Roe Reversal: How Do We Process This Equality Loss?
*Content Update: On Friday, June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. What follows was written in the aftermath of the leaked decision, obtained by Politico on May 2, 2022.
“…a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions.”
— Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.
Do you know someone who has had an abortion? A mother, daughter, sister, friend? Yourself? What if they could have been arrested and jailed for it? What if they had been forced to carry the pregnancy to term?
Do you know couples who have used IVF? Did you know that’s about to become illegal in Louisiana?
What does it even mean that “deeply rooted in history and traditions” is the measure of whether a decision about justice and equality is valid or not?
Finally . . . since we’ve just passed Mother’s Day . . . how do we prepare for a new (old) reality, where becoming a parent is no longer a choice?
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Like so many, we are still processing what it means that people all over America are about to lose a right they’ve exercised - despite varying degrees of burden - for nearly 50 years.
We are processing what it means that, for the first time in U.S. history, a constitutional right is being taken away instead of added—by five people with decision-making power over millions, whose voices, needs, and lived experiences they don’t begin to represent or seem to understand.
While the (draft) ruling isn’t a complete surprise, it’s still a gut punch.
So we wanted to explore what it means. And what we can do.
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First, some basics:
The Alito quote above comes from a U.S. Supreme Court draft (majority) opinion that was leaked to the press last week.
It signals the Court’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that granted pregnant people in America the right to an abortion, backed by federal law.
Although not final, Roe will almost certainly be overturned, as early as June.
Read “10 key passages from Alito’s draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade”
Image: Politico
What happens if/when Roe is struck down?
A person’s right to an abortion will no longer be protected by FEDERAL law.
The state they live in will determine whether they can or can’t get one.
Right now, 13 states have “trigger laws” set to go into effect immediately if/when Roe is overturned.
26 states in total are certain or likely to ban abortion.
An extreme example is Louisiana, which just advanced a bill to define a fertilized egg as a person and classify abortion as a homicide. This means a pregnant person can be charged with murder at any stage of gestation. The law would even criminalize in vitro fertilization.
Image: Guttmacher Institute
Who will be most disadvantaged and how?
Minorities—especially Black, brown, and Indigenous—and low-income people.
For pregnant people denied an abortion, poverty and economic inequality will increase.
Already disproportionately high maternal and infant mortality rates among Black and brown pregnant people will accelerate.
People denied an abortion will experience worse health, wellbeing, and financial outcomes than people able to receive them.
Children of people denied an abortion will go on to experience more economic hardship.
What other equality gains will be at risk?
Any constitutional right that hinges on a right to privacy ruling, which was the basis of Roe. By invalidating Roe, the Court opens the floodgates for similar rulings to be challenged and overturned, including:
The right to use contraception (won in 1965)
The right to interracial marriage (won in 1967)
The right to same-sex relationships (won in 2003)
The right to same-sex marriage (won in 2015)
Watch below as Congressman Jamie Raskin explains some of these wider consequences:
Should people outside the U.S. be worried?
Yes, because taking away rights (also, as Professor of History at NYU, Ruth Ben-Ghiat called out in a recent Lucid zoom session, “sexual policing") is part of what happens with democratic backsliding. And as we’ve pointed out, this is a global trend.
While Canada just reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose, some worry the Roe reversal could “embolden anti-abortion movements.”
As Canadian journalist Elizabeth Renzetti writes, “the anti-choice movement is international, and it will be taking cues and encouragement from this development.”
And as this Guardian article explains, abortion rights are being challenged across the globe.
Lastly, from an Equity Sequence™ lens…
Who had power in making this decision? Whose voices were included? Whose voices were left out?
Of the five Justices who make up the majority opinion, four are men; one is a woman.
But what does it say that this particular woman has a net worth of $20 million? That she grew up in a wealthy suburb of New Orleans, the daughter of a prominent Shell Oil attorney? That she belonged to a faith group that defines clear gender roles and, until 2017, assigned the title of leader to male leaders and handmaid to female leaders?
Of course, no one is defined by their background. But it’s hard not to think about the millions of people with vastly different lived experiences and financial realities, whose voices or perspectives seem to be absent in the draft ruling.
To quote Terry O’Neill, former President of NOW, last week:
“I read the draft opinion, and what struck me was the total absence of any awareness of women’s lived experience in this very long document…Nothing…about the hundreds of years in this country in which women have tried to gain equality; have tried to have the right to participate equally in a multi-racial, multicultural democracy. No word of that…no awareness of the basic humanity of women.”
Photo: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62109971
So what can you do?
Sadly, it’s almost certainly too late to stop the actual ruling reversal. But the words “elections have consequences” may have never been truer or more urgent.
If you’re in a “trigger” state, do what you can to vote blue up and down the ballot, and get others to. Electing legislators—FEDERAL AND STATE—who can pass new pro-choice laws is one path forward, if a narrow one.
If you’re in a “safe” state, don’t be complacent. Help red states elect pro-choice candidates.
Don’t assume blue states ARE safe for long. As Harvard Law Professor Jeannie Suk Gerson points out, “[A]n eventual finding of a constitutional right to fetal life would disallow abortion in every state.”
If you work for a business, find out if they give money to anti-choice candidates and call them out. A few like Levi Strauss have taken a stand. But many are being wishy-washy. Push for yours to speak up, if you can.
Spread the word about how recent anti-abortion laws have shifted from conservative to EXTREME.
Make sure the people in your life understand the impact that losing Roe will have on EVERYONE, including men.
If you can, donate to on-the-ground organizations in states where abortion access is already being obstructed.
Learn about the Reddit “Auntie Network.”
Take part in nonviolent demonstrations, including the Bans Off Our Bodies rallies set for Saturday, May 14th in cities across the country, as part of a National Day of Action. Evidence shows this CAN work. Remember what we’ve said about a 25% committed minority (See 06:35).
See reactions from protesters below:
Listen to co-CEOs Dr. Kristen Liesch and Anna Dewar Gully discuss the Roe reversal and more in this special Mother’s Day radio session, “Will There Ever Be Equality for Mothers?,” hosted by author, radio host, podcaster, and blogger, Jill Cody on her KSQD radio program, “Be Bold America!”
