Today, The “Supreme” Court, overturned Roe Vs. Wade.
I am sick to my stomach. Over the past few years, I have developed an intense disrespect for this country, the way its business is conducted and its laws managed, its “democracy” (which was beautifully envisioned but has been poorly executed), and its deep-seated bias toward anyone who is different (different, primarily, from the standard of healthy, white, and male).
If there were ever a time for revolution, this is it. We are rapidly moving backward in time; sooner than we might have expected it, we will be living once again in the late 1800s.
I started the rest of this posting in May and never put it up. I’ll leave it here as it was created:
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When I heard last night about the leaked Supreme Court opinion that, if accepted, would overturn Roe vs. Wade, I cried. And I’ve been filled with anxiety ever since.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/02/roe-v-wade-abortion-supreme-court-draft-opinion
My own feelings about abortion are complicated. I’ve never been in a position where I have considered having one, but I believe the decision is ultimately that of the woman. I know that information put out by both sides on the issue is not completely accurate. For example:
Some women DO use abortion as a method of birth control. It is, however, a very small percentage.
Some women DO decide, as late as six months, that they simply don’t want the responsibility of a child. This, too, is a miniscule number of those seeking late-term abortions.
This is, in fact, a strongly religious issue based on misinterpreted or nonexistant “scripture.”
If it is outlawed–federally or state-wide–abortions will NOT stop. And the incidence of deaths among women will increase. I suspect, also, it will impact this country economically in a way we have never before seen.
Many women have abortions after rape, and many of them are underage. Some used birth control that failed.
If abortion is outlawed, other rights of women will be erased as well.
How do I know? I worked as a counselor at a clinic that provided abortions for about a year. We had women who came in repeatedly–six, seven, and eight times–for abortions. When asked why, they responded that it was just easier, that birth control was so hard to manage, and that condoms were uncomfortable. Although this was not the majority of patients, there were enough to make it a trend.
Likewise, we often referred patients to Dr. Tiller (who was assassinated in 2009 at his church by an anti-abortion protestor), who performed late-term abortions at his clinic in Kansas. I don’t ever remember counseling one of these women who needed an abortion for medical reasons; they hadn’t been able to get the money together (even though late-term abortions are much more expensive, the biological father disappeared and they had no support, they hadn’t had the time earlier (seriously), or they had decided they just didn’t want the responsibility.
None of that is okay. I don’t support abortion used as birth control, and I think 24 weeks is too far along to abort. It doesn’t matter what I think, though, and it doesn’t matter what the courts decide in the long-run. Why? Because women will continue to get abortions no matter the law (some will be done in secret locations and safely, some not), and some doctors will always be willing to provide them. They did before it was legal; they will once it has again be declared illegal.
Here are some other things I know. More women will die as a result of unsafe abortions done in dirty garages, back alleys, in bathrooms with nonsterile instruments, and by untrained people. The suicide rate among women will increase. More babies will be born into a world that can’t support them, that won’t support them. More infants will die due to neglect, malnutrition, and maybe even outright murder. The level of poverty will rise, and the country will be faced with an ever-growing number of single mothers that the very people who pushed to outlaw abortion will refuse to support.
What will not, but should happen, is that MEN should be required to take active participation and responsibility in birth control. They should be required, with limited exceptions, to take injectable birth control until choosing to have a child with a consenting adult female. Incidences of domestic abuse, rape, or incest should be reported swifty and punished severely (prison and chemical castration seems like a useful start). “Right-to-life” groups should be required to donate a majority of their profits to services for women and children in poverty. Women required to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term should be fully supported, emotionally and financially, throughout and beyond their pregnancies.
Many are optimistic that everything will improve, that this is just an inevitable blip in the process. I don’t think history or the devolving political climate demonstrate that. I hope I’m wrong.
The Grey Zone 