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Do y'all remember how Trump declared during his 2016 campaign that women should be punished for having abortions and that potential fathers should have no culpability? How Trump stated that he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade? How voters, pro-choice activists and organizations, Planned Parenthood, and Democratic politicians like Hillary Clinton warned that the 2016 Presidential Election would impact reproductive rights in this country for decades to come? That Supreme Court vacancies were the most significant issue facing the county? But people decided that Hillary Clinton was somehow “just as bad as Trump” and took the gamble that Roe v. Wade couldn’t possibly be overturned, that women would not actually face severe consequences because of a Trump presidency?

Last year, Texas devised S.B. 8, a de facto ban on all abortions, and despite the fact that it clearly violates Supreme Court precedent, Trump’s three nominees to the Court refused to strike down the law. In the wake of that ban, a woman in Texas was arrested on murder charges for allegedly inducing an abortion. While the charges were eventually dropped, the mistreatment she faced sends a message to all women in Texas. And it’s not just Texas. Across Republican-controlled legislatures, abortion bans are sweeping the nation. And today, the Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, signed into law a de facto ban that criminalizes providing an abortion:

Oklahoma governor signs bill making nearly all abortions illegal

Oncethe law goes into effect, anyone who provides an abortion will face a felony charge of up to ten years in prison and a fine up to $100,000. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

Republicans told everyone exactly what they would do if they took power. But for some reason, people chose not to take them at their word, they trivialized concerns about the Supreme Court, about reproductive rights, they bought into propaganda and misinformation, and here we are. Because Trump was able to stack the Court with three conservative justices (which are all lifelong appointments), he and the GOP have effectively killed Roe v. Wade, but it’s innocent women across this country who will carry that burden.

That harm can’t be undone, but we can still change course. I’m choosing to underscore the myopic discourse of 2016 not because I want to shame people who protested voting but to emphasize the fact that the future harm was so understated. No matter what people say about 2022 and 2024, about how Biden or any other Democrat is “just as bad as [literal fascist],“ their claims will pale in comparison to the reality of Republicans taking power again. Queer rights,free speech rights to even just talk about race and racism, voting rights, freedom to protest and engage in political activism—all of these basic civil liberties are at risk if people choose to repeat the mistakes of 2016. If Trump’s election proved anything, it’s that no one can predict just how much devastation can be inflicted by choosing not to vote.

Midterm elections are coming up. If we want to codify Roe v. Wade and open the door for Biden to sign life-changing legislation into law, we need to reshape Congress and put progressive lawmakers into positions where they can remove the filibuster. We need to vote.

Getregisteredhere:VOTE!

Update:

The Republican-dominated Kentucky legislature overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s veto of the state’s anti-abortion bill. Unlike the aforementioned Oklahoma abortion ban, which doesn’t become effective until Summer, the Kentucky ban is effective immediately. Advocates claim that Kentucky will be the first state forced to halt all abortion procedures, as the law is the most restrictive one to take effect. It has no exceptions for rape or incest.

Update (again):

The Republican Governor of Florida and presumptive 2024 Presidential Candidate, Ron DeSantis, just signed into law a de facto ban on all abortions. It has no exceptions for rape or incest. It goes into effect on July 1st, 2022.

Exclusive: Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows

The Supreme Court, in a draft majority opinion written by Justice Alito, has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Also, to my fellow cis gay men who often seem to ignore/overlook reproductive rights, this Supreme Court opinion suggests that fundamental gay rights are on the chopping block next:

“Respondents … rely on post-Casey decisions like Lawrence v. TexasandObergefell v. Hodges. These attempts to justify abortion through appeals to a broader right to autonomy and to define one’s ‘concept of existence’ prove too much. Those criteria, at a high level of generality, could license fundamental rights to illicit drug use, prostitution, and the like. None of these rights has any claim to being deeply rooted in history.”

For those who don’t know, Lawrence v. Texas was a landmark queer rights case because it struck down laws that criminalized homosexual intercourse. Obergefell v. Hodges is the landmark case that legalized same-gender marriage. And in this opinion, the Court implies that these freedoms are comparable to allowing drug use and prostitution, it explicitly says that these rationales have gone too far, and that these rights are not rooted in American history. The Court is showing its hand and how it views what it perceives to be Court-created rights (abortion, gay marriage, gay sexual intercourse, etc.). Basically, the Court seems to be overturning the framework of substantive due process rights, which is the doctrine that creates these basic rights. If abortion rights can be overturned on this logic, so will queer rights.

If you think the Court is going to just stop with reproductive rights, that cis queer men are going to be spared, with all due respect, you’re a fucking moron. You need to be concerned about this too, even if you don’t have a uterus. You should be as outraged about this as you are with the Don’t Say Gay law.