Then, in the next breath, the Republicans wonder why their educated children move to the coast, can’t attract top tech talent, and their towns are hollowing out.
I can’t be because those Republicans suck to live around.
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For reasons you might guess, this is an important subject for me. So I wonder what a backlash from vox populi night look like. SCOTUS stands o be the final arbiter on reproductive rights, there are four assured right wing votes, an elderly leftie, no assurance we’ll flip the senate in time for a Dem to appoint a moderate, and a squishy Chief Justice vote. Do we punish senate Rs if SCOTUS were to overturn Roe V, because that is in fact the end game of right wingers with an eye on fetal personhood legislation.
State Rep. Candice Keller, a Middletown Republican, called the legislation “the most compassionate bill we’ve ever passed.”
Low fucking bar.
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Frankly, although the short-term fallout would be nasty, I think that this would lead to the biggest upheaval politically since the Civil Rights Movement. We’ve had a long history of expanding Rights over the past decades. And once people have those Rights, they really don’t like having any of the things they take for granted taken away.
Having Roe v. Wade protecting them from taking real action has been a massive success for Republicans. They’ve gotten to harness lots of energy (and $$$) from the Right without ever delivering the goods. Even their attacks on Planned Parenthood (@chelsea530) is enabled by this.
Once they have to deliver on the goods, in this social media age, just imagine how fast the horror stories will spread, or the “gofundmes” for a raped girl to travel to a Blue State for an abortion rather than deliver her molester’s child. Let alone the expose stories about any female relatives of a Republican who gets an abortion.
I really don’t think that the aftermath of overturning Roe would play out in the way Republicans expect it to.
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I also worry about married women who have to end a pregnancy, because the fetus isn’t viable. My fucking god.
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All of them. But remember, overturning Roe v. Wade doesn’t make abortion illegal overall, just kicks it to the States. So women will still be able to go to Blue States to have needed procedures. And there will be holy hell in the coverage of all of those.
Short-term, a lot of pain. Mid-term, it’s going to spark a once-in-a-generation shift in politics very rapidly in some of those Red States. Quite possibly literally within months, as it’s reasonable to presume that there will be a decision coming down Spring/Summer of 2020.
So what happens to girls who have an illegal abortion in Ohio? Will they be arrested and charged with murder? What about rape victims who have been impregnated by their rapist? Arrest them too?
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Exactly.
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Time to outlaw all procedures to treat prostate cancer. Just because I feel like it.
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What’s next menstruation patrols? “Ms. Jones, step out of the house with your hands up” “Drop the maxipad!” Do not go near it".
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Those laws are in place, because the usual suspects believe that any day will be Roe’s overturn day.
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Fetal personhood is the step that would truly end freedom for women. GOPers think “fetal personhood” means zero abortion, but enforcement of such a law would allow (and require for effective enforcement) constant monitoring of potentially fertile women. A miscarriage at any point would merit a homicide investigation. Flushing your red-tinted bowl would essentially be destruction of evidence.
Edited to add:
Yes, if you are serious about fetal personhood.
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Misogynists just gotta control women. Else they lose their power to women. They so scared of women.
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The true believers, yes. The politicians, they’ve been dreading it, at least the smart ones have. They know the fallout which would come with actual cases and real people being harmed with it being made illegal and prosecutions starting.
I’ve looked at the numbers needed for some years now. They are small compared to, say, the Democratic vote cushion in California, but they are very big numbers to move into those states.
Maybe Soros and Steyer could first set up adequate healthcare and other services on the Native American lands in those states, in return for tribal agreements to allow the healthcare facilities to provide a full range of reproductive services. I have no clue as to whether such an idea would be deeply offensive to some tribes, and would expect that it might be to some, but there likely are plenty who would welcome the offer.
There are a number of red states (Utah, for one) where the non-native governments have gone out of their way to make life difficult for Native Americans. The healthcare facilities might be seen as even better payback than using casinos to milk the non-natives.
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I was going to mention gerrymandering, but the fact is that it only comes into play in a minority of situations. It’s important, but anti-GOP turnout is far more important. And so far, that turnout hasn’t been enough to win. Maybe Ohio will get all the couch-sitters off their asses.
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Yep – and this would probably encompass 50 years – from about 10 to 60 (to account for early start and late finish).
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Over 50% of white women voted for Trump, fully expecting him to nominate conservative justices who would undo Roe.
I suspect it’s inaccurate to speculate without evidence that only women are wise to the importance of reproductive rights, not to mention unhelpful.
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I don’t think it’s a mystery. This is how you leverage the anti-majoritarian electoral college.
What happens to a woman who has a miscarriage at 6 weeks?
Do you charge her with murder?
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