DCup points out that today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v Wade, which as all scissorheads know was the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. So more than a generation have lived with this landmark decision, and yet, it is still on the front pages of many newspapers, and frankly on many of our minds. So what is the state of Roe v Wade today?

Regular readers know I support abortion rights, or even the more genteel term, “Choice,” and they also know that when in high school I took a childhood friend to the Planned Parenthood clinic to have the procedure. Her well-connected boyfriend was suddenly “not available.” I was party to the anguish her unfortunate situation created for so many people.

So here we are, 35 years later. Abstinence is being taught in schools, and while declining, the US still has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the developed world. Wouldn’t you think that the fundamentalists would be doing everything in their power to help kids prevent pregnancies?

Well you would be wrong.

Georgia’s HR 536, the so-called Human Life Amendment, would reclassify virtually all forms of contraception as being abortions. While this may seem a matter of semantic hair splitting, what this amendment would do, if passed, is codify that life begins at the fertilization of the egg. Anything that destroys the fertilized egg is therefore subject to laws regarding homicides. (And if you think I jest, this is from the Human Life Amendment’s website, their own words. Click the link for Memorandum regarding Prolife Strategy Issues to read their legalistic plans.)

Today, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is scheduled to travel to Georgia, where he plans to lend his support to HR 536. So, you see, for many anti-choice voters, Huckabee is aces. He walks the walk and talks the talk. And even now, 35 years later, the question of choice, of a woman’s right to control her own body, is still being debated.