I've been meaning to write this
post for about the past week and a half but have been germinating over what to
say. This may do little more than scratch the surface but it's something
still need to think about right now.
Like the majority of Americans I was shocked when news broke of the Supreme
Court opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that's most likely going to overturn Roe v
Wade, the 1973 ruling that struck down state laws outlawing abortion. If
this is correct something that has been a constitutionally-protected right this
country for 49 years will become illegal in much of the country, stripping
those who can get pregnant the ability to make the decision of what to do with
said pregnancy when it happens.
With this leak many Americans have found themselves angry and have taken to the
streets in protest in actions ranging from simple protest rallies to at least
one instance I know about of an intersection being blocked. All of this
occurring while the corporate-owned mainstream media seems to have taken the
right focusing on the leak rather than the content in the leak.
By letting the news story be about the leak rather than about half the
population of a constitutional right the corporate-owned mainstream media
dilute some of the anger from the story. It also runs the risk of what's
really at stake at this does happen.
Those in the pro forced childbirth camp (most of them aren't actually "pro life" so we will not call them that) claim that by getting rid of Roe it will provide
protection to what they consider "unborn babies." what it really will
do is make access to abortion virtually a
nonentity if you are not middle to upper middle-class or above. At the same
time at this decision will be released this many states that would seek
to Outlaw abortion (if they wouldn't already outlawed do to fucked up trigger
laws that would automatically make abortion illegal once Roe is overturned) will place various laws to push through said bans and punish those that perform or seek them (we;ll touch upon that later in the post). These states, in many cases,
also don't have infrastructure in place to help the possible rise in expectant
mothers who would be struggling financially with next to no relief and no
options thanks to right wing ignorance and short-sightedness. And some of these
states baby been cut unemployment benefits and would force people to take
lower-paying jobs under the guise of "keeping the economy going."
In addition, there is no mandatory maternity or paternity leave in this
country, and there seems to be a mockery of the idea of extending that very
same right to people from many of those who desire to take away the right of a woman (as well as those trans men and
non-binary people can get pregnant) from being able to control their own bodies
and plan their own families if they so choose.
Overturning Roe will also do is play a role in stripping back to rights men at
least five or six decades. People forget that it wasn't until the 1970s
but a woman could have a bank account in her own name. It was also around
that time that people began to slowly realize it's wrong for a woman to be
raped by her husband (yes, sickeningly enough, marital rape was legal until
sometime within the last five decades). I give these two examples the show
things have in fact come along way for women in those five decades but, if Roe
goes away then those rights we take for granted could be on shaky ground as
well.
On the more immediate front, stripping away the right to choose doesn't affect
just abortion. Being forced to have a child before you're ready also
potentially limits job prospects (having to take care of a kid is a time
commitment that can't eat up time normally spent studying or working even when
the child is wanted) as well as possibly forcing women into bad and/or abusive
relationships because of the pregnancy (and the pressure to stick together for
the kids). While these everyday doors are bad enough late for those who
can get pregnant whether they are women, trans men, or non binary people is
even worse and more horrendous than pre Roe.
Several states have legislation in the pipe that would make it illegal women to
go to a state where abortion is legal to take care of the procedure. Never
mind that legislation such as this in reality actually violates the right to
travel that most Americans assume is automatic, legislation like this basically
makes those who can get pregnant prisoners under a repressive form of house
arrest and gives them less rights than residents of said states born with a
penis. Some states are even planning state laws that would prosecute abortion
providers in states where are the procedure would still be legal the face
prison time or doing what is legal in the state they worked in if they perform
an abortion on someone living in a state where it isn't legal.
In other words, states where abortion would be outlawed are planning to
prosecute and imprison women buys they're not ready to have a kid and choose to
have an abortion, possibly with homicide charges. This differs from before Roe
v Wade in that back then fetal life wasn't the reason why was it illegal and
prosecutions tended to be related to vice and morals issues more than anything
else. They also generally didn't target the women that sought out abortions but targeted doctors. This time around,
though the legislation proposed against abortion rights in various states has a
hatefulness to it that targets women as well as LGBTQ people and non binary people who
can get pregnant. Their proponents almost seem to salivate at the chance to
punish these people if they make a choice that goes against interpretation of a
specific religion that seems to have grabbed one political party in this country
rather than laws based in reality.
Who this would really target though are poor and lower middle class women,
especially those that aren't white, who often don't have the resources or
aren't able to get the time the travel hours out of their way to you have a
medical procedure they should rightfully have access to. Laws like these also
are hard to enforce on those who can get pregnant who are at least middle
middle class or higher-income who have more resources and may be able to travel
more easily and without questions to have the procedure done.
It should be clear at this point that while these laws might not mention race
or class specifically. The people who would most likely be affected by this
would be non-white women and poor people of all races. Some of these people
will face more desperate situations pigeons well upper-class white women will
be able to able to make the decision Bible where they can with minimal hassle
(and you know damn well that this purses of corporate CEOs and right-wing
politicians what happened abortions done no questions asked - all while the
latter proposes and passes more restrictive laws to limit what those who can
get pregnant do with their bodies).
Now some moderates and right-wingers may try to gaslight those being alarmed at
this, claiming it's about protecting "the unborn" and wouldn't really
affect other parts of life. The problem with this is shit like this always
snowballs and has unintended consequences that takes rights form people other than those targeted). Even before this decision became public right-wingers are already
proposing that the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell v Hodges, the 2013 SCOTUS decision that made same-sex
marriages legal nationwide. Also, a number of right-wing politicians are already proposing going
after the right to contraception (something, ironically enough, that lessens
the number of abortions), either wanting them outlawed out right or making it
illegal for single women to have birth control. Even if this is nothing more than
culture-war talking points heading to the midterms the fact that some people in
positions of power or even proposing this shows that this has nothing to do
with protecting families or even protecting those who can get pregnant but is actually
about control, power, and a desire to punish those who don't fit their
narrow definition of what their interpretation of their religion says people
should live and love.
As I mentioned earlier one heartening thing about all the sickening turn in the
wars on both women and LGBTQ people who can get pregnant is that is has pissed
off a lot of people and made them take out to the street in protest, from the
typical marches to, in some instances, people blocking traffic to peaceful
protests outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices, who are crying butt hurt
over this supposed " invasion" of their privacy even as barriers were
put up in front of the Supreme Court so people couldn't protest there. This
anger and outrage (as well as the desire to fight against it) is unlikely to go
away - nor should it. And I have a feeling once the ruling is made public that
people will be in the streets voicing their outrage over SCOTUS and right-wing
politicians taking rights away from over half the country's population.
This is going to get tense, and possibly ugly, but it will have to be done.
As I post this the US Senate is voting on The Women's Health Protection Act,
which would codify Roe v Wade into federal law (something they should have done
a long damn time ago). Like many I called my senators (though those doing so in
blood red states may wonder if it does any damn good). The Democrats seem to be
slightly recharged by this (we'll focus on that in another post) but if this
vote fails they better be prepared to bring it up until they get it passed. It
will take a while but establishment Dems need to fight their natural urge to
cave to Coupublicans and actually work for the people instead of their wealthy
donors to make this so.
The upcoming SCOTUS ruling on Roe isn't completely unexpected given the
shenanigans Coupublicans have pulled they've had control of Congress.
However at this point in time it will not be the end of the story people will
need to fight back against this and realize that things are going to get worse
and very very ugly before they get better.
Yes, I’m aware that this post is a very brief detailing of what’s at stake here if Roe v Wade is overturned but it should be something to consider for those wondering what the fuss is about or those naïve enough to think that the right wing will stop with abortion and not touch other rights. They want to push the country back decades and it’s up to the rest of us to do what we can to fight that tide and stop it.
