Overturning Roe will exacerbate a public health tragedy for poor women and women of color. This group was consistently let down by hip white kids living in swing states too cool to vote for Gore or Hillary, by an aloof lame duck president unwilling to go to bat for Merrick Garland, and by the seven men who decided Roe in the first place on flimsier legal foundation than the firmer one feminist lawyers like Ruth Bader Ginsburg wanted to place it upon.
My hope is that when Roe is overturned it will revive the nascent grassroots movement to legalize abortion state by state that was prematurely cut off by the Pyrrhic victory of the 1973 decision. The anti-choice movement once had majority rule and democratic legitimacy on its side, but that is no longer the case today. People should be ready to vote up and down the ballot to protect these rights which were hard fought and are likely to be lost in many states within the next few years.
“. . . hip white kids living in swing states too cool to vote for Gore or Hillary . . .” I thought you said you couldn’t afford a house, why are you yelling at the “hip white kids” to get off your lawn?
For all their flaws, and I did vote for Bernie twice, a Gore and/or Hillary presidency would have netted a solid liberal majority on the court for a generation. I support ranked choice and believe it is unfair that third parties act as spoilers in our current system, but it’s undeniable a few hundred Nader voters in NH or FL and a few thousand Stein voters in WI, MI, or PA would have netted us a better Supreme Court. Black women understand this which is why they are the backbone of the party through thick and thin. “Inspiring” nominees and bland ones. I also was clear the “inspiring” choice from 2008 did not fight hard enough for his Supreme Court justice. There are days I wonder if a more battle tested President Clinton would have shared the same naïveté about the GOP that crippled the ambitions of the Obama administration. And yes I am growing up in my politics, I favor real world results over radical rhetoric.
If you think it was “hip white kids” who voted for Bush in Florida I don’t know what I can tell you. Maybe you thought that you were being hip when you voted for Sanders. I think it is more likely that you thought there were important issues that Sanders was addressing. Maybe you could assume that other Sanders voters, and Stein voters, also had serious concerns.
I still believe in voting for the nominee in the general when my candidate loses the primary. You’re entitled to feel otherwise, but keeping abortion rights protected was more important to me than protesting the perceived faults of any Democratic nominee in the last few decades. It is unfortunate we are now paying the price for taking Roe for granted. And that includes a lot of progressives who were in power, including Obama. I am not just singling out Nader and Stein voters. It’s an indictment of moderates and progressives alike. We fought amongst ourselves and took Roe for granted while the right wing organized, won statehouses, seats on the court, and chipped away at it bit by bit. They outplayed us. So how do we fight back and win?
Hip white kids voted for Nader and Stein thus spoiling the chances for the Dem nominee.
Speaking of evolving positions, I distinctly recall when you identified as prolife. Even more generally I feel like you have moved from my right to my left over the years.
I’m guilty of moving quite to the left on this issue. I realized several years ago that there was not a sincere desire on the part of the anti-choice movement to prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion in the first place. Not when they consistently oppose sex ed, birth control access, universal child care, and paid leave. So it seems more like a draconian desire to control women’s autonomy and personal freedom rather than a desire to reduce the need for abortion.
Frankly speaking, I’ve had friends and colleagues come forward with their stories over the years and I recognized they would not have had the careers, lives, and now families they presently enjoy without having to make that hard decision in the past. I’m glad the government stayed out of it and they found support when they needed to make that call. Particularly as some of them were victims of date rape or sexual assault. One of the highs of this week was seeing some
If my favorite students graduate and go off to college. I want those young women I taught to have the same choices my friends enjoyed.
On a less somber note, I do think I’ve moved to your positions on a few issues. I’ve softened on my opposition to the death penalty, I oppose defunding the police, I support a public option rather than single payer and I think student debt forgiveness should either be means tested or applied on the basis of need rather than a blanket bailout. I’m somewhat skeptical of basic income, but do support piloting it to study it better. I’m still pro-union, but have disagreements with the MTA leadership on some of the calls they made this year. I also think police unions need to go or drastically change. I’m agnostic on MCAS since it’s not something I have to deal with directly, although they should’ve definitely skipped it this year. I’m not sure if YIMBY is the right solution for housing anymore, since supply has increased and it’s not lowering home prices. I’m more worried about inflation than unemployment at this point. I give Manchin a pass, but we can do better than Sinema.
Spiritually speaking I’ve been virtually attending a UCC parish(off and on) the past few weeks and have enjoyed it.
That’s a pretty somber list.
Which UCC parish out of curiosity?
FCC Melrose