Huge Stakes for Women in this Year's Elections
With the understandable focus on issues such as affordable and available housing and childcare, climate change, and healthcare, this year’s election rhetoric does not give nearly enough attention to women’s fundamental right to an abortion.
Nearly all observers of the U.S. Supreme Court predict that the justices will essentially abolish Roe v. Wade this summer, ending a right that has existed for fifty years. More than half of the states in our nation are predicted to follow up by instituting laws that either ban abortions or essentially render the procedures untenable.
Most people assume that we’ll return to the pre-Roe scenario in which some states legalize abortion and some do not. Women in a no-abortions state can cross borders into a state to undergo the procedure, and physicians in the state where it’s legal can perform the procedure without worrying they’ll be arrested or sued.
There is a strong possibility that this assumption may be tragically incorrect. Two states are already either considering or have already passed laws that would criminalize abortions that their residents undergo in a different state, even if the procedure is legal in that state. The women themselves could be arrested, as well as physicians or anyone who assisted in any way in facilitating the procedure. Given the determnation by many Republication lawmakers to outlaw abortion everywhere, we can expect other states to mimic these laws.
Imagine this scenario: After Roe v. Wade is overturned, an Idaho woman goes to a clinic in Spokane in order to have an abortion. Upon returning home, the woman is arrested for murder. A warrant for the arrest of the physician is issued, and the state of Washington is required to extradite the physician to Idaho for prosecution. This is not a hyperbolic fantasy.
For a more detailed analysis of why we should be concerned about this scenario, check out this recent article by Mark Joseph Stern in Slate magazine.
Women and men took to the streets in unprecedented numbers in the U.S. and around the world in Women’s Marches after Trump’s election in 2016. The movement spurred tremendously impactful women-led activism. Although Trump no longer occupies the White House, the need for that same activism is no less critical.
If the Republicans win control of Congress, we can assume that they will crush women’s reproductive health rights. How many will die as a result? How many will have their hopes to be the navigators of their own futures smothered?
In our own corner of the nation, we will be electing a Congressional Representative in CD 4, a new district for Klickitat County, one that stretches from the Columbia River through central Washington to the Canadian border. We do have a strong Democratic candidate: Doug White. Here’s his website. He’s looking for volunteers and funding right now.
Klickitat County Democrats will be active in the late spring and summer months. You will find in future emails calls for volunteers. Some of you who’ve already signed up for various volunteer roles in past years will receive a call to action soon. In the next few weeks, we’ll be implementing a postcard campaign to build our party. If you’ve written postcards for us in the past, you can expect to hear from us.
It's tempting to despair. The odds don’t seem favorable.
The Klickitat County Democrats prefer to fight.