June 24, 2022 will go down as a significant day in American history as it will be remembered as the day the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade rendering women as second class citizens who can now be compelled by the state to give birth against their will.
Let me share five observations of this decision.
1. What Would Things Be Like if The Draft Decision Hadn't Been Leaked?
We knew this was coming based on the leak of the draft decision last month. While there was some hope the decision would be watered down the writing was on the wall. While the anger at this decision is palatable I can only begin to imagine what the reaction would have been today had the leak not occurred.
2. Conservatives Have Been Emboldened
Most conservatives have been waiting for this day for nearly 50 years. Now that it has arrived they are not going stop here. Not by a long shot. Clarence Thomas added fuel to fire when he said the Court "should reconsider" contraceptives, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriages. Sounds to me like Thomas has rendered a ruling in search of a case and Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Alito are going to go along with him.
3. Conservatives are Pro-Unborn, Not Pro-Life
Former Vice-President Mike Pence praised the ruling stating, "It is incumbent on all who cherish the sanctity of life to resolve that we will take the defense of the unborn and the support for women in crisis pregnancy centers to every state in America."
Just don't expect Pence to jump to the defense of the born and support public funding for child care or health care much less protect children from being shot to death in the schoolyard.
If conservatives truly supported the sanctity of life then they would defend persons from cradle to grave. Instead they choose to support persons who do not exist.
4. Court Packing is Dead on Arrival
Progressive activists like Beau of the Fifth Column argue the only way to address the overturning of Roe v. Wade is to expand the Supreme Court. So too has Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
A simple act of Congress can change the size of the Court although its current composition of 9 justices has remained intact for over 50 years.
Democrats might now be compelled to formally introduce legislation, but I suspect it will be dead on arrival courtesy of Joe Manchin of West Virginia who has long opposed expanding the Court.
5. Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Save Democrats in the Midterms?
As I argued last month, "(W)ith the prospect of women losing the right to control their own bodies, the motivation to vote Democrat becomes very, very personal."
If this doesn't mobilize Democrats to turn out and vote not to mention independents who disagree with the Court's decision then I'm not sure what will.
Then again, most Americans might care no more about preserving Roe v. Wade than they are about ensuring the peaceful transfer of power.
Conclusion
If it took almost 50 years to reverse Roe v. Wade then will it take nearly another 50 years to restore reproductive freedoms for American women?
Somehow I don't think we'll have the patience for it. In the interim, reproductive freedoms for women will be a patchwork. If a woman of college age living in Massachusetts gets a scholarship to attend a university in Georgia then she may have second thoughts at the prospect of having her rights diminish by virtue of traveling to another state.
As Bette Davis said, "We're in for a long, bumpy ride."
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