Anyone who follows politics knew that this day was coming, but it still is hitting like a ton of bricks. This is a day that will bring deep changes to this country, many of which seemed inconceivable just a few years ago. The Supreme Court has now, officially, overturned Roe Vs Wade. Nearly half the states in this country will soon ban the procedure outright, subjecting millions of American women to second class status. It doesn't matter that a majority of Americans oppose this ruling, our system is open to the perversion of popular sentiment, and that's what's happened here. It is appalling to consider that out of 9 Supreme Court judges, 5 of them were appointed by George W Bush or Donald Trump, neither of whom won the popular vote when they were elected.
This has been a huge struggle that stretches back decades. To me, one of the most transformational moments in American politics came in 1980, when then presidential candidate Ronald Reagan gave a speech in front of Christian Evangelicals and announced "Now, I know this is a non-partisan gathering, and so I know that you can’t endorse me, but I only brought that up because I want you to know that I endorse you and what you're doing." Before that speech, the Republican party was not strongly opposed to abortion rights (Gerald Ford was himself pro choice), but from then on, Christian Evangelicals and the Republican party would forever be joined at the hip with the party supporting an anti abortion, anti LGBT rights platform in every presidential election since. And over the years the Evangelicals have focused mostly on one thing, overturning Roe Vs Wade, giving votes, money and vocal support to Republicans as long as they pledge to support overturning that law.
It's been a odd sort of alliance at times; one would think that a thrice married man who has often publicly bragged about his sexual conquests and faces 26 accusations of sexual assault or rape would not be the type to be embraced by the religious right, but it was Donald Trump who got them over the finish line. Thanks to the Machiavellian manipulations of Mitch McConnell in the Senate, Trump put 3 hard right judges onto the Supreme Court in only 4 years. Quite a turn of events for a man who once called himself "very prochoice".
So what can pro choice Americans do now? Sadly, not a lot. Considering that court justices serve lifetime appointments, the changes that need to occur in the court probably won't happen for years, perhaps even decades. One long shot is that the next Democratic president could boldly move to expand the number of justices on the court.(I don't see a traditionalist like Biden doing this.) While this would be seen as a wild and unprecedented move, it should be pointed out that it was also unprecedented for the Republican led Senate to refuse to endorse President Obama's judicial appointment for 10 months before the 2016 election. So why shouldn't the Democrats aim high? Perhaps the chaos that this ruling will inevitably lead to could build support for such a move.
In any event, this already divided country is about to get even more deeply divided in the coming months, as pro and anti choice states will start passing laws clashing with each other, and women who have miscarriages will inevitably be accused of murder in some states. Abortion is a difficult and polarizing issue, and with this ruling the Supreme Court has thrown fuel on an already blazing bonfire in this country. Things are about to get very ugly here.
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