{"id":25572,"date":"2022-05-04T03:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=25572"},"modified":"2022-05-03T17:19:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T23:19:45","slug":"the-dobbs-leak-a-litany-of-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2022\/05\/the-dobbs-leak-a-litany-of-anger.html","title":{"rendered":"The Dobbs Leak: A Litany of Anger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t see it coming. That doesn\u2019t make it any easier.<\/p>\n

When the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay the Texas vigilante abortion law, it was a clear sign that a majority of the court was ready to overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in this country. On Monday night, Politico published a leaked draft<\/a> of a ruling by Samuel Alito in the Dobbs v Jackson<\/em> case. At least five justices are ready to overturn Roe<\/em> and Casey<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I knew this was coming. I\u2019ve thought about what I\u2019d say when it did, but I can\u2019t write any of those words right now. I\u2019m too angry.<\/p>\n

Lots of people are angry right now. Justifiably angry. Righteously angry.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave the discussion of the impact of this horrible ruling to those who are more directly affected by it: those who can become pregnant. But anyone who cares about justice and worries about the future of this country has a right to be angry.<\/p>\n

I suppose I should point out that the leaked ruling is not a final ruling. There is, in theory, still time for Brett Kavanaugh and\/or Amy Coney Barrett to keep their word and respect Roe v. Wade<\/em> as settled law. But I do not expect that to happen. They were put on the court for the primary purpose of overturning Roe<\/em>, and so they will.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of blame to go around<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s put the primary responsibility where it belongs: on Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. They\u2019re called \u201cjustices\u201d for a reason. But they place fidelity to a literal reading of the Constitution above the principles of the Constitution, even when it results in fundamental rights being stripped from half the population. They\u2019re the ones taking away the right to an abortion and I\u2019m angry with them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with Mitch McConnell. He made up a rule to deny Merrick Garland a seat on the Supreme Court. And then he pushed Amy Coney Barrett through in record time. Principles be damned \u2013 McConnell packed the court with regressive judges determined to overturn Roe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with Donald Trump for appointing Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Trump did tremendous damage to this country, but his court appointments are the worst because federal judges are appointed for life. They may be brilliant legal minds, but anyone who believes the Constitution should be interpreted the same way in 2022 as it was in 1787 is not qualified to sit on the highest court in the country.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with everyone who voted for Trump, McConnell, and the other Senators who voted to confirm these justices.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with everyone who thinks they know when human life begins \u2013 a question theologians, philosophers, scientists, and ordinary people have struggled with for millennia \u2013 with such certainty they think they have the right to make that decision for everyone else<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with everyone who didn\u2019t vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. I don\u2019t care about her e-mails, or her ties to Wall Street, or that fact that she ran an ineffective campaign. I don\u2019t care if you think politics is beneath you or \u201cthey\u2019re all the same anyway.\u201d They\u2019re not, and Hillary would have been an infinitely better President than Trump. We all knew what could happen if Trump was elected, and now it has.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry with the Democratic Party. They\u2019ve had almost 50 years to codify Roe v. Wade<\/em> into statutory law, and other than a half-assed effort earlier this year they\u2019ve done nothing. Like Republicans with immigration, they chose to fundraise on the threat rather than fix the problem.<\/p>\n

That said, voting for Democrats and only Democrats is the only way to reverse this injustice. You can\u2019t fix a problem like this unless you work the system more effectively than your opponents.<\/p>\n

They need to shut down everything, abolish the filibuster, make a deal with Joe Manchin (or just threaten him), shame Susan Collins (who voted to confirm Kavanaugh because he said Roe<\/em> was settled law), and pass a nationwide abortion rights law now. Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, and the rest of the Democrats need to become as ruthless and as effective as Mitch McConnell.<\/p>\n

Or, you know, step aside and let Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez run things.<\/p>\n

A recipe for unchecked legislative oppression<\/h2>\n

Over the course of the last 60 years or so, a series of Supreme Court rulings established a body of case law expanding the rights of individuals to live their lives as they see fit without government interference. The right to birth control, interracial marriage, abortion, private same sex relations, and same sex marriage are all rooted in the right to privacy, autonomy, and human dignity. These rights are not specifically listed in the Constitution, but are clearly implied by what Justice William O. Douglas in 1965 called the \u201cpenumbra\u201d of the Constitution \u2013 a contemporary understanding of the principles articulated in the document itself.<\/p>\n

There have always been those who disagree with this philosophy. Some of them believe legislatures \u2013 especially state legislatures \u2013 should be free to make any law that isn\u2019t explicitly forbidden. In his dissent in Lawrence v. Texas<\/em> (2003) Antonin Scalia said that criminalizing private consensual same sex relations is \u201cwell within the range of traditional democratic action.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry that intelligent, well-educated people believe that other people\u2019s rights should be subject to a vote.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m angry that those who genuinely believe in an \u201coriginalist\u201d interpretation haven\u2019t passed constitutional amendments to specifically enumerate the right to privacy and autonomy.<\/p>\n

The Dobbs<\/em> dissent(s) by Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer (and possibly Chief Justice Roberts) were not leaked. They will make the case for why Roe<\/em> should stand far better than I can. But originalism is a recipe for unchecked legislative oppression, especially in this era of computerized gerrymandering.<\/p>\n

And that makes me angry.<\/p>\n

Once again, a nation divided<\/h2>\n

Overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em> does not outlaw abortion. It means state legislatures are free to regulate, restrict, or outlaw it. About half the states have already done so, or they have old laws on the books that will become active again. Other states are likely to follow.<\/p>\n

In deep blue states, abortion will remain legal and available, and so abortion will remain accessible for those with the time and money to travel\u2026 at least until red states make that illegal too. They will try to do that \u2013 whether this court will allow it to stand remains to be seen. The poor will be left to suffer and die, as they so often are.<\/p>\n

Either way, the United States will be divided into free states and unfree states. The last time that happened it ended very badly.<\/p>\n

It makes me angry that American citizens have fewer rights in some states than in others, and that judges sworn to uphold equal rights under the law are OK with that. It\u2019s one thing if we\u2019re deeply divided in our individual opinions. It\u2019s a very different thing if laws are significantly different from state to state.<\/p>\n

Abortion is only the latest right to fall<\/h2>\n

In the leaked draft, Alito said \u201cnothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Either he\u2019s lying or he\u2019s a fool\u2026 and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s a fool. The far right is already attacking trans people and the courts are doing little to stop them. They\u2019re coming for same sex marriage next, using the same logic Alito uses to overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em>. Then they\u2019ll come for Lawrence v. Texas<\/em>, allowing them to put people in jail for being gay again. And then for Griswold v. Connecticut<\/em>, allowing them to outlaw birth control.<\/p>\n

Will they succeed? I don\u2019t know. Alito says that abortion is a special situation, but Kavanaugh and Barrett said Roe<\/em> was settled law \u2013 assurances from conservatives mean nothing. I just know regressive politicians will continue to try to take rights away from others.<\/p>\n

I also know the anti-choice zealots are not satisfied with returning the question of abortion to the states. They will not stop until there\u2019s a nation-wide ban on abortion.<\/p>\n

And that makes me very, very angry.<\/p>\n

Reason tomorrow \u2013 anger today<\/h2>\n

My goal with this blog is to be a voice of reason, a calming influence in a hyperbolic world.<\/p>\n

I have no words of comfort to offer. I have no plans or strategies, other than what little I\u2019ve included here.<\/p>\n

Others have already been doing prep work for this possibility \u2013 I intend to listen to them and figure out how I can best contribute to caring for vulnerable people, and how to most effectively work to reverse this injustice.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s for tomorrow. For today, I need to voice my anger.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m very, very angry.<\/p>\n

\n

Note to commenters:<\/strong> you are welcome to disagree, but keep your disagreements polite, factual, and rational. As should be quite clear by now, I\u2019m angry and I will be very loose with the \u201cdelete\u201d and \u201cblock\u201d buttons. In particular, comments that engage in name-calling and whataboutism will be deleted without warning.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I knew this was coming. I\u2019ve thought about what I\u2019d say when it did, but I can\u2019t write any of those words right now. I\u2019ll try to be reasonable tomorrow. Today I\u2019m too angry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":25578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[988,4111,4105,4108,989,437],"class_list":["post-25572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-abortion","tag-alito","tag-dobbs","tag-roe","tag-roe-v-wade","tag-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dobbs Leak: A Litany of Anger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I knew this was coming. I\u2019ve thought about what I\u2019d say when it did, but I can\u2019t write any of those words right now. I\u2019ll try to be reasonable tomorrow. 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