The landmark woman's rights law, where women could get safe abortions is now over. It's back to how the law was before where each state ruled on women's abortion rights.
Thoughts?
Is this a correct decision, or a huge injustice to woman's rights?
America is done and has been for a while. The only solution is to get out, if you can, and hope that wherever you go doesn't turn into a shit show as well.
This is a horrible decision that is morally wrong and also incredibly wrong on the law, relying on all kinds of misstatements about legal history and legal interpretation. Our current Supreme Court are partisan hacks who don't care about anything except their own terrible ideologies.
Forced birth is an abomination.
And Thomas and Alito both signal that the Supreme Court should reconsider Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell — the rulings that now protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage. In 2022. They also dismantled Miranda, made gun control unconstitutional, and said that public money could go to private religious education. All this week.
Land of the free and home of the brave? I use to be a "love it or leave" it guy. I'm leaning more and more to maybe it's time to leave it. Tam said it best during MM "Take care of your people".
In some ways, the people I feel the worst for are the people who might be pro-choice, but are also stuck in a states' rights wormhole that blinds them from the moves many current or prospective state leaders on the right are making to curb the power to choose a President-elect from the electorate to the legislature. While some, however slowly, are moving past whether or not the 2020 election was stolen, they're quickly realizing that with enough gerrymandering and emotional discouragement, they can take any political power at all away from the people by convincing the blood thirsty hoard they've cultivated that it's in their best interests.
You'd like to think the worst case scenario isn't possibly possible, but just about everything since 2008, honestly, has been some form of worst case scenario relative to what came before despite day to day life on the ground often seeming quite blissful and convenient.
Considering the fact that every single credible study shows: banning abortions does nothing to decrease them, sex-ed is the only thing that actually works in decreasing them, no, I'd say this isn't right.
It's easy to doomsay and rend garments over the state of America, and we probably should for a bit, but it ignores all the excellent work being done to combat this, the fact that someone was brave enough to leak this so that states that actually want to participate in 21st century governance could prepare, and because of how inter-connected we all are now, the consequences of this idiocy won't be able to be swept under the rug like they used to.
It's easy to forget: very little of what's wrong with this country is NEW, there are just more people than ever AWARE of it. You don't have to leave the country to get a better life (trust me: other nations aren't thrilled about taking someone in as a citizen because things got politically difficult in their homeland), but if you have the resources: Maybe move to one of those states I mentioned about. One that actually governs.
I agree 100 percent with what everyone is saying so far. And unfortunately, this is going to bring back the back alley abortions where women risked their lives dealing with shady so-called black market doctors to get an abortion, or they will try to do it themselves which is very dangerous and often resulted in them bleeding to death. But this is the sign of the times. A certain group of people want to turn back the clock and make things how they used to be in America, which of course wasn't a good thing for a lot of other people.
I've seen a lot of people posting only in America type comments. Sadly, this is happening worldwide. A lot of extremist groups are running for powerful positions in politics and a lot of them are winning, especially in western countries.
@nodima: All the more reason to ignore/treat with suspicion anyone STILL trying to push the "both sides are equally bad" narrative.
@beggary: Do condoms count as contraception? If so that's wild, not that what is currently happening isn't also extremely insane. It's getting so hard to live life here and not feel like you're going insane if you don't join the small cult of conservatives who try to run everything. (I also live in the midwest so maybe that colors my feelings about the whole thing more) I guarantee you if I were to try to talk to the majority of average people where I live about it they would trip over themselves a thousand times to justify whatever nonsense these "leaders" pull on us. They would go on and on about how its not really this or that, and they'll have an excuse for every time you rebuttal them even if it literally makes no logical sense. You don't even have to be religious or overtly moral anymore to be overtaken by this insane movement, there has been great success in turning many non-political or non-religious people into warriors for their cause through culture wars. I know people who years ago would have never supported anything like this who I know now have been warped by everything so much that they wholly support these things. Maybe that's what happens when you grow up and continue to live in a conservative area, eventually at least some of your normal friends from high school end up becoming just as brainwashed as the older people who whined at us about the devil and people of color all our lives. But I also can't help but feel like propaganda and the twisting of reality through places like facebook etc. have helped accelerate this at an alarming degree. I can't leave here and I feel trapped every day. It's getting really hard to try and make something out of my life when I'm so sickened and disenfranchised with everything going on around me.
Sine what I'd really like to say would go against this site's terms of service, I'll just leave this here as a form of catharsis.
You don't have to leave the country to get a better life (trust me: other nations aren't thrilled about taking someone in as a citizen because things got politically difficult in their homeland), but if you have the resources: Maybe move to one of those states I mentioned about. One that actually governs.
What country do you think the US is? I am in a blue state but I wouldn't say its all sunshine and rainbows. Healthcare is terrible no matter where you live. The rich are still pillaging everything they possibly can. Housing is a nightmare. Wages are awful. Inflation is out of control. Gun control is practically non existent. Police violence is ridiculous. The supreme court is going to overturn just about every civil rights thing they possibly can.
It doesn't matter where in the country you live, the US is not a great place to be. We are a third world country with great propaganda to convince us otherwise. Some states obviously have it worse, but the country is sliding into full blown fascism at an alarming rate. I am trying to get out as soon as possible, while I still can. Nothing in the last 50-100 years has shown me that anything will get better any time soon. The game is rigged and not in our favor.
@williamhenry: The thing is: if you think it's sunshine and rainbows or that those problems are nonexistent elsewhere (except gun control, I'll admit: that is our bugbear), I have bad news about going to another country that doesn't air their filthy laundry in the rest of the world's faces...
In fact, the worse shit has gotten here, the more has been revealed about the bigotry, overpolicing, economic inequality and more of many other "1st world" nations as more and more people stand up and say "here too." From Canada's appalling record of ongoing treatment of its native population to Switzerland's uncounted worker population and funding its lifestyle through unchecked greed and unscrupulous banking, to Australia's retrograde and regressive social policies, Japan's ludicrous suicide rate, England basically going through the same shit we are currently (but WITH healthcare and far fewer guns), I dunno, duder. I dunno, it sounds like this is a PEOPLE problem, not an AMERICA problem.
Show me a country that has brought its wealthiest class to heel within the constraints of the law, and I'll ask you what fascinating sci-fi book you're reading.
And if you already live in a Blue State, focus less on what's going on in others and more what's going on in YOURS. Because I'll tell you what: shit was a whole lot worse ~20+ years ago for actual standard of living, we just didn't know about it.
THAT'S the crazy thing: we HAVE made a ton of progress in the last two decades as a society, but I'll agree: there are bad elements in the massive minority abusing the power left by apathy (there's a reason the battlecry has always been: get involved at a local level), but progress isn't a steady curve upward, however much we're taught that it is.
To say nothing of the fact that, again: if you think countries like Canada are lining up to welcome Americans who fled because things went slightly awry for 1-2 elections, you might want to reconsider.
And c'mon, that 50-100 years number might as well have been pulled out of the air. ACTUALLY go back 50-100 years and look at basic statistics to see how much doomsaying BS that is.
This isn't just the start, either. They've been snipping away quite a lot as of late. Soon they'll stop pretending altogether, I'm surprised they still are.
Gay and interracial marriage are next along with civil liberties and human rights. Privacy, education (what remains of it), the environment, social freedoms...all these and more are next.
I wouldn't be surprised to see segregation come back.
This isn't just the start, either. They've been snipping away quite a lot as of late. Soon they'll stop pretending altogether, I'm surprised they still are.
Gay and interracial marriage are next along with civil liberties and human rights. Privacy, education (what remains of it), the environment, social freedoms...all these and more are next.
I wouldn't be surprised to see segregation come back.
Clearance Thomas already said they are going after Gay Marriage next. And segregation never really went away, but now they might bring it back into the open.
This isn't just the start, either. They've been snipping away quite a lot as of late. Soon they'll stop pretending altogether, I'm surprised they still are.
Gay and interracial marriage are next along with civil liberties and human rights. Privacy, education (what remains of it), the environment, social freedoms...all these and more are next.
I wouldn't be surprised to see segregation come back.
I think that it is important to not jump to conclusions in regards to something as horrible as segregation being next. We’ve known for years that the right has wanted to take down Roe V Wade and now it has happened, however, I haven’t seen any advocacy for segregation.
Gay marriage, on the other hand, could most definitely be next considering that that is another issue that could easily be defined by this Supreme Court as a state’s right issue like Roe V Wade just was. Gay marriage was also clearly called out in this decision.
We live in interesting times.
I'll say: get off social media. Go outside, say hi to a neighbor, donate your time, money, and energy to political causes in your area, and hug a friend and a have a walk.
It'll still be there tomorrow, but drinking straight from the firehose might FEEL productive, but trust me: it really, REALLY isn't.
Oh, and fucking VOTE. The fact that they're trying to hard to take it away from you should tell you everything you need to know about how much they fear it.
No more "both sides" bullshit: one side wants you enshrine your basic, human rights AND allow you to vote, the other doesn't. They are not EQUALLY bad.
@curseofthewise: we're doing alright in Ireland. Admittedly we havent got the history of slavery, destruction of indigenous races and huge social divides of some of those 1st world countries. What we do have is multiple political parties, very high OECD ratings and the people of Ireland were allowed to vote as a nation on gay marriage and abortion, yes to both, instead of our government telling us what was what. That's democracy. Then no one can complain. Your nation voted.
Not to downplay the impact of this decision, but the bigger concern is really how it happened. 'Cuz that's some real "we're all fucked" shit. The fact that one party basically hijacked and politicized the Supreme Court (which is supposed to be the neutral arm of the government), where appointments are for life (meaning this will stand for decades without any possible challenge) is just straight out of a dystopian nightmare.
@curseofthewise: my neighbors are the ones who helped make this a reality though. :/
i've never been much of patriot- so i don't feel a great mourning or perceived loss of identity as this country's terminal disease progresses. there's so much nihilism and tribalistic cynicism- it feels like there's more cancer than healthy tissue now.
but i am also absolutely fucking enraged for all the people with a uterus. what an unmitigated disgrace. while the oceans warm and wealth is sequestered, let's remove a person's right to make their own bodily decisions. what a fucking disgrace.
@curseofthewise: I have nothing to add but I agree with everything you’re saying. It helps to get off the internet and to understand that the rage and injustice you’re feeling is shared by the majority of your fellow citizens.
Dark times but try and find the light where you can, donate and help where you can.
To really stick the knife in, the US is one of the only countries in the world where you have to keep paying US taxes if you live and work somewhere else. So no matter where they go they'll still be paying the salaries of all the folks that forced them out. Like a theme park, I really loved visiting the US but I think it would be very tough living there.
This country is in the toilet and the shit hasn't even been dropped yet. I don't know what else we can do except put our boots over the necks of those in power, but besides maybe a famine leading to collapse of civilization, I still don't see unity in US citizens collectively rising against any of this.
That is what is most disturbing to me. We may be on here expressing our feeling on the issue, but most of us are not going to do much except vote and the most brave us of may attend a peaceful rally, but I feel that won't be enough. We still have a midterm this year and then if we're still a free country, a presidential election in 2 years.
All I can hope is that I'm wrong and through some miracle democracy lives on in this country, but it feels like the odds are so against us as long as we're passive in this.
This is what these regressive fucks do. They make everything worse for everyone except for the rich; time and time again. And if you think that you're safe cause you're white/male/hetero? You're not safe, you're just the last one's they'll target, but they will target you.
I get that some people feel like they just have to beat feet, but most can not do that, for a host of reasons. But at the end of the day, the only people that can actually affect real change in this country (especially if the rule of law goes out the window and we devolve further into something even worse) are the ones physically here.
@shindig: For now. But only for now. There are definitely plans in the work to make abortions completely impossible to obtain, as well as nightmarish travel bans for fertile women in the works. But yes, for now abortion is still legal in much of the country and there are states like New York that are committed to keeping it available as long as it's possible.
@thebobster92: It is absolutely NOT important not to jump to conclusions about what they'll do, because they'll do as much as they can get away with. Will they actually come for interracial marriage while Clarence Thomas is on the Court? I don't know. But they are going to do enough damage that it doesn't really matter because they must be opposed given what their clear agenda already is.
It's like saying "well we know they're going to purge all the Jews and women but we don't know if they'll really go after the Catholics." Why is that important to know ahead of time? They must be stopped regardless.
It's a sad situation, but what has made social media especially depressing are two types of people:
1. The self-professed Jeff Gerstmann fans and/or "former Giant Bomb fans" attacking current Bombers for having an opinion on this. As if GB used to be some sort of bastion of internet regressives.
2. The "liberal" vote blue no matter who centrists who have been gloating about how leftists should've voted for Hillary.
I'm just tired of people using a shitty situation to just be shitty to people they supposedly care about, when compassion and righteous fury is needed.
And, now we fight like our grandparents did to get these right back and protect other rights Thomas and Alito have said are on the table.
We will fight and not fold. We will fight not because that is easy, but because 70% of American know what is right. We will fight for a woman's right to choose, we will fight for more access to contraception, LGTB+ rights, gun control, and to bring justice and equality to where we see injustice and inequality. Again not easy work, but necessary. And, I for one think that young people in the United States are willing to fight for a better country - Millennials and Gen Z are far stronger than older generations give them credit for.
So ... this new ruling puts the ball in your state's court, right? Not completely back to square one?
Yes, its now a state by state issue, but the conservative evangelical right have made it clear that their ultimate goal is to make abortion illegal nationwide, punishable with jail time. And they have many politicians running in different states who plan to follow through with an illegal abortion ban if elected, including with matters of incest and rape pregnancy.
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