billionaires that own companies that you patronize give money to Republican politicians that want abortion bans because they want an abortion ban too. Billionaires also want politicians they can control.
The politicians have a choice, tell the voters the truth, or tell the lies that they are told to tell by crooks and profiteers.
By now, Gantt Report readers should know, in politics, you never win and you never lose. Lobbyists keep it that way so they can keep getting paid by coming back year after year and arguing about the same issues.
It doesn’t matter what the politicians and justices do or do not do about abortions, voters can ultimately decide to kick bad politicians to the curb.
If you are as old as I am, abortions will never stop. Today, women need doctors and clinics to terminate a pregnancy but it the old days, some women went to see a lady in the hood that terminated pregnancies with a metal coat hanger, I was told. Women died sometimes during those kinds of procedures.
Journalists must not only report “what” they should write and talk about “why”.
This column may appear in your publication after the holiday because I was out of the country. I encourage papers to post the column [to] web sites immediately so moms can read it sooner.
Over 40 years, I’ve been somewhat punctual. God willing, columns will not be delayed unless necessary.
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.