We’ve got to talk about abortion and Roe v. Wade
SOCIETY
Cecily Strong shares her own abortion story as ‘Goober the Clown’ in a Saturday Night Live sketch that aired November 6, 2021. Really strong and important (and wildly funny). Something tells me Goober might make an appearance again this Saturday. Watch the sketch on YouTube.
Ever since the news broke of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, I’ve been really thinking about the far-reaching - and incredibly scary - scenarios that we could soon be dealing with. And it’s hard to even go there, I know.
I mean, just look at all that we’ve collectively endured over the last several years.
2016 was in many ways one of the ugliest, most negative and hateful presidential campaigns in history. We started to see the worst of humanity not only come out of hiding, but into the spotlight.
2019 we see a new virus emerge from China that led to a global pandemic that we’re still working our way out of. Millions have lost loved ones. Many are still dealing with symptoms.
The 2020 election was fueled by lies of a “stolen” or “rigged” outcome. But even that was nothing compared to what occurred January 6, 2021, when we almost saw this whole “American Experiment” crumble before our very eyes.
What else could we possibly have to deal with? Can’t we just get a break?
Oh, come on!
I, like many of you, was not prepared to mentally deal with what it means to overturn Roe v. Wade (the landmark decision that guarantees the right to abortion nationwide). I always knew it was a possibility, but overturning that decision would surely be more of a focus during a Republican administration, right?
This all got me thinking about this entire situation - and the whole thing smells fishy, in more ways than one (and I’ll dive into more of that in the coming weeks).
First of all, why was some of the original outrage on this draft opinion about how it was leaked? Imagine thinking the victims of this story are the nine, lifetime-appointed justices who are making this decision - or the institution itself?
Here’s a headline from The New York Times:
I honestly don’t care about how the Supreme Court feels, or if this does hurt the institution. What kind of pride in our institutions can we really have if we’re looking at overturning settled law? (Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973)
Here’s another headline, this time from CNN, in the moments after Politico broke the news.
Anyone else find it interesting that John Roberts immediately ordered an investigation into the leak of a draft opinion, but not into the role Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife had in the days leading up to January 6?
John Roberts was appointed by Republican George W. Bush. And I bring that up, because of this particular passage in the original Politico story:
“A person familiar with the court’s deliberations said that four of the other Republican-appointed justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — had voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices after hearing oral arguments in December, and that line-up remains unchanged as of this week.
The three Democratic-appointed justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — are working on one or more dissents, according to the person. How Chief Justice John Roberts will ultimately vote, and whether he will join an already written opinion or draft his own, is unclear.”
Six of the current nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents. And it’s been no secret that the party as a whole has been looking to strip away abortion rights.
But I am starting to think that Democrats don’t care, either. Here’s a recent comment from Reddit that got me down a certain path of thinking (more in a bit).
Barack Obama had a chance to codify Roe v. Wade in 2009 and ultimately chose to pursue other priorities. Here’s a passage from an article earlier this year from The 19th (bold added by me for emphasis):
“Abortion rights advocates found an ally in then-Sen. Barack Obama, who told Planned Parenthood early in his Democratic White House bid that “the first thing I’d do as president” would be to codify Roe by signing the latest iteration of the Freedom of Choice Act. But four months into his presidency, Obama said it was “not my highest legislative priority” and suggested energy would be better spent reducing unintended pregnancies.”
It’s not like the Democratic party has moved much to the left since Obama, so I can’t imagine this is a top priority. Obama’s V.P. is now our president if that tells you anything. And Obama even had the audacity to release a statement after the draft opinion was leaked that ended like this:
“Join with them (activists) in urging Congress to codify Roe into law. And vote alongside them on or before November 8 and in every other election. Because in the end, if we want judges who will protect all, and not just some, of our rights, then we’ve got to elect officials committed to doing the same.”
The people did join activists in 2008 and voted in Obama, the guy who promised to codify Roe v. Wade into law. He didn’t. Now, he wants us all to join with activists and you know, ‘just get out there and vote.’ Pathetic.
I don’t know how anyone with a heartbeat can not be completely disillusioned by the way things are going.
I want to go back to a part of that Reddit comment from above: “...while people are consumed by this both parties can continue to serve the interests of the oligarchs who fund them.”
At the end of the day, you have to remember that the ruling class (politicians) don’t live the same lives we do. Overturning Roe v. Wade has nothing to do with morality or the sanctity of life. It has to do with keeping our capitalist society humming along.
In order to do that, we need plenty of workers - but there’s a bit of a problem.
And then there’s this from a piece last year, on public radio program, 1A from NPR:
The U.S. birthrate fell by 4 percent in 2020, hitting a record low, according to the Centers for Disease Control. People are having fewer children than the 2.1 needed to maintain a steady population. That's been true for years across all domestic communities.
According to a Brookings analysis, "U.S. fertility rates are likely to be considerably below replacement levels for the foreseeable future. This is driven by more than a decade of falling birth rates and declining births at all ages for multiple cohorts of women, not simply the aftermath of the pandemic-induced reduction in births."
If we’re already not having kids at a high enough rate to replace the current population (labor pool), that’s a problem for those at the top who derive value from the labor we provide. Don’t believe me? Here are two examples I can think of just off the top of my head.
Citizens United classified corporations as people, allowing their wealthy owners to influence political campaigns and governance with their sizable fortunes. Every election cycle is the “most expensive in history.” Ever wonder why?
COVID-19 disproportionately impacted seniors, as the virus was shown to be more deadly the older you were. Face masks, vaccines and the like were all tools we could use to help mitigate the spread, but if the sickness is only affecting seniors, who cares, right? A “healthy” middle-aged person could catch COVID, be out a couple weeks and then right back to work. A hospital stay? Even better…let’s charge up the medical costs so more money can flow to health insurance CEOs, who can then use those profits to support the political candidate that will keep things running the way they are?
OK, sorry. I’ll put my soapbox away. Let’s get back to Roe v Wade.
If the U.S. is already seeing declining birth rates, banning abortion is one way to counteract that. This is an economic decision, and it’s one that benefits both Republicans and Democrats.
And there it is…in my own inbox.
The final thing I’ll note is how this leak has apparently angered many in the Republican party. Not because of the “sanctity of the court” or “trust in the institution” or anything like that.
I’m convinced they wanted the Roe v. Wade decision (scheduled for June) to distract the public from the findings of the Jan. 6 Commission (also slated for release in June). I’m not the only one who feels this way.
If there’s one thing we should have learned during the Trump administration, it’s to watch out for these distractions. Overturning Roe v. Wade would be a HUGE one, with deadly consequences for women, families, and dreams around the world.
Rose / Bud / Thorn
Rose (the good)
The good news from this revelation this week is that we aren’t seeing the final decision. These opinions are circulated and pondered, deconstructed, re-written, and sometimes re-decided.
Also, we have seen world leaders and some states, including Nevada (where I live), offer firm commitments to maintaining protections for abortion access.
Thorn (the bad)
Democrats are pushing to vote to codify Roe v. Wade. Wait, that’s good news, right? The Dems have majorities in both chambers of Congress plus the White House.
Not so fast, they also don’t have the votes.
In the split Senate, Democrats can’t count on support from Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, nor from none other than West Virginia’s Joe Manchin. Does anyone else think Manchin just really likes all the attention?
Bud (what I’m looking ahead to)
I’m really concerned that overturning Roe v. Wade would be a crucial blow to privacy. Many don’t realize that Roe v. Wade was decided on privacy, not reproductive rights, so overturning this decision could have serious ripples.
Here’s a bit from an article in the Des Moines Register from 2019:
“The Supreme Court’s decision finding a right to privacy arose in a 1965 case involving the right of a married couple to use contraception called Griswold v. Connecticut. But the right has become responsible for court decisions supporting adult rights to sexual intimacy, to gay marriage, and to the rights of parents to make family decisions, such as whether their children are home-schooled or go to religious schools. The right to privacy also supports an adult’s right to decide their medical care, and an adult’s right to die, by rejecting medical care in certain circumstances.”
Whew boy. There’s a lot more ahead of us, folks. Don’t tire out just yet.
Weekly Recommendation
Read the freaking draft opinion in its entirety and make up your own mind on what’s going on.
Thank You!
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Be good to each other!
Cheers,
Noah