Check out this piece at RH Reality Check today. Emily asked two questions of reproductive rights and justice advocates about the Roe anniversary. The first, what does Roe mean to you and the people you work with, and the second, is Roe enough?
Here are my answers:
For the women we work with, many of whom come from countries in Latin America where abortion is still criminalized, Roe has the potential to have a huge impact on their lives. Roe has the potential to make reproductive health services just like any other healthcare need a woman has, it has the potential to make a usually clandestine procedure safe and accessible. Unfortunately for them, the Roe decision has been weakened and diluted by subsequent legislation. The Hyde Amendment, in particular, has seriously stunted the potential of Roe. Because of these laws, we have a long way to go for low-income and immigrant women to really feel the full affects of this historic Supreme Court decision.Roe isn't enough because privacy is not enough. That narrow legal framework has only barely protected our legal right to access the procedure. It says nothing about access, about funding, about autonomy and barriers. It says nothing about justice. It has not addressed those who based on moral and religious convictions try to limit the health care women can receive. It has not addressed those who want women's bodies to be manipulated in service of a religious agenda and who want the fetus's rights to be placed above those of the mother. We need a lot more than a shaky legal framework to stand on if we want to achieve reproductive justice.
Read the other answers here.
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Roe isn't enough because there is nothing else backing it up. Brown v Board is backed up by civil rights legislation, although one can make the argument this too isn't enough, but it's not a stand alone document. And let's face it, the judicary is the weakest element of the government since it has no powers of enforcement.
I'm reminded of the story of the Cheeroke taking the feds to court in the 19th century over the issue of forced displacement from Georgia. They won the case but they were removed and murdered anyway because if the president wants to use the military to remove them, and congress wants to fund their removal, what does the court have to stop it?
Rulings by the court are subject to congress and the presidents ability and willingness to enforce them. Should a anti-choice president get an anti-choice super majority in congress, there really isn't anything to stop them from saying, no money for any entity that provides abortions period.
In regards to Brown again, the court said public schools must be desegregated, the reaction of the governor of Arkansas at the time was to close all the public schools. We can hope that this congress will perminatly cement women's ability to recieve abortion services and comprihensive health care in general, it's time for a Women's Rights Act on this issue.
I love the conversation and analysis over at RH Reality Check. Yes, Roe may have provided a "right" to privacy in regards to terminating a pregnancy, but you are correct, Miriam, that the issue of what is "undue burden" has not been addressed. A "right" or "choice" is meaningless if the means to achieve it are not available.
On the wider spectrum of reproductive rights is the "rights" and "choices" available for birthing a child. Jennifer Block talks about this in Pushed. (She was also interviewed by RH Reality Check here: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/06/21/interview-with-jennifer-block-author-of-pushed) The same laws that would give a fetus rights over a pregnant woman not only undermine abortion, but also the constitutional rights of women who choose to carry a pregnancy to term. If the State can force a woman to have a c-section with a court order, they can also prohibit her from terminating a pregnancy. As advocates, we must do a better job at helping the pro-life/fetus-rights crowd see that they are undermining their own goals. For instance, Block discusses in her book a woman tests positive for drug use or who knows she may have to give birth in prison, that it is likely her child will be taken from her forcibly, but considers herself "pro-life" may obtain an abortion because of the punitive nature of her treatment. It is not about privacy, it is about assuring the constitutional rights for women, regardless of their pregnancy status. This means the right to informed consent of all medical procedures during birth (which is currently in a dismal state) AND the right to end a pregnancy if she wishes. Issuing rights to a fetus undermines both goals. Case law supports this, but our social climate does not.
and then there's getting a sane maternity/paternity leave law in place, one that matches those of the "civilized" world...
Ugh, The Hyde Amendment. It's an outrage. It's an outrage that the government will fund hundreds to thousands of these so called "crisis pregnancy centers", which are little more than religious run indoctrination and recruitment centers that provide false information and no real medical services other than trying to scare and coerce women into giving birth. Yet, legitimate women's health centers like Planned Parenthood, that do more to prevent unwanted pregnancy and thus abortion than all of these "crisis pregnancy centers" are barred from any funding simply because they provide a full range of reproductive health services, including birth control & abortion, and they actually offer factual information on pregnancy options. It seems awfully discriminatory since these policies disproportionately effect poor women and women of color...in some states the only option available is one of these so called "crisis pregnancy centers" so the majority of women seeking abortions are forced to travel out or state (that is if they can afford to travel).
Heh, and I must have falsely been under the impression that there was supposed to be a clearer line between religion and government.
If these are problems we need to stand up and let our voices be heard!! Organizations like 99problems.org is a great way to start doing that.