In probably the most expected Supreme Court decision in history as a result of a leak of the first draft. The Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, overturning a Constitutional right women had enjoyed for fifty years. So what happens now?
Over at Fox News, it’s being described as the overturning of a law that was always wrongly decided, the result of “mostly women” who never gave up in the fight to get rid of the law, and they express their fears that “Pro-Life” groups would be subject to violence. They are wondering what the Justice Department will do to protect those in favor of the ruling.
Justice Roberts went to great pains to say the ruling would have no effect on contraception, interracial and gay marriage, Brown v. Board, or anything else. They ignored Clarence Thomas in a concurring opinion saying all the precedents that established those other rights should be looked at as well.
“We should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is “demonstrably erroneous.”— Clarence Thomas
Republicans in Congress have already suggested that these other things be looked at so why pretend it isn’t going to happen? Look for Republicans in the House to introduce legislation to expand restrictions on abortion nationwide because that’s what they think will give them national prominence and keep them in office. Many states will not only limit or eliminate abortions in their states but try to make it illegal to cross state lines to where abortion is legal.
In Congress, the House will quickly draft some legislation to keep abortion legal nationwide. Even if it passes by a slim margin, the Senate will not consider the bill and let it die a slow death in Congressional purgatory.
Democrats will make calls to turn out Republicans, they see it as a wedge issue that could possibly keep them from losing the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The Democratic Senators that saw fir to vote for Trump’s nominees that clearly intended to overturn Roe like Susan Collins and Joe Manchin, will claim the court’s action was unforeseeable, how could they possibly know?
More women will die, the poorer the more likely. Whether because they have more late-term abortions because they had to wait while scrounging up money for abortions which just became much more expensive, or they go to untrained people in unsanitary conditions because it was their only option available. Others will die because they will lose some of the health care options provided to women that choose to keep their babies by institutions that will be driven to close because of these institutions.
Some women will be forced to have babies conceived in rape. While that was the policy during enslavement because forced breeding and rape were the drivers in the production line to create more enslaved people. It hadn’t been the law of the land in some time. Women in some states will be forced to carry children born of incest. How is that going to work out for those families?
Republicans generally will try to avoid the subject, they’ll put their women out front to fight the look that a bunch of old white men are making decisions about women’s bodies. They will cry “state’s rights,” which is the same rationale used for defending enslavement and Jim Crow.
The variable is the people and what are they willing to do to force a change. A vocal minority never let up for fifty years until they got what they wanted. There certainly will be protests, will they accomplish anything or just fade away? Time will tell.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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