Plog 4
Hi this is Pam Pope again. I am ready to write another installment of my Plog (Pam’s log). I want to get straight to strategy. We are finding ourselves in a pickle. Right now the Right, Conservative and Republican powers that be are gaining momentum. It hurts to say it, but it is undeniable. But from this point we acknowledge “out loud” that we need a strategy. We need a game plan. We need to work every day just like they worked for fifty years to overthrow Roe v Wade. We have higher numbers than them but they are dirtier fighters. Michelle Obama’s mantra “when they go low, we go high” sounds lovely but it does not work with them. There are less of them by numbers in the US. We are the ruling party in the Presidency, the Senate and the House but still they power grab. They are obviously more in touch with their Spidey Senses and taking that opportune moment to pounce on their prey.
When I was in law school we studied Roe extensively. It was taught as an extremely important yet controversial legal precedent. It seemed untouchable. But it was not. It was taught as the Right to Privacy under the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment. It was also taught as the right of impoverished women who lived on public assistance to have a government funded abortion. It was NOT about the legalization or criminality of abortion. So as you can see the way that the interpretation of the case has grown. It now includes the viability and criminality of abortion. They have even added criminal penalties for the Medical Provider and the Uber driver who provides a ride. The laws involving the reversal of Roe are WAY overreaching. They do not square with the original intent of the decision. It was more about the cost of the procedure. It has morphed and gotten away from how it started.
I believe that most of the Supreme Court consider themselves “Strict Interpretationists” but are they really? To me there are legal problems in striking it down and the magnified effect that it will have. Anytime the governing of anything is left up to the States there is a chance for the States to go “Wild Bill” I have not yet read the entire decision but I have learned that it comes from the great State of Mississippi. The case met all the requirements for an audience in the Supreme Court. Cases are brought all the time that never make it to the top but this one did. Thomas Dobbs is the State Health Officer who sued their local Planned Parenthood. Dobbs alleged that women were being hurt by 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions. Anyways I promise I will read the whole thing and give you my lawyer’s interpretation. In law school they said that the undoing of Roe would involve trying to put a specific time limit on when life begins. The proposed argument would be does life begin at 20 weeks of gestation, 10 weeks of gestation and so on. BIG LIE! Currently they are saying that it starts as soon as the sperm invades the egg. I will speak more about the decision in a subsequent blog.
As you can see, I speak about whatever is bothering me the most that day. Obviously it varies. As always I welcome your thoughts, opinions, decisions and ideas of how we can fight back. The goal of this group is to vent and to brainstorm plausible ways to fight back. Think of the Political influence we can have. Let’s do this thing. Our most powerful tool is our Collective and Focused Energy.
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