When we’re questioning the Republican War on Women, are we ignoring the bigger picture? ?
In 1973 The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade and settled the debate over abortion. Doing so provided a framework between a woman’s right to her own body and the rights of the viable fetus. ?It was a landmark case. Not only because it provided women freedom to make their own health care choices but because the SCOTUS based that decision on a “right to privacy” — ?a right that can be argued has now been “given up” in the new post-9-11 world and therefore no longer applies.
If there is no right to privacy, especially since that right is not defined in the Constitution, then the reasoning the Court used to legalize abortion must go. ?I understand and agree with those who will say that the Founding Fathers made it clear in the Federalist Papers (number 84 in this case) that we citizens retain all rights — even those not specifically spelled out in the Constitution or Bill of Rights — for ourselves. Those rights do not come from the state but rather are natural, or inalienable. We give power to the state, not the other way around. So the current war on abortion and war on women is troubling for a host of reasons for all people — not just women.
In the abortion cases that have followed Roe, the Court at first vigorously defended a woman’s right to choose and then, beginning in 1979, with Maher v. Roe decided:
Maher v. Roe
432 U.S. 464 (1979)
The Court held that a State ?has authority to make a value judgment favoring childbirth over
abortion and to implement that judgment by the allocation of public funds. It may, therefore,
refuse to pay for an indigent’s nontherapeutic abortion even though it subsidizes medical
expenses related to pregnancy and childbirth under the State’s Medicaid program.?
So the Court begins to create the framework that the State has authority?to decided the values of its citizens. This was a wrong decision.
Maher was wrong because the original Roe had already created a framework that balanced the rights of the living citizen with those of the potential citizen.
?Though the State cannot override that right, it has legitimate interests in protecting both the pregnant woman’s health and the potentiality of human life, each of which interests grows and reaches a “compelling” point at various stages of the woman’s approach to term. Pp.?410 U. S. 147-164.
So with one hand, the Court says that if you can afford access to abortion in the first trimester it is a right that cannot be overrode. ?Maher basically says poor women don’t get that choice or have that right. Hence the war on women.
(a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman’s attending physician. Pp.?410 U. S. 163,?410 U. S. 164.
Once again, the decision for wealthy people must be left to the doctor and patient. Maher is important because it began the long slow march of the anti-choice crowd to begin restricting access to this medical procedure.
(c) For the stage subsequent to viability the State, in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life, may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother. Pp.?410 U. S. 163-164;?410 U. S. 164-165.
And here is where Roe clearly makes the case that even though there are rights of the citizen and potential citizen that the overall concern is for the preservation and health of the mother. ?How much more clear can it be?
But for today’s Republican Party with their war on women, clarity ?is not enough. In spite of case after case where the Court has upheld basic tenets of Roe, for the religious right it is not settled. They seem determined to force their own version of “sharia” law upon us via the war on women. No matter how illogical or damning to the citizenry. The real question though is why are they doing this now?
The obvious answer is that the states are racing to see who can bring a “winnable” case to the court to overturn Roe. ?Which is a possibility. ?The punt on gay marriage aside, this is the most right-leaning court in our nations history and I fear if given the opportunity they will overturn this decision and the war on women will be real. Or they may not.
Which is ?why the Republican-led states are attacking abortion on two fronts. The first attack being lowering the 24 week limit in Roe to 20 weeks. The second attack is using tricks to effectively make it impossible to get an abortion by using building codes, medical requirements other medical clinics do not have to comply with, etc…In other words, even if abortion remains ?legal it won’t matter because there won’t be a place to get one. ?So Roe can stand but will be irrelevant.
Over 20 states have passed legislation that prevents or makes it difficult for women to exercise their rights. There has been legislation proposed in the U.S. House and it is expected to be put forward soon in the Senate by either Sen. Rubio or Sen. Cruz. The Republicans and their war on women are making abortion the core social issue upon which they are planting their future.
Why?
For 40 years, the Republican Party has manipulated its base with fear-mongering of abortion, gays, illegal immigrants, gun-snatchers, socialized healthcare, integrated schools, Affirmative Action, and more. We could go on and on. Look at the list. They have lost ground not only on everything on the preceding list, but on more than we can reasonably list. Americans are in disagreement with the Republican Party. But there is a desperate madness to this current abortion mania, war on women, and other issues.
To use one example, until a week ago, North Carolina had 40 counties covered under the Voting Rights Act (VRA). They are now are free to change their voting laws without approval from the U.S. Justice Department. So in the next election,voters in those counties will have to show voter ID, they will have fewer days for early voting, they will have no Sunday voting, and they will have no same-day registration for people to vote. ?This assault on voting allows offending states to redraw ?their district lines without federal approval. The intent is clear: get fewer people to vote. Get those who are gerrymandered into precise districts to vote the way you want them to and you can win for another decade. ?This seems to be the Republican plan. ?To have no jobs plan, no education plan, no trade plan, no healthcare plan…in fact, no plan period. Instead, they only have to create enough finely-carved districts that their base can eek out a victory.
So instead of leading, they offer bread and circuses to their base — a base they make more powerful by limiting the ballot. Abortion is almost the last issue they have that will turn out the core.
So this war on abortion and war on women has nothing to do with women and nothing really to do with the medical procedure they claim to hate. This is about the Republicans, once again, manipulating their base from a place of ignorance and fear. It’s not abortion or women the Republicans are waging war against. ?It is Democracy itself they are waging war against. ? The “war on women” is a ruse. The real war is on we the people.
