Pasquale Toscano

We jokingly called it “the daycare.” The green backpack unfolded into a Pokémon playset, a plastic eyesore that consistently entertained a group of seven-year-olds for hours. During the early months of the pandemic, I lugged the Pokémon Carry Case Playset to parks and playgrounds then marveled at how it occupied my younger son and his friends. No more complaints about being cold at their older brothers’ flag football games. No more whining about being bored at chilly soccer practices.

As it happens, Thomas was concurring in the court’s decision not to rule on the Indiana law, thereby leaving intact a lower court’s ruling striking it down. But the issue will surely be back. Meanwhile, in supporting laws like the one in Indiana, a bevy of conservative pundits have echoed Thomas’s concerns and his language. For many people, including us, the thought of aborting a fetus because of an impairment is a troubling one. But legalized abortion is not the problem to be solved.

I’m at the doctor’s office watching him study my chart when a frown crinkles his cheeks. He looks up, and I know what he’s about to say. “According to the BMI, you’re obese.” “Is that so?” “You need to diet and exercise more,” the physician, who has a chiseled physique, scolds. “Given your condition, life will be much better if you trim down.” Before I have a chance to respond, he moves on.