It
wasn’t as if we didn’t know it was coming. The rabid
rightwing anti-choice movement has been hacking away at the amendment
since its passage. The draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade was
leaked back in May. Still, it was a powerful slap across the face of
justice-loving people who support reproductive freedom. In a 5-4
decision, the conservative court smacked down a constitutional right
which had been in place for nearly 50 years.
The
despicable ruling pushed the power to ban abortions to the states.
Twenty-six states were already eagerly waiting to impose the ban.
Half of those - like my home state of Missouri - had already passed
so-called trigger laws that would automatically make abortion a crime
with the overturn of Roe.
The
anti-choice fanatics have been creative and crafty in their strategy
and tactics to eliminate Roe. Probably the first shot across the bow
was the Hyde Amendment passed in 1976. It made it illegal to use
federal funds for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest or to
save the life of the mother. Easily passed through the Congress, Hyde
was a conscious dig towards poor women, especially women of color.
Many have argued that the Hyde Amendment is not the formidable piece
of legislation that it’s propped up to be, that it’s a
budgetary amendment that could be repealed or overwritten by a
presidential executive order.
Once
the Republicans saw how the Democrats buckled, they stepped up their
game. Their movement was unafraid to go after Roe with gusto. They
constantly redefined conception and coined unscientific phrases like
“fetal personhood.” I finally issued my own sarcastic
definition: conception begins at the twinkle of your daddy’s
eye.
The
extremists who oppose abortion took the fight to a new depths with a
chilling effect. When the National Abortion Federation released its
2020 stats on violence against abortion providers, there was a marked
increase in vandalism, bombings, assault and battery, stalking and a
host of other illegal and unethical actions. A federal court ruled in
favor of a website that published a hit list of doctors who performed
abortions.
It’s
no surprise that with these kinds of deadly tactics, there’d be
a decrease in abortions. But the anti’s can’t take all of
the credit for this. Education, injections like Depo-Provera, along
with access to the morning after and abortion pills, have supported
women in their reproductive decisions. Currently medical abortions
account for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
Coming
out of the woodwork now are sectors of corporate America responding
to the court’s regressive and oppressive action. Women seeking
abortions will now have to travel to the few states where abortions
are still legal. Some companies like Apple, Amazon and Tesla
announced expansion of their abortion rights health coverage to
include travel when the intent of SCOTUS was first leaked. Several
others followed their lead - JPMorgan Chase, Dick’s Sporting
Goods, Facebook, Yelp, Disney, Mastercard, Netflix, Microsoft, CVS
and more. Lyft and Uber upped the ante and also vowed to cover legal
costs should their drivers incur charges for transporting women to
abortion clinics.
All
this sounds well and good. We must hold these bandwagon-jumping
companies accountable to make sure they actually put their money
where their mouths are. Too many of these same corporations made
similar pledges after the George Floyd murder by police, We still
waiting for them to make good on their commitments to address racism
inside and outside the company.
The
fight for reproductive justice is far from over. Pro-choice folks
need to also be engaging in a number of tactics like teaching more
lay people how to give safe abortions. Like paying serious attention
to appointments and elections of judges. Like making sure getting
reproductive pills through the mail doesn’t become a felony.
Like stopping Uncle Clarence Thomas from making good on his proposal
to go after other laws like same-sex marriage.
There’s
enough outrage out there to cut with a butter knife. The struggle for
safe and accessible abortions needs to move to the state level where
we can duke it out with lawmakers closer to home. All the big talk
and the dollars have to be translated into a serious strategy for
victory. The SCOTUS ruling is a temporary setback. The fight for
reproductive justice must look very different going forward.
