Blogging for Choice: Roe at 36 is Fabulous, Ready and Relevant
Posted on | January 22, 2009 |
Today is the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade which recognized the right to privacy inherent in the Constitution and allowed for women to truly engage in reproductive choice. Every year I mark the occasion by thinking about the many women who suffered and died in the dark days prior to Roe just to be able to make choices about their own bodies and lives.
But on this day, just two short days after Mr. Obama was inaugurated (and only a few short hours after he was re-sworn in), it’s time not to just reflect on the past, but look toward the future. By that I don’t mean that we should sit idly on our laurels as fighters for reproductive change, but rather that we should move forward with concrete ideas about how to protect and implement Roe in the weeks, months and years to come. There is nothing more important than progress, but there is nothing more unsettling than progress unravelled.
Today, more than ever, we need to step forward with assured footsteps and take a hold of the victories we wish to see. In order to secure a woman’s right to chose the destiny of her body and her life, we must do the following:
Repeal the Bush Global Gag Rule–George W. Bush took office in January 2001 and the first thing he did was to make good on his promises to evangelical anti-choice forces by stopping foreign aid to any provider that also gave information on or services for reproductive choice. As a result, millions of women and men around the globe were not able to access the basic family planning materials that help provide a more secure and stable life. The Obama Administration is expected to reverse this Executive Order within the first few weeks. Such quick action is needed not only to show the serious commitment to global access to family planning, but to ensure healthy foreign relations and an even healthier outlook on women’s rights. Five former directors of the Population and Reproductive Health Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are urging Obama to issue guidance on this very topic as early as possible.
Pass the Freedom of Choice Act–Over the past 36 years and, more pointedly, the last eight years, Roe has taken a beating from subversive and openly violent forces alike. The meaning of Roe has been misinterpreted, misconstrued and most importantly, misapplied. Women have seen the gains made by the Roe decision slowly eviscerated until all that remains is the promise that if you truly work hard for an abortion, you might be lucky enough to get one. With a U.S. Supreme Court led by activist ideologues who would rather see precedent overruled than followed and the Constitution only read to reveal literal (and often inconsistent) meanings, Congress must make clear that a woman’s right to chose isn’t just a fundamental one, but it’s a legislatively protected one and it must do so through the Freedom of Choice Act. The Freedom of Choice Act does not do anything that wasn’t allowed under Roe, it only codifies into legislation what the Court meant when it decided Roe. One may ask why is it so important for Congress to act if it only codifies Roe. The truth is simple, yet complicated. Because without Congress’s express word on this subject, the justices of the Roberts-led Court are able to take their own brand of vigilante anti-choice justice and ruin the choice that Roe guaranteed in the first place. Thus the FOCA would act would protect the eroding sand around the island of reproductive freedom with a stop-gap that was never implemented because it was never before thought necessary. On this historic day, such protection is only fitting.
Reverse the recent Health and Human Service “Conscience” Rules. In an attempt to bookend his administration with anti-choice fodder, the Bush administration approved so-called provider “conscience” rules which allow healthcare providers to take their patients’ reproductive health into their own hands. The rule cuts off funding for any federal, state or local government program that does not “accommodate” the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others who refuse to participate in care they find “morally or religiously objectionable.” In other words, if your doctor is anti-choice, you may be denied care. The worst part is that the doctor refusing to provide care does not even have an obligation, under these guidelines, to provide you with alternative information or alternative sources of information. It takes the health decisions out of patients’ hands and places them in the hands of providers based on a set of religious guidelines never intended to have a role in medecine. Just before Obama’s Inauguration, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services to halt enforcement of the conscience regulations. These regulations stand in between true reproductive justice and the population at large and they must be repealed immediately. Health care is a patient’s decision, not a doctor’s. On this 36th anniversary of Roe, such a policy should not be taken lightly.
We have many roads to cross and burned bridges to rebuild. We’ve endured eight long years of reproductive tyranny and it will not be an overnight journey to the safe side of town. We must voice our concerns, stand our ground, and provide our elected and appointed representatives with the information they need necessary to make good solid choices about reproductive health and justice. Only then will Roe truly mean something for future generations. We must not forget the days of the wire hangers and back alleys, but we must focus on the things we can change and make right for the future.
Today is not a day of looking back. Today is a day for looking forward.
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Tags: Barack Obama > Blogging for Choice 2009 > conscience rules > Freedom of Choice Act > George W. Bush > global gag rule > Obama Administration > Reproductive Choice > reproductive health > Roe v. Wade
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January 22nd, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
What an article! I didn't know all of the facts you reported. I have always been a supporter of Roe. I see we need to be watch dogs to keep our rights!
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