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Canadians must be vigilant after U.S. Supreme Court decision

ANNE CROSSMAN news@saltwire.com @SaltWireNetwork Anne Crossman is a former journalist and media manager. She now does volunteer work in her community of Centrelea, Annapolis County.

Not to be overly dramatic but I am as angry, perplexed, and worried this week as I was when I awoke in the early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2016, to learn that Donald Trump had won the presidential election in the United States of America.

The U.S. is huge – not as big in population as some other countries – but huge in worldly influence.

It is rich in wealth, in innovation, in science and space. It has been a young, vigorous entity in the world. It was naïve sometimes, but we forgave some of those gentle little quirks as being kind of charming.

But there is now a dark cloud spreading across that map. The cloud is called by many names – bigotry, racism, small-mindedness, uneducated, meanness, right-wing philosophy, religious zeal, my-wayor-you’re-dead, gun-toting, lying political swamp, and fear – lots of fear.

And you might ask, “Why should you care about what happens in another country?”

That’s a very good question.

The answer is, “Because we are surrounded by it – below, to the northwest and the far west.”

We share a defence system. Think of the recent announcement that North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be beefed up again across the Canadian Arctic.

And after Trump, there was Jan. 6, 2021, and now there is this U.S. Supreme Court overturning of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. I do remember when that decision was made.

Why should we care here in Canada? Because there are bits and pieces of that dark cloud seeping into this country.

I remember hearing of some of the horrors that went on before that decision. I know some of what happened in this country when there was no safe way to have an abortion. The infections that made a woman sterile. The deaths that resulted from the so-called “backroom” abortions.

There are as many reasons to end a pregnancy as there are women in the world. Each and every one must have the right – not the privilege – to make that decision herself. Some may choose not to for various reasons. That is also their right.

We must be vigilant in our country.

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2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281603834156440

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