Time To Fight

1969

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.   Neil Armstrong made that remarkable statement as he stepped off the ladder of the Lunar Lander, and for the first time put a human footprint on the moon’s surface.  It was 1969.  I was twelve, watching the grainy black and white video along with millions sitting in their homes.  We were  awed by the first live broadcast from another body in space.  

In those years in the United States, a woman’s ability to get reproductive care, including abortions, depended on where they lived.  In New York, California, Connecticut; a woman could access care, including abortions. But across state borders, in Ohio, Arizona, or almost any state south of the Mason-Dixon line; that same care was a felony, punishable by imprisonment.

Abortionist

That year my family went on our traditional vacation to an island on the Great Lakes in Canada.  We went to the same “tourist” store we always visited, to buy moccasins and Hudson Bay blankets, Viyella flannel shirts and McIntosh’s toffee.  My London-born Mom talked to the woman who ran the store.  She was also from England, and they had all sorts of conversations about their homeland. 

But there was always a distance from her husband, the owner of the store.  Rumor had it that he was an American who fled to Canada, because he was an illegal abortionist.  As a young teenager I’m not even sure I  fully understood what an abortionist did, but it seemed to be a bad, even dirty, thing to be. (Full disclosure –I recently did more research into that store owner – he passed away two years ago at 100 years of age.  He was a born Canadian, a World War II veteran, and a noted entrepreneur who did everything from building boats to flying a plane.  He was not an “abortionist”.  Isn’t that always the way with “rumors”).

1973

In 1973 a lot of those terms “went away”.  Illegal “abortionists”, rumored or true, were no longer applicable.  Women could access the health care they needed, including abortions, as a fundamental right under the Constitution, in every state in the Union.  The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 7-2 decision, found that the Constitution guaranteed a woman’s right to determine what happens to her own body, at least until the time that an unborn fetus could survive birth.  The Court, took a huge step forward for “human-kind” rather than just men.

Over the years that right was re-affirmed by the Court again and again.  The same legal logic that led to recognizing a personal right in the Constitution was extended to gay men and women, and to the transgendered.  It’s been almost half a century of expanding the rights of individuals to make their own choices on the most intimate issues in their lives, who they love, and what happens to their own bodies. 

2022

Friday that right was stripped away. Six Justices joined the decision overturning Roe v Wade.  America took a “giant step backwards for humankind”, and one step closer to a nation where a single religious or political view determines what Americans can do.

We are a nation divided, somehow travelling in two opposite directions at the same time.  In the last decade, we recognized the hidden toll many women were paying in their jobs and their lives.  The “Me Too” movement outed the discrimination and sexual violence many were forced to accept as “part of life or business”.  And the hidden sexism and racism of many of our most important institutions and businesses were revealed and confronted.  

Our Nation recognized that while gender may “look” binary, it is in fact a spectrum of views. Our kids get it:  they take individuals as they are, not forcing them into a “square or circle” world.  It doesn’t matter to them.  The important thing is to be allowed to be your authentic self, and live a fulfilling life.  We accepted gay marriage, and allowed the transgendered to come out from the shadows.

Inherent Right

And all of that is based on that “inherent right” of the Constitution, that calls on the Nation to allow human authenticity.  Unlike the Second Amendment, “the right to bear arms shall not be infringed”, there is no black and white “right to personhood”.  But there are a series of amendments that reference that fundamental privilege:  the Fourth Amendment right to be “…secure in their person…”, the Tenth Amendment reserving powers not delegated to go “…to the people”, the Fourteenth Amendment preventing states from “…abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

But that’s all under threat today.  The logic of Friday’s Supreme Court majority doesn’t just ignore an inherent right for a woman to control her body.  It denies the existence of that inherent right at all.  Sure, the author of the opinion, Justice Alito, promises that this re-interpretation will stop at abortion, at the Roe decision.  But believing that is like believing Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh when they promised the Senate that they would respect, “the long established precedent of Roe v Wade”.  They didn’t, and there is no reason to believe that this Court won’t continue on to strip Americans of their right to be, themselves.

Justice Thomas in a concurring opinion, laid at all out in the open.  If the  “inherent right” doesn’t work in Roe, then it won’t work in Griswold (banning the states from regulating contraception), or Obergefell (legalizing gay marriage), or Lawrence (prohibited bans on gay sex).  And while Justice Thomas failed to mention it for his own personal reason, perhaps even Loving (prevented states from banning inter-racial marriage).

What Does it Take?

If stripping women of their right to determine what happens to their bodies and their lives isn’t already enough motivation to do “something”, then the resulting domino effect must be.

After World War II, German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemoller wrote:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

What Now?

This Court is coming for American rights.  They are single-handedly trying to take us back to a time before humans walked on the moon, and before we recognized true equality in everyone.  We can all be angered by how this Court came about, the product of twenty years of careful planning and political shenanigans and deceit.  But all of that is “under the bridge” now.  They are on the bench, and in the saddle.

What can we do?  The Supreme Court acted against the inherent right to “personhood”.  But there is an alternative – Federal law.  Congress took a “pass” on these difficult issues of abortion and LGBTQ rights.  It made political sense – the un-elected Justices of the Supreme Court with lifetime appointments took the “heat” for those tough decisions, why should the elected politicians in the Congress intervene?  

Congressional Answer

Congress could write Roe and Griswold, Lawrence, Loving and Obergefell into Federal law, just as they wrote the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965.  All that is required is the will, and the majority, to get the job done.  

We aren’t used to Congress taking such political risks.  Think of the “gun control” decision just passed – a decision that did nothing to control guns, but did manage to put some reasonable safety measures on who can purchase them.  That was a “miracle” of bipartisanship, and an all-round good thing.  But it wasn’t all that much.

Or Congress could add four Justices to the Court, making it a 7 to 6 majority of “liberal” Justices.  

And, of course, a Congress dominated by Republicans could do the exact opposite – and make all of these rights against Federal law.  Don’t miss this:  the pro-life movement won a huge battle yesterday.  But they aren’t done – they want a nationwide ban of abortions, red states and blue.  If they could do it federally, they would.  Sure, a Democratic President would veto – as long as there’s a Democratic President.  And if they can’t do it federally, then they will try to do so state-by-state.

War for America

We lost the battle to protect Roe when Donald Trump became President.  His avowed goal was to appoint pro-birth Justices.  And, through fate and Mitch McConnell, he got the opportunity to change the Court and appoint three.  So here we are. 

“First they came for abortion rights, and I did not speak out, because I wasn’t a woman…”

If we wait for “our” turn – it will be too late.

The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave us the charge:

 “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” 

It’s time to fight.  Fight for Congress,  fight for the Presidency,  fight for America. The majority of Americans do not want the future this Supreme Court offers. All we need to do – is vote.