What is Alabama thinking?

Two weeks ago Alabama passed a law making abortion illegal even in instances of rape and incest.

Last week Alabama public television refused to air the season premier of Arthur because it featured a same sex wedding.

It’s weird that a state legislature thinks it can permanently role back the clock on progress in an entire state. Right? What are they hoping to achieve? A bastion of bigotry amidst a sea of growing equality? A stronghold where middle aged white men (the entirety of the Alabama legislature who voted for this abortion bill) assert absolute control over women’s bodies?

Are they seeking to be a backward and bigoted state in a country where liberty and freedom is constantly expanding?

Based on polling in 2019 done by Pew, a majority of Americans (61%) support same-sex marriage, while 31% oppose it. That support has grown year over year since 2004 and continues to grow.

Today, 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Support for abortion is at its highest level since 1996.

Alabama also ranks last or nearly last in terms of education and the poverty rate. The state that has banned a cartoon featuring same sex marriage and has made abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest has also failed to educate its citizens and help them to achieve a prosperous life.

I have at least two friends who grew up in Alabama. These are brilliant, bold people who do not reflect the values of the Alabama in the news today. I’m quite certain that they are not alone. There are many progressive Alamabians who share the views of the majority of Americans.

How odd it must be to live in a state so hell-bent on reversing the course of history. How strange it must be to watch your representatives attempt to undermine and eliminate the equality and basic human rights that Americans have come to embrace today.

All while becoming the least educated, most impoverished state in the union.