.

Abortion

“My body, my choice”
All her life that seemed best,
And especially where
There was rape or incest.

But as early as twelve weeks
A fetus feels pain,
And in just eight weeks’ time
Facial features are plain.

Thus “my body, my choice”
Can no longer seem right,
For she fears that it’s murder
Performed in plain sight.

.

Poet’s Note:  In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court found a Constitutional right to an abortion, up to the point of fetal viability, despite the absence of any such language in the document.  The Court has done that sort of thing many times, even bizarrely attributing new rights to “penumbras, formed by emanations.”  Its Roe decision is now being challenged in a case from Mississippi that the Court will rule on next year.

.

.

Standards

Is it old school
To expect the propriety
Seemingly waning
In modern society?

.

.

Russel Winick recently started writing poetry at nearly age 65, after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


Trending now:

8 Responses

  1. Cheryl Corey

    Russel, your pithy witticisms continue to dazzle. Values such as morality and virtue are too often dismissed today.

    Reply
  2. David Paul Behrens

    Hello Russel. I like these poems very much. I wrote a three verse poem back in 1982 with the same title:

    Abortion

    The media installs the program,
    The bureaucracy does the same.
    You’re Billy or Dave, Sally or Sam,
    Your name is but part of the game.

    The individual is less of a man,
    Or woman, in this world of ours.
    People in power don’t give a damn,
    We are born to die in just hours.

    Abortion is the fashion these days,
    You can kill me before I am born.
    Trying to be born in so many ways,
    My patience is getting quite worn.

    (The third verse in my poem is from the point of view of a soul that keeps getting aborted every time it tries to get born into a body.)

    Reply
  3. Margaret Coats

    Effective ending to the “Abortion” poem, and “Standards” is a gem cut and polished from a single pair of rhyming words!

    Reply
  4. Russel Winick

    Thanks Margaret. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

    Reply
  5. Julian D. Woodruff

    The Dobbs case, from Mississippi, should be decided by the Supreme Court by the end of June or possibly well before.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.