Song of the Day 8/18: Patty Griffin, “Be Careful”

From a political standpoint, the end of Roe v. Wade has been a boon for Democrats. From a practical standpoint it’s causing, and will continue to cause, misery, injury and death to women. The saddest part of it is that Republicans, in their ignorance, never realized what their contemptible idea of morality would produce.

We’ll never be able to quantify their suffering because nobody will keep count. Only the worst cases make the news, but there have been plenty of them already.

A state lawmaker in South Carolina made the news — briefly, of course — when he <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/south-carolina-abortion-ban/"expressed regret over voting for current restrictions" and wouldn’t vote for a total ban.

Republican state Rep. Neal Collins revealed that he had sleepless nights after learning that doctors refused to extract the fetus from a 19-year-old woman whose water broke at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Doctors told Collins there was a “greater than 50% chance that she’s going to lose her uterus.” He said there was also a 10% chance that the woman could die of sepsis.

“That weighs on me,” Collins remarked. “I voted for that bill. These are affecting people and we’re having a meeting about this. That whole week I did not sleep.”

The lawmaker’s voice cracked as he explained that the woman had to wait two weeks before the fetus could be extracted without a beating heart.

The legislator chairing the committee meeting cut him off and called for a vote on the ban, which passed.

Without further comment, this song appeared on Patty Griffin’s 2002 album “1000 Kisses.”