I have long feared this day. The day when a purposely unbalanced Supreme Court would hear arguments in a case that has one purpose; to overturn Roe. The trouble I have feared is that the Court was systematically tipped with that shared purpose, overturning Roe.
So, the day that it was announced that the Court would take up Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (dealing with Mississippi’s state law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy) those fears were further heightened. I had very little confidence that this Court’s makeup would stop short of fully overturning. After having three Justices confirmed with the sole promise of overturning Roe it was impossible to not be pessimistic. December 1st was to be the day that they would hear those arguments and it arrived.
My morning was upheaved when I flipped to NPR and discovered they were carrying the arguments live. I was prepared to hear updates throughout the day about the arguments but, didn’t expect to hear them in their entirety. As they proceeded, my heart began to race, my palms began to sweat and hearing Justice Barrett ask a question that implied adoption was clearly the only alternative to pregnancy, the redness of my face would have to have been quite noticeable. A reaction to radio that I hadn’t felt since the coverage of the January 6th insurrection. What happened next definitely iced the cake and tied both of these days together for me.
I walked in at a manufacturing plant to make a delivery and of course the guy who walked over to run the crane was wearing a new, bright red hat with its cringeworthy white embroidery (Make America Great Again). Yep, I had to find a way once again to be professional with this guy (as I have since those hats started to appear more than 5 years ago) and not let it affect my outward attitude and emotions or get in the way of my focus on both of our job safeties. This guy wearing that hat with the intention of getting a reaction was not going to draw one out of me today. Even if every internal voice I have was screaming mad knowing this day December 1st’s arguments and January 6th’s insurrection were made possible by the guy he idolized, I couldn’t let him know it.
After hustling through the delivery, I was back in my truck listening to the arguments and finding myself internally fighting this question that Justice Barrett had earlier put forth. She was separating the burden of childbearing from the burden of parenting and arguing that adoption, not abortion, was the only option a woman should have to ending each. She didn’t acknowledge the fact that she is a woman and in fact a mother, who would know that the sole burden of childbearing falls on the woman. She would know first-hand that pregnancy alone changes a woman’s life through effects on physical, mental, and emotional health. She would know the financial burden of pregnancy falls solely on the woman. Until those burdens are changed, simply giving up a baby to adoption does nothing to alleviate the burden of childbearing. The autonomy and agency a woman has the right to under Roe, does make that possible. It gives each pregnant person the ability to make the choice of whether or not to carry that weight.
For as long as I can remember, I have fallen firmly in the camp that the only time a man should have a voice in the perpetual argument that is abortion rights, is if he is the father of the fetus in question. And, I have always held that his vote would automatically be outweighed by the mother who would carry a 2/3 vote to his 1/3. After my internal screaming match with Justice Barrett while driving down a road lined with pro-life billboards today, my stance has changed. The father may have an opinion, but he doesn’t have a vote. As long as every responsibility of pregnancy is carried by the woman, the man doesn’t get a vote. She is the one who will be changed to the core of her being, not him.
It also changed another opinion that I had just this past weekend. While talking with a contractor who was doing some work for us, he asked if we would allow a 14 year old daughter to go on birth control or more accurately if he should put his on it. His concern was a battle between knowing teens do things impulsively and whether knowingly putting her on birth control was his condoning those impulses. Not knowing his daughter, we said that decision would be tough to make. After today, I would answer that question much differently. I would let him know that with the impending change to abortion rights in this country, he should communicate openly to her that she would have options available. Whether or not their family choses the pill, they need to know that every responsibility will be placed on her. She is ultimately the one who will bear the burdens of sex. She, even with the availability of adoption, will bear the burden of pregnancy. She is the one whose body, mind and soul will change. She is the one who will be financially responsible for that pregnancy and birth. She is the one who is responsible for contraception, even if the male in this case says he has protection she cannot be fully sure that it is used properly, not expired, ripped, or even fits (teenage boys need to have sizing options available and know that not everyone is a Magnum). My answer now would be, moving forward in America his daughter needs to have Plan B available without question or judgement regardless of whether she is on the pill or not.
Today did nothing to alleviate the fears I’ve long held for America’s future. I still have very little confidence that Roe will be upheld, at a minimum it will be gutted. I am doubtful about women’s rights in America being prioritized in this Court. But, I do hold out hope that our contractor and his daughter will move to a place of open communication and trust that will allow her to control her future.
P.S. -Justice Barrett you may desire the Supreme Court to not be viewed through a political lens as you stated a few months ago, but when you continue to push political narratives it will never be possible. Yes, I caught when you tied questions of body autonomy of abortion to vaccines. Conservative media also caught it and it is the message of the day that they are running with. To my surprise, they weren’t cheering the arguments about abortion today (they knew this decision was in the bag), they were running with the idea that every argument being made in favor of a woman’s choice will be used in opposition to vaccine mandates, contagious facts be damned.
Changed So Much! 