Abortion trigger laws and personhood constitutional amendments flew under the radar before Kavanaugh came on the scene. Both promise to have dreadful consequences for women.
Abortion trigger laws are laws that will go into effect after Roe is overturned. There are currently five states that have enacted such laws, North and South Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana, and most recently, Arkansas. These laws all will criminalize abortion and punish women.
For example, all abortion will be criminal in Louisiana once Roe is gone. If a woman’s 12-year-old daughter is raped and the mother provides the girl with a chemical abortion, that mother could face up to10 years of hard labor and a $100,000 fine.
Personhood constitutional amendments are even more extreme. They establish a fertilized egg as a person with full civil rights equal to those of any adult. Right now Alabama is the only state with a personhood amendment. Using an IUD or and a variety of other birth measure as well as abortion will be considered murder in a post-Roe Alabama.
Opponents cannot challenge abortion trigger laws and personhood amendments in court because they have not yet caused any harm. But they are ripe for political opposition. Focusing on what will happen post-Roe in states like Louisiana and Alabama puts the debate about birth control on the ground favorable to proponents of reproductive rights.
Though these laws and constitutional amendments will hit disadvantaged groups the hardest, they are so extreme that middle-class women are also in danger. The claim that middle class women have nothing to fear because they can always travel to a state that allows abortion is false. In states controlled by Republicans, highly effective forms of birth control women have used for decades will be illegal, and all miscarriages will be suspect.
Look at the tragedy that helped galvanize the push for reproductive freedom in Ireland. In 2012 Savita Halappapanava a 28 year old woman suffering severe back pain due to a stalled miscarriage checked into an Irish hospital. Doctors informed her that her fetus would soon die, and although she and her husband repeatedly requested an abortion, the hospital refused because the fetus’ heart was still beating. Finally, days later, Savita’s weakened body was somehow able to eject the fetus. By that time she was septic, and she died several days later. (link)
This gruesome tragedy played a large role in a surprising victory for reproductive freedom in Ireland, Back in 1983 the electorate of Ireland, a 75% Catholic country, had approved the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which gave a fetus and a pregnant woman equal rights (like the amendment to the state constitution that was just passed in Alabama). The Eighth Amendment had passed by a margin of 66.90% to 33.10%. Then, last year, the electorate reversed itself, and voted in favor of removing the Eighth Amendment by a supermajority of 66.4% to 33.6%. (link)
Pollsters had predicted that the vote would be close!
In this country too, people underestimate the strength of pro-Roe forces.
Though the elevation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is an extreme setback for the reproductive rights of women a it is also an opportunity. Pro-Roe advocates can now more easily re-frame the debate and expose the underlying misogyny of the anti-Roe forces,
Ironically, reproductive freedom has only expanded post-Kavanaugh. States like New York lead the way, greatly expanding access to abortion. Others like Illinois, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont plan to follow. Furthermore, for the first time since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe decision, a majority in the House of Representatives is pro-Roe. (link) They can hold hearings to publicize the dangers presented by the opponents of Roe and can force vulnerable Representatives to take votes that damage their re-election prospects.
Democrats did very well in the midterms because they focused on healthcare and issues they chose for themselves. Engaging in the abortion debate on our own terms also promises great success.
It's time to control the narrative. Abortion trigger laws and the Alabama constitutional amendment are the best illustration of what the opponents of Roe really have in mind: punishing women. Framed in this way, proponents of Roe can solidify our already majority support. In purple and even some red states political campaigns can give support for Roe in a confident, booming voice.