Hi
Usually this weekly missive contains my picks for books, movies, plays, restaurants and such. On this sad and historic day, I just don’t feel right indulging you with something that seems so trivial in this moment. The word “Choice” is in the title of this email, which is ironic, since choice is what was obliterated today for millions of American women.
I don’t wish to get into a debate on the merits of the right to abortion. That isn’t the point for me. The issue is how three judges, appointed by a president most Americans didn’t vote for, and a court presided over in part by two men who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct can make a decision that does not affect them directly but will have dire consequences for the masses? Women will die needlessly because of what was
handed down today.
For the first time in American history, a constitutional right (one supported by the masses by a 2-1 margin) was stripped away due to the ideology of zealots. That right being that of privacy. What’s worse is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Justice Clarence Thomas has said that he wants the court to reexamine the rights to gay marriage and the availability and use of contraception, even among married couples. The way that the ruling is worded also opens the possibility of overturning the 1923 ruling (Meyer v. Nebraska) that allows families to decide for themselves if they want their children to learn a language other than English, the 1942 ruling (Skinner v. Oklahoma) that
banned the forced sterilization of incarcerated people and the 1967 ruling (Loving v. Virginia) that outlawed the miscegenation laws barring interracial marriage. All of this is possible because of machinery put in place by people who hold their positions without the support or vote of the majority. It is tyranny of the minority.
Whether we continue to allow our constitutional rights to be “reinterpreted” and eroded by ideological extremists is entirely up to us. Do we sit on the sidelines or do we all get our asses off the bench and get in the game to fight for everyone’s freedoms?
I hope that what happened today wasn’t a wakeup call, but a clarion bell.
Copie