When arguing with conservatives about abortion, I always maintained that they were doing it wrong. Roe v. Wade had established that abortion was the right of any woman that wanted one, and the proper way to change that was to amend the Constitution. That’s what I learned in HS civics class, at least. I contended that changing the court politically was not the correct way to do it.
Well, now the shoe on the other foot. What I said to them applies to us as well. Abortion is not the constitutionally mandated right of women anymore. People contend that we should ‘pack the court’ with enough liberals to amend the law again. That is the lazy way of doing it, and it is just as wrong as what the conservatives have done (again, according to Mr. Halverson in HS Civics class).
We are paying the price for our laziness following the R. v W. decision. It is understandable that we sat back and watched the conservatives flail, trying to overturn it, thinking it would never happen. We should have more aggressively defended our position and more firmly ensconced abortion rights in law.
But it is what it is.
So what is our task? We need to change the Constitution to make it absolutely clear that women have the unambiguous right to control their bodies, INCLUDING the right to abortion on demand.
This may sound like a tall order, but I firmly believe we can do it. We can get the amendment through Congress and the Senate, and we can get enough states to ratify it into law.
In many ways, R. v W. has been an enormous political liability. MANY women voted based on other issues, confident their abortion rights were assured. It allowed them to be fiscal conservatives, and we have lost a LOT of elections because of that. Well, now they can’t. Oh, and yes, some men belong in that category too.
On the other side. NOBODY is going to now start voting Republican because R. v W. has been overturned: NOBODY! This means that the law of the land is now an albatross around their necks, and they will wear it poorly. Democrats will soon dominate state legislatures, making an enormous difference.
Republicans have made a huge mistake: They have succeeded. I used to tell people who, except for their opposition to abortion would likely vote Democrat, that the Republican Party didn’t want to change the law. They only wanted people to believe that they would. Trump has allegedly even acknowledged this.
And when we win the right way, the war will be OVER! It will be unequivocal in everyone’s minds. Choice will be THE LAW OF THE LAND. They won’t even try anymore. Their only meaningful approach will be to convince women individually that they should bear the fetus to term. Maybe they will even advocate for and provide meaningful support to women who actually raise the child. Once again, many women will feel free to vote based on other issues.
Between now and then, however, with a liberal majority, we might actually pass meaningful environmental laws that cut our production of CO2 significantly. We stand a chance of enacting reasonable gun laws to stop the carnage that is engulfing us. If we have to, we will even amend the Constitution on that issue too. We will gain the ability to roll back the gains Republicans have made against labor laws. We will permanently get government involved in providing affordable medical care for all Americans. And we will be able to ensure the survival of Social Security and Medicare.
But we need to WORK at it: HARD!
