Courtesy of Bastrop Advertiser
May 12, 2022
By Joni Ashbrook
Republicans should be celebrating the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned since that has been their goal for decades, but instead they are focused on the leak.
Maybe they saw the CNN poll conducted by SSRS that show 66% say Roe should not be completely struck down.
Overturning Roe will have a detrimental effect on other rights because the decision was based on the right to privacy and the Constitution’s promise of liberty and equality.
In order for women to be truly free and equal, they must be able to control their own bodies and decide when or if they will have a baby.
According to Bloomberg Law, if the leaked draft opinion is adopted, states would be free to enact virtually any legislation limiting access to or criminalizing abortion.
A year ago, Texas Republicans passed Senate Bill 8, a draconian law that bans abortion before most women even realize they are pregnant.
SB 8 has no exceptions for rape or incest victims, and even Texas Gov. Greg Abbott understands how despicable that is because he tried to lie about it.
Abbott was asked, “Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?” Abbott falsely claimed, “It doesn’t require that at all.” Then he claimed Texas would “eliminate all rapists.”
Ohio state Rep. Jean Schmidt is also proposing a near-total abortion ban. Schmidt was asked if the bill would force a 13-year-old rape victim to have the baby.
Schmidt called that “an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old” to create a productive human being.
It is terrifying how flippant these lawmakers are about these incredibly private, life-altering decisions that should be left up to women.
Recently, a 26-year old Texas woman was arrested and charged with murder after a “self-induced abortion.” The charges were dismissed, but it’s a hint of things to come.
Louisiana Republicans are advancing a bill that would charge abortion as homicide. The bill grants constitutional rights to a person “from the moment of fertilization.”
Experts say that would restrict in vitro fertilization and emergency contraception that is used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.
Overturning Roe opens the door to dismantling other rights that have been protected for decades under the implied right to privacy.
In 1965, the Supreme Court first recognized the right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut. That decision struck down a state law outlawing contraception.
Griswold should be rock-solid safe but Republicans want it overturned to let states decide who gets access to contraception. Seriously.
In February 2022 (not 1950), three men seeking the GOP nomination for Michigan attorney general were questioned at a forum about the Griswold decision.
One said that issue was “wrongly decided” and it “should have been left up to the states.” The other two candidates agreed with him.
Recently, the Mississippi governor twice refused to rule out the possibility of banning some forms of contraception if Roe was overturned.
The right to privacy covers many issues that we take for granted today, but Republicans want to roll those rights back too.
Two months ago, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., actually said he believes interracial marriage legalization should be left up to the states, and he signaled the contraception decision should also.
The rights that the LGBTQ community have struggled to gain are also on the chopping block if Roe falls.
Our rights have never been handed to us on a silver platter. People fought fiercely to get them, and we should fight just as hard to preserve them.
Ashbrook is a contributing columnist for the Advertiser. She is a retired school teacher and may be reached at [email protected].
