For the past 39 years, ever since the Supreme Court announced its abortion ruling in
Roe v. Wade, tens of thousands, some say hundreds of thousands, of anti-choice demonstrators have gathered for an annual rally every January in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. This year is no exception. There have also been satellite demonstrations in scores of cities, this year including San Francisco, Denver and Baton Rouge. And, as in the past, elected leaders, mostly Republicans, have spoken to the crowd in person or remotely to pledge their support for making abortion once again illegal across the land. Speaker of the House John Boehner
was on hand this year:
“I come before you as Speaker of the whole House of Representatives and leader of the bipartisan pro-life majority in Congress. With your help, this bipartisan majority is standing up for life and working to restore the damage of Roe v. Wade. We are heeding the voice of the people, who overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. The House has passed bipartisan legislation to codify the Hyde Amendment across all federal programs. And we’ll continue to press the Senate for a vote. ...
“These two founding principles, life and liberty, are intertwined. Together, they form the core of our national character. They comprise the standard by which the world looks to us. When we affirm the dignity of life, we affirm our commitment to freedom. When we don’t affirm life … when life is cheapened or weakened, here or abroad, freedom itself is diminished.
Cheapening of women's lives is what the anti-choice forces are all about. Their four-decade crusade, in Congress, state legislatures and the courts, has steadily nibbled away at reproductive rights, making abortion more difficult to obtain, enacting ever more obstacles for women to hurdle in order to exercise the rights the Supreme Court affirmed are theirs. And while some worked through legislation and the courts to dilute those rights, others engaged in a terrorist campaign of bombings and assassinations, forcing many abortion providers to give up or wear bulletproof vests.
Consequently, today, in the vast majority of America’s 3140 counties, there is no abortion provider. Because of the 1976 Hyde Amendment, 33 states pay for Medicaid abortions only in cases of rape or incest or when the pregnant woman’s life is at risk. From 1981 until 1993, it was even worse: Most states did not cover Medicaid abortions except to save the life of the pregnant woman. The proportion of America's hospitals that perform abortions has dropped to less than 10 percent and the percentage of counties with abortion providers has dropped to 13 percent. Not yet bad enough in the eyes of the anti-choice forces.
In a statement to the demonstrators today, Newt Gingrich said:
My commitment to you is twofold: first, to continue supporting your work to defend the rights of the unborn, and second, if elected President, to advance pro-life legislation, appoint judges who will stay true to the meaning of the Constitution, work to bring about an end to judicial tyranny, defend religious freedom, and work with allies in Congress and throughout the country who desire to bring about a day in which America restores legal protection to all unborn human life.
Specifically, on day one of my administration, I will sign an executive order reinstating Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions overseas.
I will also oppose federal funding of any research that destroys a human embryo.
I will work with Congress to repeal Obamacare, and will defund Planned Parenthood so that no taxpayer dollars are being used to fund abortions—but rather use that money to promote adoption and other pro-family policies.
For those who argue that this is one of those damned "social issues" that gets the Democrats in trouble on election day, let's not forget that at its core, this is a class war. Even if safe abortions were made illegal countrywide, affluent women would find a way, a discreet doctor, a friend with access to smuggled RU 486, a trip to Canada or Japan, or anywhere else the operation can be done for somebody with money. Less affluent women will have access to abortions, too, unhealthy, maiming and sometimes lethal abortions of the sort their mothers or grandmothers had to resort to. Unlicensed doctor abortions. Self-administered abortions.
As in so many other arenas, as Boehner and Gingrich and a multitude of others among the powers-that-be prove time and again, the struggle to maintain reproductive rights requires warriors relentlessly, persistently and loudly standing up for women's fundamental right to choose. Without it, they are second-class citizens. The anti-choicers will never give up until they have erased this right. It's up to us to ensure that they never ever get their way.