““Victory for White Life” Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-IL)
The Supreme Court decision is disappointing and has turned the progressive clock backward. On January 22, 1973, Roe Vs. Wade decided “that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. “On June 24, 2022, nearly 50 years later, the Supreme Court’s decision overturned the decision ending the constitutional right and giving individual states the power to allow, limit or ban abortion. As a result, eight states immediately banned abortions totally, including rape and incest.
Women are now second-class citizens.
It is a step backward for women, reducing women to second-class citizens. Old white men in power make unjust decisions about women’s bodies and demonstrate an abuse of power. Women’s sexual subordination in all societies is ancient. Women have had to fight for rights, voting, education, and the like. The good fight continues. Professor Michele Goodwin, author of “Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood,” writes in a New York Times article on Black women and the constitution. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/26/opinion/justice-alito-reproductive-justice-constitution-abortion.html
She said, “Black women’s sexual subordination and forced pregnancies were the foundation of slavery. If cotton was euphemistically king, Black women’s wealth-maximizing forced reproduction was queen. Ending the forced sexual and reproductive servitude of Black girls and women was a critical part of the passage of the 13 and 14th Amendments. The overturning of Roe v. Wade reveals the Supreme Court’s neglectful reading of the amendments that abolished slavery and guaranteed all people equal protection under the law. It means the erasure of Black women from the Constitution.”
Women are the majority of voters in the nation, and I hope they exercise real power at the polls. If ever there was a time to see the value and benefit of voting, it is now. Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their bodies. The Supreme Court appointees by President No. 45, Donald Trump changed the law of the land for women, whom he has demonstrated gross disrespect for at every turn. Old white men should not have a damn thing to say about women’s bodies. Women have been reduced to being unable to decide for themselves with doctors, religion, and family. The government has overstepped its bounds. A woman’s body is not a government decision.
What Else?
Justice Clarence Thomas gleaming from the success of the abortion decision indicates that other reversible decisions might be forthcoming. Particularly laws on contraception and same-sex marriages. Ruling on contraception is the government actually in your bedroom judging intimacies. Too much. And same-sex marriages reversed would be over the top but might be likely. And then there is affirmative action. So the clock of progress moves backward.
Under the Trump administration, the Ku Klux Klan took over the white house. Trump is guilty of fraud as he tried to overturn the presidential election of 2020. He asked elected officials to break the law. The hearings of January 6 show that Trump was out of control and not fit to be President of the United States. The question is, with all of the evidence, the threats, the misdoings, the distrust, will the government have the guts to indict him? It is a hard decision, but the big lie grew. Trump, in my mind, was an illegal president. He lost the election of 2016 to Hillary Clinton with the popular vote. Yet, he won the electoral college. What a difference a voice makes. The electoral college dates back to slavery and must be eliminated. It is also time to add justices to the Supreme Court.
Trump and company have challenged and changed American democracy. Women have been reduced with a change of status to second-class citizens. It’s a different world for women now with the new ruling. As Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, today’s women have fewer rights than their mothers. What the Supreme Court ruling has done is shameful. Only Congress can fully restore abortion, not the president, not even with an executive order. The State of Illinois, under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker, might be the most progressive abortion state in the nation.
This is a generational thing. If young women, young people, and the next generation ever wondered about the value of voting, take an intense look at what is happening in America today. Rights and freedoms that the civil rights, the baby boomers fought for, marched for, and died for are being eradicated. The only way out of this terrible mess is to elect officials who will generate new decisions. Women rise.
The Silent Revolution…
America is undergoing a revolution of sorts. Changing the laws can move the freedom clock forward or backward. Democracy is at stake in reality. Trump’s presidency represents autocratic leadership, and still, we don’t fully realize what a disaster his administration was. He was the big lie. The lie started when he questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace. President Obama should have fought harder on his one presidential supreme court justice appointment. He was denied his appointment. The smartest thing Trump’s administration did was appoint three Supreme Court justices to the bench. In doing so, he changed the direction of the country. The unelected justices can make and change landmark decisions. It is real power. This court is young, and we will have to live with their choices for the next 30 to 40 years. One of the most incredible things a president can do is appoint a supreme court justice to the bench—judges at every level matter.
America is in trouble. The question is do we move forward or do we move backward? The reserved decision of Roe vs. Wade is devastating, as it impacts real-life choices for women. The rich are taking over government with their money and resources. The majority of senators are millionaires. We are watching in our state billionaires running and supporting elections. In a rapidly changing world, American citizens are trapped with gas hikes, new industries, inflation, debt, random shootings, and safety issues. People are living anxiety.
Democracy at Stake is Not a Slogan; It’s a Reality…
Our democracy is at stake and is being questioned and challenged as we watch real gains vanishing. The country is divided, North and South, Black and White, Women and Men, Democrats and Republicans, young and old. Trump changed the Republican Party. He gave America a new Republican party using media, propaganda, force, and threats. He abused and misused power. The judges, as candidates, lied about their positions. In the case of Justice Kavanaugh and Thomas, women came forth during their confirmation hearings in a bold way to tell who they were. Nominees are different as they seek the seat of Justice for a lifetime position. Maya Angelou’s statement rings true, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
In our lifetime, we have seen freedoms come and go. We have seen a man elected to the office of the presidency without winning the popular vote. We have seen abortion become legal and then reversed. We are watching voter suppression in the south and attempts to stop and block the Black vote. We are witnessing billionaire candidates run for office or trying to assume office. America is sliding backward with backstabbing and propaganda. Yet, too often, the big lie prevails.
The question is, will Americans stop the corruption, the backward slide, the suppression, the power grabs, the poor decision, the insurrection. Will the real Americans stand up and say enough.
Vote. America is at stake.
