Radical Judge Writes Legislation Overturning Women's Rights

By Susie Madrak — May 3, 2022

Decades ago, one of my relatives got pregnant when she was 15 years old, and was desperate enough to douche with Drano. She almost died as a result, and in the process, all of her reproductive organs had to be removed. Her mother, a classic "good" Catholic, never forgave her and kicked her out of the house. And in the TV Movie of the Week tradition, my relation ended up addicted to crack and living on the streets. No happy ending -- as far as I know, she's still there.

This is what I think about, not just when we consider the legality of abortion, but when we consider the stigma.

I used to work part-time in a local restaurant, and young women used to ask my advice about absolutely horrific situations regarding unwanted pregnancies. When I would bring up the possibility of abortion, they would recoil. I remember one of them said, "But that's what bad people do."

We no longer have the TV movies that used to have major influence on public opinion, and abortion was one of the things they helped normalize. Now, in a world of unrelenting right-wing Christianist propaganda, a woman who makes the decision not to carry a pregnancy to term is the classic evil, selfish woman -- because there are so few media depictions to rebut that.

The loss of our rights is no longer theoretical.

I’ve NEVER written about this in public but I think now’s the time. In 1963 my 16 yo sister and her boyfriend committed suicide because she got pregnant. There was no access to abortion for a lower middle class young woman, and certainly no birth control yet.

— joyjoyblue (@Joyjoysilva) May 3, 2022

So... the first lawsuit I'd like to see is from a Jewish woman who has access to an abortion provider denied in a Christian Theocracy state sue that the Christian rules inhibit her religious freedom under the free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment.

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) May 3, 2022

One of Alito's justifications for doing away with Roe is that "the cost of medical care associated with pregnancy and childbirth are covered by insurance or government assistance." https://t.co/PVOJvQAZ1W

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) May 3, 2022

I graduated HS in '73 when Roe passed. We were whooping it up when our civics teacher yelled for the class to be quiet. "You think you've won a war," she sternly noted. "This was a battle. You won a battle. They are never going to give up."

I've thought about that ever since.

— Radio Justice 📻🎙⚖ (@justiceputnam) May 3, 2022

Seeing lots of conservatives bewailing the leak as endangering the function and legitimacy of the court. Understandable, in the abstract. But the Court they have created lacks legitimacy and is in fact deeply corrupt. So there’s no real basis for complaint.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 3, 2022

Minor and personal but: intellectually I am unsurprised, mentally knew this was coming, have been writing about it for years, understand Roe has been insufficient for millions, etc etc. And yet: my teeth have been chattering uncontrollably for an hour. Bodies/minds are so weird.

— Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) May 3, 2022

This is SO true. Making abortion illegal is known to increase maternal mortality rate and we already have the worst maternal and infant mortality rates of ANY developed country (all others have universal healthcare). And overall care… pic.twitter.com/DbIuZaZalJ

— Lynne Eldridge MD (@AboutLungCancer) May 3, 2022

Look out gay marriage. If they can outright overturn a constitutional right enshrined for 50 years and almost universally around the world, they won't hesitate to overturn Obergefell. It's only been 7 years.

— digby (@digby56) May 3, 2022

Seriously, shout out to whoever the hero was within the Supreme Court who said “fuck it! Let’s burn this place down.”

— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) May 3, 2022

Abortion would immediately become illegal in at least 13 states if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade:

Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 3, 2022

The next frontier for the antiabortion movement: A nationwide ban https://t.co/0J434sDWvk

— Suburban Guerrilla Ω (@SusieMadrak) May 3, 2022

So Ireland and Mexico, two VERY Catholic countries, will have more liberal abortion laws than the United States. Good to know.

— watertigernyc 🌻 (@watertigernyc) May 3, 2022

“Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.” DID YOU THINK WE DIDN'T NOTICE THAT YOUR SIDE NOW COMMONLY REFERS TO BIRTH CONTROL AS ABORTIFACIENTS? #FuckSCOTUS

— Suburban Guerrilla Ω (@SusieMadrak) May 3, 2022

One fun fact about the Supreme Court is that a third of its members were appointed by a professional con man who received nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton, and then tried to stage a coup.

— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) May 3, 2022

“We emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” Alito writes. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”

Yeah, that's bullshit.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 3, 2022

About 70% of Americans support Roe. Laura Ingraham is out of the mainstream. She is a radical fascist giddy about a ruling that will cause many of her viewers to die or get arrested. She is beneath contempt and we must rise up and make her regret her words at the polls. https://t.co/OsDUx7QSIC

— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) May 3, 2022

“It wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders..:seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but…because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools.” https://t.co/bnWHDdfL2I

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 3, 2022