I’m probably going to get a few things wrong in this column. Not factually wrong, but I am speaking from a position of privilege, which colors my perspective in ways that doubtless haven’t even occurred to me, try as I have to educate myself. I’m a white, straight man. True, I don’t own property, nor am I an evangelical Christian, but for all intents and purposes, I look a lot like the only group of people some Americans deem worthy of having rights. I have a presumption of my own bodily autonomy that some people have never enjoyed. So I’m going to write with the urgency I feel, and I might make some missteps. This is too important, though, and my platform is too prominent, for me not to risk making a fool of myself for a good cause.
Last night, as of this writing, Politico broke the news that the Supreme Court has, in a draft of a majority opinion, voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that guaranteed federal protections for abortion rights. Supreme Court drafts change, of course, so this might not be set in stone. Votes could change. Still, this leak seems to confirm that we’re on a course we’ve been on for some time.
To repeat a phrase I’ve made much use of in recent years, I’m disgusted but not at all surprised. In the Flyer’s March 24th cover story, “A Human Rights Disaster,” writer Chris McCoy covered the uncertain future of abortion rights in Tennessee. He spoke with multiple sources for the story, and every proponent of legal abortion access was clear about which way the wind was blowing: The right to a safe and legal abortion was in imminent danger. Today, I wish we could be accused of being alarmists.
I know this is a touchy topic for some. My question is, if you are one of the Tennesseans celebrating this news, what have you done to make those seeking abortions safer? Do you advocate for systemic access to medical care? Social services for poor mothers? What have you done to protect women and people with uteruses in the workplace, to combat the gender pay gap, to reduce the hold of hierarchical, patriarchal power dynamics in every aspect of life? Are you for federally protected paid parental leave? Do you want sex education taught in schools, free afterschool programs for teens?
If you haven’t taken any of these and many other possible steps, if you voted for an anti-choice candidate and shared a political meme on social media and then patted yourself on the back for doing your part, you can’t in all honesty call yourself pro-life. You’re pro-forced birth, and there’s no other way to look at it.
When we get right down to it, it’s simple. Abortion is healthcare, and everyone deserves access to healthcare. That’s it. End of story. There are so many ways a pregnancy can be life-threatening for the pregnant person. And as for unwanted pregnancies, well, I truly don’t see how that’s anyone’s business but the pregnant person and their doctor.
I know that some people, on grounds of a religious objection to the termination of a pregnancy, will argue about the unborn child’s life. I hope they bring that same energy to advocating for universal healthcare and against the death penalty. Those folks aside, though, this seems to me to be about the consolidation of power. And I don’t think it ends with Roe. The constitutionally protected right to privacy doesn’t just support the right to an abortion. It’s also the legal reason behind access to birth control, for example, a right Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn has been publicly critical of. And Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion uses some troubling language, namely that rights must be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Call me a progressive alarmist reactionary, but that doesn’t sound like someone who values any social justice progress made in the last 100 years. Some abhorent practices have deep roots in U.S. tradition.
Republicans have campaigned on overturning Roe for decades. What happens if they achieve that goal, as it seems they will? Do you think they’ll just declare mission accomplished, pack up, and go home? No. Look to comments made recently about interracial marriage, about LGBTQ+ rights. Look at the panic about trans people in sports. It’s not about the sports, folks.
Republicans aren’t alone though. Protecting Roe has been a campaign promise and a fundraising tactic for Democrats for as long as I’ve been an adult able to vote. Is that all it is — a carrot to dangle during election years? It would be nice to see a coordinated, unified response from Democrat leadership, but all I expect is a flurry of fundraising emails hitting my inbox.
I wish I had suggestions. I certainly think the filibuster needs to go. I think President Biden should sit senators Manchin and Sinema down and explain that they need to get with the program.
Instead of offering an actionable plan, I’m writing my conscience. This is wrong. It’s regressive and cruel, and anyone putting lofty ideals before the real-world lives that will be lost is the cruelest of fools.
Remember, ending Roe won’t end abortions any more than Prohibition ended alcohol consumption. All it will do is end safe abortions — and end lives.