As Progressives, we need to push back against the dangerous nonsense of the anti-abortion movement .
As we know, at a time when the rest of the Western world is ploughing on with increasingly
progressive socio-economic and political agendas, the US is conspicuous in that it is
headed in the completely opposite direction – a direction has an increasingly bleak looking
horizon to it. And chillingly, roughly 40% of the population of the country is actively cheering
on a brazen descent into demolishing women’s reproductive rights.
Take for example the recent troubling events in Texas (and increasingly in copy-cat states
elsewhere) that has now made it to a conservative dominated Supreme Court. And, as sure
as night follows day, the Supreme Court has again tossed another request from abortion
providers in the state who were looking to block the draconian six-week ban on abortions.
In doing so, the Lone Star state has shown itself to be the spear-head of a conservative –
Evangelical movement that seemingly finds its inspiration in the Dark Ages of patriarchal
Europe. Women are reduced to nothing more than breeding chattel, subject to the whims
and wishes of their male over-lords. Female productive rights mean absolutely nothing to
them and they revel in that fact like a pig does in mud.
Other states, in what was once the confederacy, of course, are headed down exactly the
same route, taking their inspiration from what is happening in both Texas and the Supreme
Court. It cannot be stressed enough, Roe -v-Wade, which is settled law by nearly 50 years,
is in very real, very mortal, danger.
It is nauseating to reflect on the fact that the Supreme Court has that conservative majority
courtesy of Donald Trump. He appointed conservative stalwarts Neil Gorsuch, Brett
Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, joining up with three pre-existing conservative justices,
allowing for a 6 – 3 majority in favor of female oppression. Keep in mind that’s the same
Donald Trump that sleeps with porn stars, boasts about grabbing women by the genitals
and has any number of sexual abuse, including rape, allegations against him. Apparently,
the conservative movement doesn’t do irony.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, or in a Trump speech-induced coma, it was as clear as
crystal that a soon as there was a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, then any
number of conservative entities were coming, and coming fast, for Roe -v- Wade. They
have seethed at it since its inception, determined that one day, be that now or in a hundred
years, they would gleefully strike it down from statute.
The conservative / Evangelical movement (predominantly white and, interestingly, often
economically disadvantaged) has a simply bizarre take on life. “Life” in the womb is
deemed to be sacred and to be protected at all costs. Yet once that new-born makes it out
of the womb, guess what buddy? You’re on your own sunshine. You’ll be left to the mercy
of a system that will financially bleed you dry at every turn, dowse you in medical and
college debt, work your fingers to the bone for a pittance while billionaires become
trillionaires, and if you happen to have the wrong skin pigmentation, discriminate against
you in the blink of an eye without a flicker of remorse. Such is the logic of today’s American
right.
In fierce opposition to that, we maintain that female reproductive rights are human rights.
Any infringement of those is an infringement of the rights of all of us.
We also need to raise the question of why men are nearly always at the vanguard of the
anti-abortion movement in the US? Right-wing, male lawmakers seem hell-bent on inflicting
as much misery on American women as they can. Keep in mind, there is a famous photo
out there of a Saudi Arabian conference on advancing women’s rights. Every one of the
hundred or so attendees is male. There’s that irony rearing its head again.
As Progressives, we need to push back against the dangerous nonsense of the anti-
abortion movement with every last iota of strength that we can draw upon. White,
American, vested interest, patriarchy always expects to get its own way, especially so when
it comes to tearing down Roe v Wade.
Keep in mind that that’s the same patriarchy that oversees with a nod and a wink the likes
of police brutality against Black Americans, student and medical debt to the point of
bankruptcy and allows Corporate America to continue to financially exploit regular
Americans morning, noon and night to ensure maximized profits.
So when we fight for female reproductive rights, we fight against all of those evils too.
We are common cause.
