The Timing of the Blow & What Is To Be Done?

The Timing of the Blow…

Have you wondered why the Supreme Court released their decision, abolishing a woman’s right over her own body, on Friday morning?

We knew it was coming because they told us it was coming. Was there any particular significance to the timing of the release of the news?

I believe there was. I think the right-wing Supreme Court used the announcement of their decision on abortion rights to distract the nation from the revelations of the Thursday Congressional hearing.

There were many smoking guns in the testimony of the Justice Department officials. There was so much smoke that I could barely see who was talking. But I could see clearly on Thursday that the evidence was overwhelming: Trump planned a coup so that he could remain in office.

So on Friday morning, I was excited to see the headline in the New York Times:

“Trump Strong-Armed Justice Dept. to Subvert Vote.”

At least I was excited until I found out that Roe v. Wade had been overturned. Nobody was interested in discussing the explosive revelations of Thursday’s hearing, including me. Yes, the Supremes did succeed with their distraction, if that is what they intended.

The disaster awaiting women is now upon us. The right we had to choose an abortion is being taken away from us, state by state. That is happening as I type. We have to figure out what to do.

What is to be done?

There are many things we can do, and we already have the organizations in place working on alleviating the lack of abortion clinics in certain states.

• Get information about medication abortions and the pills themselves to those who are eligible for them.
• Fund travel expenses for women who need abortions to states where it is legal.
• Have mobile clinics on state borders so women don’t have to travel so far.

And most important:

Elect people to Congress in November who will make Roe the law of the land.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Tina Smith laid it out in the Sunday New York Times:

“If voters help us maintain our control of the House and expand our majority in the Senate by at least two votes this November, we can make Roe the law all across the country as soon as January.”

In 2020, I hand-wrote lots of letters to voters in other states and volunteered to canvas for Josh Harter, who was running in Modesto to flip that district from red to blue. I spent a weekend knocking on doors for him. He succeeded! I feel invested in Harter after my volunteering so, I’m going to do it again… Maybe two or three weekends. And I’m going to write letters again. We still live in a democracy, folks. Admittedly, a very flawed democracy.

Being a citizen of a democracy is not just about voting. It’s about figuring out what you stand for and working to elect representatives who have the same values as you. It’s a lot of work, democracy is. Voting is just the teeny tiny tip of the iceberg.

We are the majority on abortion rights.

We are the majority on gun control.

We are the majority on gay marriage.

This is not the tie for despair. It’s the time for action!

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