If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Women's Right to Privacy, What's Next?
If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Women's Right to Privacy, What's Next?
How did we get here? And how to fight back.
I know little about the legal maze we entered this week when the Supreme Court took up Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the abortion case that could overturn Roe v. Wade. But my impression is that it will.
In May of 2019, cartoonist Jen Sorensen was worried that Americans were ignoring threats to Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that guaranteed a woman’s Constitutional “right to privacy” when considering an abortion. She titled her cartoon, “End of the Roe”.
Sorensen was responding to news that Justice Clarence Thomas had questioned the Supreme Court’s long-standing respect for previous decisions (stare decisis, or “let the decision stand”).
Yesterday, SCOTUS issued an ominous ruling against stare decisis that many legal experts are saying lays the groundwork for overturning Roe. … How did we get here? … some of us were VERY, VERY WORRIED about the Supreme Court in 2016, predicting that this was going to happen.
And now it’s 2021 and the groundwork has been laid.
Being of a certain generation, I looked at Ms. Magazine today for moral support. Here’s what I found.
The Supreme Court faces a rule-of-law crisis of its own making.
We residents of the United States who are governed but not protected by its laws must now wonder: Which right will be next? And for whom? And if the Court does not exist to respect rights, why does it exist and why should it be respected?
Early in this post I wrote about, “a woman’s Constitutional ‘right to privacy’.” For years I’ve taken it for granted and now it’s in peril. I’m stunned.
But there’s something we can do about this. We. For example, Elizabeth Warren asks us to appeal to Congress to pass laws to protect choice.
And a friend told me about an organization that supports the Women’s Health Protection Act, which has already passed the US House. They urge us to call now for Senate support.
Call your Senators to tell them to work to pass this vital piece of abortion legislation that will protect abortion rights regardless of the court’s ruling. There’s never been a more critical time.
I’m not too stunned to act. I’m energized. I’m not taking anything for granted.
.....................we could start by naming THE SUPREME COURT "THE EXTREME COURT, FOR THE POLITICANS AND BY THE POLITICANS".
Women should have help fighting back" at ground level, where it all begins. They fight every day of their lives for what should rightfully be theirs. Equal pay for equal work; as an example, Like civil rights, there can be goals, laws and quotas but it still takes a village and God knows how much time. How far have we really come?? I'll stop here.... before I can't stop.
This is quite an ominous problem. As many are saying, this will, once again, be a minority and poor person's problem. We know that, if you are rich and influential, you can get the medical care and privacy that you want, but what of the rest of us? And then, what will come next? No IVF for gay couples, punishment for miscarriages, etc. The Handmaid's Tale, here we come.