What Just Happened?
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade (Roe) and Casey v Planned Parenthood. Needless to say it was a dark day in American jurisprudence. Worse, many of the freedoms and rights, gained by women and the LGBTQ community seem to be on the brink of extinction as well. This ruling has upended almost 50 years of judicial precedent. Discarded as if it did not mean a thing. These rights are bestowed upon people at birth because we are all human beings. Not because it says so in the Bible but because they are our natural rights, each and every one of us.
The original plan that Chief Justice Roberts wanted was an incremental approach to this whole process. The goal was still to overturn Roe but over time. Not since 1937 had the Chief justice been the Court's swing vote. But that did not last long. Chief Justice Roberts wanted to nudge the court to the right in small steps. This might have worked until Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative appointee by then President Trump, created a new "Gang of Five". It was all downhill from there.
These are excerpts from a New York Times article by Adam Liptar of 6/24/2022;
"Precedent plays an important role in promoting stability and evenhandedness," said Chief Justice Roberts once believed.
"A narrower decision rejecting the misguided viability line would be markedly less unsettling and nothing more is needed to decide this case." This was Chief Justice Roberts on Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization and the Roe decision.
"But he (Chief Justice Roberts) was outflanked by five justices to his right, who instead reduced Roe to rubble."
The result is what we are all painfully aware of now. Allegations that Justices lied during their hearings and private interviews with Senators have been brought to light as well.
Justice Brett Kavanuagh during his Senate affirmation hearings;
"As a judge, it is important precedent of the Supreme Court. By it, I mean Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey (have) been reaffirmed many times. Casey is precedent on precedent."
Gorsuch's reply to a similar question was nearly identical. Those beliefs did not seem to slow them down once their majority was established. But wait the horrors are just beginning.
Alioto writes, "Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion."
Then Justice Thomas responded with this; The court should go on to overrule three "demonstrably erroneous decisions". Those of Same Sex Marriage, Gay Intimacy and Contraception. And there it is. We are actually moving backwards.
The brave response from liberal Governors in the states of Washington, Oregon and California have put up a defensive wall to protect the rights of women. Even Nevada will participate to a certain degree. There is a great quote from California Governor Gavin Newsome warning us of what is to come with future Supreme Court rulings.
"I'm a little less sorry than I am pissed, a little less sorry than I am resolved and angry." Later he warned that the Supreme Court could soon reverse its stance on other key issues. "They're coming after you next - period. Full stop. This is not just about women. This is not just about choice. It's not just about reproductive freedom. They're coming after you next."
What happened? How did it come to this? There is a great quote from The New Republic describing a very real problem with democratic politics;
"For the GOP, change comes after long periods of hard work, steady funding, and maintaining enthusiasm and momentum through periods of setback. For Democrats, change is reactive, coming only after the GOP's ambitions have hurt just enough people to make Republican rule untenable."
I find the clarity in this statement to be overwhelming. My wife asked me the other day, "Why were we not ready for this?" And I had no answer for her. But deep down I knew why. I think many of us have know why we were not ready for this. We have known this was a possibility for 50 years. We know that the GOP has been actively working for this for 50 years. And hats off to them. It took awhile but they finally got what they wanted. As children we all learn the fable of the "Tortoise and the Hare" and the ending has never changed. Slow and steady wins the race, the tortoise always wins. Democrats need to take this lesson to heart. There is a significant majority who want women to have abortion rights to some degree, so why is this happening?
We hold the power! We need to organize and never stop applying the pressure. We need keen leadership to navigate us through this storm. The power has been sent back to the states. What we need to do is carefully take a look around at our leadership to see if they are the right ones to get the job done. If not? Then let us get people into position who will work for what we want. We control the power so that means we control the narrative.
I want to leave you with a great couple of quotes from the Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau. This was taken from an article by John Paul Tasker of CBS news.
"no government, politician or man should force a woman to carry out a pregnancy"
"women in Canada know that we will always stand up for your right to choose."
He also went on to say that American women were welcome to come to Canada for abortions and they would come at no cost. Which is funny because I never would have believed that Mexico and Canada would be far more progressive that our own country.
