I was anticipating the announcement of the decision all week, but despite constantly checking my phone in an obsessive and stressful manner, I was still shocked to see the news on the morning of June 24 about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
I never once believed the decision would prove to be anything different than what was leaked to the public back in May, but the official ruling that morning was something which I, like so many around the country, struggled to process. While the leak of the decision back in May was followed by protests and marches in Portland, I was disheartened to see a lack of numbers on the streets.
Were people waiting for the official decision? Did they think those in SCOTUS would change their mind? If anyone has been paying attention to the broken, corrupt and farcical government that we have, especially in recent years, then none of this should have been a surprise. Though others may have a more optimistic outlook regarding our institutions, it has been my belief that this outlook represents a more delusional and privileged position than anything, facilitating a pathway towards apathy and the inaction which comes along with it.
While we here in Oregon have the benefit of some of the strongest state laws which protect abortion, I implore Portlanders to fight and protest just as hard as those who are fighting in states where abortion is now banned and states that are moving to ban abortion in the coming days and weeks.
While activists and Portlanders admirably show out time and time again, the fight for bodily autonomy shouldn’t depend on where one falls in between invisible lines drawn on a map. While some may want to dunk on those opposed to abortion by flaunting the state’s rights argument back into the faces of conservatives, these socially constructed laws can always be changed and manipulated to oppress based off their hierarchical structure.
The overturning of Roe V. Wade is a patriarchal attack on bodily autonomy, and the rationale used to overturn this decision could lead to further decisions which challenge previous rulings. While Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion that we shouldn’t worry about any other assaults on our rights, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion questioning three previous SCOTUS decisions, threatening our rights to contraceptive access, same-sex marriage and freedom from being arrested for certain consensual sex acts between adults.
To take Justice Alito for his word that no other previous rulings are under threat would be a naive belief based on ignorance. While this court has already eroded Indigenous rights by increasing states’ rights over tribal land as well as weakened our Miranda rights, major decisions regarding climate change and immigration have also just been decided, resulting in the further erosion of environmental protections and immigrant rights.
While I have a copious amount of criticism for a Republican party which is aiming to turn back time by passing regressive policies and pushing for a theocracy, the Democratic party has been completely inept in many different ways. While Republicans have been unified in playing the long game, the Democrats have allowed regressive legislation to pass while lying to supporters and their more progressive colleagues alike by blaming voter turnout, Sen. Bernie Sanders, calls to defund the police or whatever it is that they decide is to blame, as long as it is not themselves.
As a candidate in 2007, former President Barack Obama said codifying Roe v. Wade into law would be the first thing he did in office, and despite having 60 Democratic senators and majority in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011, his promise never came to fruition. It was only shortly after he was inaugurated in 2009 with full Democratic control of the U.S. Congress when he then said that codifying abortion rights was not a legislative priority.
Even though this feels like some cruel joke, none of it is humorous. As a country we are left with a Republican party that is effectively reversing progress and making their own rules, and a Democratic party which cares more about saying what they will do for their constituents rather than taking the actions necessary to deliver. The response from many Democrats has been predictably terrible and insensitive. From sending out mass emails to solicit donations, to using the SCOTUS decision as a midterm pitch, their inability to do anything effective shows why people aren’t energized when the lesser of two evils party is woefully uninspiring.
The Democratic party can say that they are fighting for our rights all they want, but while Republicans are actively stripping away rights, the Democrats are nowhere to be seen. The fact that Democratic representatives gathered on the U.S. Capitol steps to sing “God Bless America” after the decision was announced should be proof enough to show how out of touch they are.
President Joe Biden just nominated an anti-abortion lawyer to a lifetime federal judge position to appease Sen. Mitch McMconnell, though it is not a surprise from the man who proudly talks about his days working across the aisle with segregationists. The one thing Democrats are good at doing is co-opting any progressive or mildly radical movement and running it into the ground. Don’t worry though, the next blue wave will be different, you’ll see.
Speaking of our broken electoral system and voting, while we here in Oregon are relatively privileged when it comes to voting rights and access compared to other states, millions of people living in the United States are not allowed to vote due to racist and restrictive voter ID laws, prior convictions, purged voting rolls and all the other obstacles intentionally placed to prevent people from voting. Considering the U.S.’s gerrymandering, closures of polling stations, long lines in many places around the country and the fact that around only a third of our country is having a big say in what is happening to the entire populace, it is no wonder that a huge number of people decide to either not vote or not even register to vote to begin with.
It might sound counterintuitive to point this all out while I am saying that voting is an illusion of a person having any meaningful say in our corrupt government, but the sooner people realize our institutions and government are a joke, the sooner people will realize we need to act accordingly and explore more options other than casting a ballot and patting yourself on the back with that sticker. Vote your heart out, but if that is all that you are doing then you might as well put a bumper sticker on your car and call it a day.
So what can we do here in Portland while those in other states are losing rights and autonomy over their bodies at a faster rate? For a lot of things, I will leave it up to your imagination. Mainstream discourse on past movements often neglects to mention the radical flanks of those movements which pushed progress forward into producing any meaningful change. If the president, others in government, or the police tell you the methods they prefer you to protest, chances are that those methods are mostly useless and ineffective in making change.
For those who want to publicly state that you will host your home to out of state travelers, be aware that you will open yourself up to attacks from the enormous number of far-right groups who live in the Northwest. Be proactive but be smart about it. Look to the established abortion funds and networks which have experience doing this—especially if you want to help those travelling from out of state.
When someone says democracy is under threat, they are failing to see we aren’t living in a democracy in the first place. When we have to choose between a party destroying our autonomy and a party that cares more about performative politics and lying to constituents, our system is already broken. A country started by men and built off of slavery on lands stolen through genocide was always going to be a country based off of patriarchy and white supremacy. Pro-choice is pro-abortion, and pro-abortion means actually fighting against the hierarchal structures that want control over your bodily autonomy.
Don’t let the Portland bubble prevent you from aiding in the struggles elsewhere. Rather than waiting to act until you are personally under threat, defend those around you that are currently suffering and are under attack from the fascist creep and Christian reconstructionists’ push towards a theocracy.
