The "War" on Abortion

In a recent New York Times editorial about the status of abortion titled, “We’re Edging Closer to Civil War.” opinion writer Charles M. Blow admits, after more than 500 words of ranting about the evils of slavery, “The civil war I see is not the kind that would leave hundreds of thousands of young men dead in combat. That is not to say that we aren’t seeing spates of violence but rather that this new war will be fought in courts, statehouses and ballot boxes, rather than in the fields.”

Mr. Blow has excellent credentials as a writer, commentator, and graphic artist, but I have been unable to discover where he obtained his expertise in warfare. He doesn’t seem to have served in the military, or to have studied military history. It shows. It shows especially when he compares disputes settled “in courts, statehouses and ballot boxes” to war. Anyone who has ever been in a war knows that in war, disputes are settled with bullets, not ballots. By force of violence, not by force of law.

Comparing legal maneuvering in courts and legislatures to the most deadly and violent war in the entire history of the United States is simply obscene. More American soldiers died in the Civil War than in both world wars together. More American non-combatants died in the Civil War than in all other US wars in history, combined. How many of the legislators, lawyers, or their clients in Mr. Blow’s “abortion civil war” have been killed, disabled, or maimed for life in the conflict? How many cities have been destroyed? It’s a dispute, but it’s not a war.

Charles M. Blow is well-known as a writer, especially about LGBTQ+ politics. As an experienced political commentator, he may have great expertise about politics. I wouldn’t know; I’m not a politician. Being an openly avowed bisexual, Mr. Blow obviously knows lots more about LGBTQ+ issues than I do. But I am a combat veteran. In equating courtroom drama to the Civil War, Mr. Blow insults everyone who has ever worn a uniform. In publishing his nonsense, the New York Times is giving us all, what I cannot resist calling, “a real Blow job.”