The Wizard of Oz is a brilliant movie, especially when you factor in the time it was made. From top to bottom, with the script, music, performances, costumes, and color, it’s nearly a perfect movie. And for cartoonists, it’s full of metaphors. Who hasn’t used flying monkeys in a cartoon? I usually stop at flying monkeys, but most other cartoonists mine the entire film for references in their work. The late great Dick Locher, who drew Dick Tracy and was an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, once wrote a column about his love for using the Wizard of Oz in his cartoons. He had no shame in it, nor should he have. But, I have never really connected with using it in my cartoons, other than with the flying monkeys.

The flying monkeys are perfect for MAGA so I got a lot of use out of that metaphor. But I’ve never been able to connect to the rest of the movie. Honestly, for cartoons, it’s always bored me. So I struggled a bit with drawing this because I had a hard time getting into it. While I felt it was a good cartoon, I had doubts because of my anti-Wiz instincts. So I felt some relief when Laura, one of my proofreaders told me she liked it (without my having to fish for a compliment).

I told Laura about my doubts (I have them often), and she reassured me by saying, “Hey, who belongs in abortion commentary more than a teenage girl who spends a lot of time with men into cosplay? I’d say Dorothy has a stake in the issue.”

I told her that was going into the blog because it made me literally laugh out loud.

And Kansas seems to understand that Dorothy and all women in that state have a stake in the issue. Last night, Kansas voters resoundingly decided against removing the right to abortion from the state constitution.

It wasn’t a close victory either with the vote coming down to 59 percent in favor of keeping abortion as a right to 41 percent who opposed. This is a solid rejection of the United State Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that had protected abortion rights throughout the country. 

Republican lawmakers across the nation are in a frenzy to ban all abortions in yee-haw states, even when the life of the mother is in danger. Even in the case of rape and incest. Kansas is the first time it’s been given to voters instead of fundamentalist fucknut lawmakers. Kansas voters said no.

Here’s the thing, kids. Kansas is a yee-haw state. Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Kansas in 2020, 56 percent to 41 percent. In that election, Kansas was 19 percent more Republican than the national average. Abortion got a higher percentage last night than Trump got in 2020.

How bad is it for this nation that Kansas is more liberal and reasonable than the Supreme Court?

Kansas is not pro-abortion. It’s not liberal about abortion. It’s not a liberal position to want abortion to remain legal, despite what Republicans tell you. Republicans are the ones who are extreme on this issue. Forcing a ten-year-old to have her rapist’s baby is the extreme position.

It’s safe to say that the majority of Kansas voters would allow restrictions on abortion, but they don’t want it banned outright. Today, abortion is legal in Kansas up to the 22nd week of pregnancy. Other Republican fucknut yee-haw states are trying to ban it outright. Who knew Kansas was more liberal than Ohio?

Republicans put this measure on the ballot believing they were on the right side of the issue. They thought Kansas voters would send a message to the nation on banning abortion. They were right. The right-wing conservative majority of Kansas said to keep abortion as a constitutional right. Oops.

In 2017, Gallup found that 70 percent of Republicans wanted abortion to remain legal. It said 56 percent wanted it legal in some circumstances while 14 percent said all. In 2018, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 52 percent of Republicans did NOT want Roe v. Wade overturned. A study by the Pew Research Center published June 13, 2022, found that 61 percent of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases

Republicans learned something last night. They learned not to give the issues to voters again. While I’m sure all the yee-haw states would love to restrict the hell out of abortion, I bet the majority of voters in every state would vote to keep abortion legal. I bet the majority of voters in every state think it’s a really horrible position to force a child to give birth to her rapist’s baby. The fact is, the majority of this nation is pro-choice.

What kind of monster would force a child to give birth to her rapist’s baby? A fundamentalist fucknut Republican monster.

Pro-choice is not pro-abortion. Pro-choice people don’t love abortion.

Years ago when my little sister was a teenager, I asked if she was pro-life or pro-choice. She said she was pro-life as she thought abortion was wrong and she could never see herself getting one. So I said, “So, you believe abortion should be illegal.” And she said, “God, no. That option should be there, especially in the case of rape and incest. I just wouldn’t get one.” Then I had to give my little sister the horrible news that she was pro-choice. Now, she may have changed her mind since then since she’s gone full MAGA, but my point is, pro-choice is not pro-abortion.

The fact is, abortion should remain legal, even if you hate it.

Republicans can click their heels all they want but it won’t stop their anti-abortion position from always being the wrong position. Republicans know this too. You can bet they won’t put any more abortion questions on red state ballots again.

Music note: No, I did NOT listen to the Wizard of Oz soundtrack while drawing this. I listened to Weezer.

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