At their recent convention, the National Education Association, of which the Mississippi Association of Educators is an affiliate, affirmed a new business item that reads:
“The NEA will include an assertion of our defense of a person’s right to control their own body, especially for women, youth, and sexually marginalized people. The NEA vigorously opposes all attacks on the right to choose and stands on the fundamental right to abortion under Roe v. Wade.”
This is a sharp change from prior years when they attempted to walk more of a middle ground, saying they support “reproduction freedom,” not abortion, while bragging about not spending money in regards to pro-abortion legal services.
As we have seen with the left, abortion has moved from “safe, legal, and rare,” to legal until the moment of birth and funded by taxpayers. And if you disagree with that you are evil, anti-woman, and essentially support violence against women.
But the bigger question is, is it necessary for the NEA, or its affiliates, to take a position on abortion? NEA is certainly a left-wing organization, that has never been in doubt. But, what does abortion have to do with education or teachers?
One might presume a rejected item that calls for a renewed emphasis on quality education would be more in line with the NEA. That read:
“The National Education Association will re-dedicate itself to the pursuit of increased student learning in every public school in America by putting a renewed emphasis on quality education. NEA will make student learning the priority of the Association. NEA will not waiver in its commitment to student learning by adopting the following lens through which we will assess every NEA program and initiative: How does the proposed action promote the development of students as lifelong reflective learners?”
But, alas, the union rejected those ideas.
According to the most recent data available from the union, the NEA has just 4,561 members in Mississippi, compared to over 54,000 in Alabama. The numbers in Mississippi show a 5 percent drop in the past five years.