Maria was away for much of the day; I texted her about Roe V Wade as soon as I learned of it; I didn’t want her to hear it on the radio.
I was worn out today; some of my viral symptoms returned. I was ready to nap when she walked in the door, fired up and eager to protest.
She went through her Iphone quickly to see the lists scores of protests being organized in different cities in New York and Vermont.
I’ve never seen the women I know so upset and angry. This reaction is very new, intense, and very determined. No one is going to tell these women how to manage their reproductive lives.
Anyone who thinks this is over is smoking something strange.
It is, in many ways, really just beginning. It was inevitable, and in that sense, healthy. The boil is burst.
A prosecutor friend told me it is insane to believe that local law enforcement can police and prosecute millions of women when they are backlogged for months and years with violent felony crimes.
There are so many ways for determined women to get help and pills and support and get around these Medieval Laws.
A friend who supported the court ruling told me that it used to be illegal everywhere for women to have abortions. I reminded her that it was also banned for women to vote or own property. Are we returning that also?
She has not replied.
I wasn’t up for marching; I think it’s time to come up with new ways to reach people; marching and protesting don’t seem to do much beyond making people feel good and call attention to their cause.
That is not insignificant, but I hope to be helpful in different ways. Like helping to get people to vote. The anti-abortion movement worked long and hard to get to this day. It’s going to take a lot of work, not just marching and posting messages on Facebook and Instagram.
I offered to drive Maria to the Bennington, Vt., demonstration, which was scheduled for 5 p.m. She thanked me and said she was tired from hiking with a friend all morning.
I could see it was something she needed to do.
I was cranky and tired, hurting, and it was hot.
But I was also determined to help in any way I could.
I drove her to the demonstration in the middle of Bennington; she held up signs and changed for more than an hour. I parked the car, got out to take some photos, then got back in the car.
Maria ran into her friend Emily, the incredible artist who makes those Collage Appreciation Cards for me to send to donors to the Army Of Good.
When she was done, she found me and we ordered takeout food from the excellent Asian restaurant there. We drove home, both of us exhausted, and had dinner.
It was odd, but I felt shy there, like an old man out of place in such a young crowd. I was feeling blue yesterday, and I guess I brought it with me. The court ruling deflated me, but the demo revived my spirits. I admired Maria for being there.
I feel perfect about going. The demonstration was small, full of intense and very determined younger people. It had an excellent f feeling, and many cars and trucks honked as they came by. About half didn’t.
I went to take a photo, of course, and was proud of Maria. If she is typical of what so many women are feeling today, the fireworks are just beginning.
I came home with a lot of hope and inspiration.
Jon, this is a country where gun laws allow children in schools and adults to be assassinated. This is a country which has grown to accept same sex marriage and not prejudice against the rights of individuals involved. And yet, this is a country which now believes it can control women’s reproductive rights. I watched PBS news tonight with Judy Woodruff interviewing the head of Susan B. Anthony’s pro life movement. Any question Judy asked of this woman she did not answer directly but spieled off her own rhetoric. Mike Pence this morning announced Life has won. Holy cow. I don’t like to think of a child’s life aborted in second or third trimesters and can only think the reason for doing so would be medical but what court in the world would pass judgement on a woman’s right to control her own body. It’s ludicrous and being pro -life is just an excuse for this type of control. And now the possibility of outlawing and making illegal same sex marriages? And still allow people to buy guns to shoot others. I don’t blame you for being overwhelmed by Roe Versus Wade. This is some screwy and scary stuff going on there with the Supreme Court.
Sandy Proudfoot, living in Canada and I hope this law isn’t contagious.
It’s a challenging time, Sandra, for sure..
But here is the most frightening part. This decision was not based on a case. They did it BECAUSE THEY COULD. This is power without checks and balances and something the Republicans have worked for for 50 years. Bu where are the checks and balances that keep the rest of the gov in check? More frighteningly, what is next? Gay marriage? Brown vs, the Board of Education? This is unprecedented and very, very frightening.
The only hope here is that younger generations have never grown up knowing the repressive time women went through in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. They will not like this, and they vote. The time of old white men is over.
The dissent said at least indirectly that the new majority doesn’t understand that the Constitution is a blueprint not a law, not a statute. It reflects the changing times. But what the majority doesn’t see is that more than Trump-ss politics is at stake here.
The majority is a bunch of insecure, dessicated white knee-jerk trade school graduates (and their subservient s Clar&Amy) latching on to their buoy of power missing the dynamism of a rich, broad culture. Pun intended. Grabbing the last breath of power. desperately. Their narrow rationale here allows, demands, Miranda + be overturned.
America was a beautiful experiment, imperfect but putting in place many of Locke and French political philosophers’ ideals after seeing how the poor suffered at the hands of the elite. A wise Supreme Court is the lynchpin of our democracy.
Read the dissent closely.
abortion is healthcare……thank you with love to Maria
It hasn’t been that long since women have more power. Not that many years ago women of means had to flee to different states to get a divorce even if their husbands were wife beaters, child molesters or even had committed murder. The birth control pill helped women from being nothing more than baby making machines, and abortion helped more than hurt women’s rights. Birth control doesn’t always work. And not all women have cycles that run ever 28 days. I certainly don’t approve of late stage abortion unless there’s a health risk to the mother. And I do believe women and men have to be responsible when it comes to birth control. But in the heat of the moment many teenagers are not going to think beyond their hormones. So should three lives be ruined because of a two-minute lapse of judgement? I remember the girls who left school for about 6 months who came back to school to face ridicule and judgement by many of their peers who were also spending Saturday nights in the back seat of a car. So adoption isn’t always the answer. Outlawing abortion will affect the poor more than anybody. These women don’t have the means to go out of state.