Now’s the time
How many times have we heard the newest contingent on the Supreme Court say that they don’t want to look like partisan hacks? That’s exactly what the leaked draft opinion makes them look like. They have put together a ruling that goes against what many Americans want. If that doesn’t make them partisan hacks, nothing else will. It is astounding that Susan Collins now steps forward to claim that the opinion is “completely inconsistent” with her discussions with Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. She should, instead, be burying her head in shame for helping Kavanaugh ascend to the bench. So much for her “moderate” stance. Had she not helped, those two might not be sitting on the bench at all, especially Kavanaugh. The real shame, however, is that these people continue to do whatever they want without due consideration of the desires of the American people.
The Hill reported that according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, nearly 60% of Americans believe abortion should be legal “in all or most cases.” Further, the poll revealed that a resounding 70% of Americans believe that the decision to seek or obtain an abortion is a decision not to be made by lawmakers but by the women involved. Again, Americans are being railroaded by a small percentage of the population who want to enforce their beliefs on others. What happened to our freedoms and the majority rule? Apparently, those no longer matter. Hopefully, these numbers will ensure that Democrats retain control of Congress and can somehow push back on this by codifying Roe, if it’s not already too late for that.
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are making their voices heard on the issue. The Guardian reported that Harris attended a women’s reproductive rights conference in Washington, where she told those gathered: “To those Republican leaders who are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women, we say, ‘How dare they? How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?” President Biden simultaneously called “the Maga crowd” the “most extreme political organization in US history” and pointed out that this type of control of others won’t stop here. He is dead on. This is only the beginning. What’s next, LGBTQ rights? Those rights are certainly in jeopardy. If a law that has stood for decades can be summarily dismissed, newer laws that offend the extreme right stand no chance of survival.
This is a fight we must win. We cannot sit back and watch a small contingent of busy-bodies rules how we conduct our lives. While the Guardian reported that thousands of women swarmed the plaza outside the Supreme Court, we must do more. We must show our disdain at the ballot box and get those out of office who seek to usurp our freedoms. We must keep a Democratic president in place until we can replace conservatives on the Supreme Court. There has been no better time to make our desires known and to take them to the streets. Let’s stop the total disintegration of everything we hold dear by our freedom to choose.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years