I am glad that this author realizes that the phrase partial birth
abortion is an anti-choice construction, but I wish she would reread her
essay and then realize that pro-life is too.
https://socialistaction.org/2019/05/27/new-anti-abortion-laws-how-should-we-respond/
New anti-abortion laws: How should we respond?
/ 20 hours ago
June 2018 plannedparenthood-1160x768By HEATHER BRADFORD
On May 15, the most restrictive abortion law in the United States was
signed into law in Alabama by Governor Kay Ivey. The Alabama Human Life
Protection Act, which passed the Alabama Senate 25-6, makes abortion
illegal at all stages of pregnancy and makes no exception for rape or
incest. The bill seeks to make abortion illegal in Alabama in all cases
but health threat to the mother, fatal fetal anomalies, and ectopic
pregnancies. Under the law, abortion providers could face up to 99 years
in prison.
June 2019 Heather Choice
The author, Socialist Action???s Vice Presidential candidate Heather
Bradford, on a pro-choice picket line in Duluth.
This draconian law follows a wave of anti-abortion legislation across
the United States aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade. In 2019, Georgia,
Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, and Mississippi have passed ???heartbeat bills,???
which outlaw abortion at six to eight weeks. At the time of writing,
six-week abortion bans are moving forward in the respective legislative
bodies of South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana. Many abortion
seekers may not be aware that they are pregnant at six weeks and would
have little time to make an appointment or raise the funds to obtain an
abortion.
In this sense, heartbeat bills functionally outlaw abortion. ???Heartbeat???
itself is a misnomer as at this stage of development, an embryo has not
developed a cardiovascular system. Rather, a group of cells generates
rhythmic electrical pulses, which is more technically known as fetal
pole cardiac activity. Of course, a tactic of the anti-choice movement
has long been to warp fetal development to infanticize embryos and
fetuses. Thus far, about 30 anti-abortion laws have been passed in the
United States this year.
Attacks on abortion access are nothing new, but the latest abortion
restrictions are bolder and represent a concerted effort to use the
court system to overturn or at least chip away Roe v. Wade. Since 1973,
over 1900 abortion restrictions have been passed. About ??? of these have
been passed since 2011. These restrictions have included mandatory
waiting periods, restrictions on state funding, no requirement for
insurance to cover abortion, state mandated counseling, parental consent
laws, gestational limits, and hospital requirements.
The barrage of laws against abortion access has been accompanied by the
proliferation of crisis pregnancy centers that pose as health clinics
and are designed to confuse and outright lie to abortion seekers by
providing false information and ???pro-life??? propaganda. There are
2300-3500 crisis pregnancy centers spread across the United States but
only 1800 abortion clinics. In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the right
of these fake clinics to provide false information and false advertising
when it ruled that California???s Freedom, Accountability, Care and
Transparency Act (FACT) violated the First Amendment.
At the same time, and since the 1970s, there has been an effort to
defund Planned Parenthood by blocking Title X funds that have assisted
low-income patients in obtaining contraceptives and other reproductive
health services. The decades of attacks on abortion access was heralded
by the Hyde Amendment, which was passed in 1976 with bipartisan support
and barred the use of federal funds for abortion services. The truth of
the matter is that the pro-choice movement has been fighting a losing
battle for over 40 years.
A boycott of Alabama?
There have been a number of responses in reaction to the recent
restrictions on abortion. Some activists have called for an economic
boycott of Alabama and other states with strict abortion restrictions. A
disturbing sentiment that sometimes accompanies the call for a boycott
is that the people of Alabama are backwards, uneducated, and even
incestuous.
While boycotting can be an effective tactic, it is important to remember
that many people in Alabama are not supportive of the new abortion law.
In a 2018 survey of likely Alabama voters, Planned Parenthood found that
65% of respondents felt abortion should be legal in cases of rape and
incest. The law does not represent the sentiments of many Alabama
voters, even those who are pro-life.
Marches against the bill were held in Montgomery, Birmingham, Muscle
Shoals, and Huntsville. Rather than boycotting the state of Alabama or
denigrating the state as backwards, the efforts of pro-choice organizers
should be recognized and the potential acknowledged for educating the
more conservative populace of the state on this issue.
A quarter of the children in Alabama live in poverty. The state has the
second highest infant mortality rate in the country and is the sixth
poorest state in the country. It is ranked 50th in education, 46th in
health care, and 45th in crime and corrections. The people of Alabama
need solidarity, not shame. Rather than boycott the state, which already
lacks infrastructure and is marked by racism and poverty, it would be
more useful to boycott corporations that actively support or donate to
the pro-life movement, such as My Pillow, Hobby Lobby, Curves, Gold???s
Gym, and Electric Mirror.
Another reaction to the recent ban is to wait for the courts to overturn
the restrictions. Activists are reminded that abortion remains legal,
all three of Alabama???s abortion clinics plan to stay open, and that
these new laws will be tied up in litigation before they can be enacted.
The narrative goes that the Supreme Court is not eager to overturn Roe
v. Wade outright and that other restrictive abortion laws have been
struck down elsewhere. For instance, a 2013 heartbeat bill in North
Dakota was struck down as unconstitutional. Six-week bans were also
struck down in Iowa and Kentucky.
However, there are a number of flaws with this perspective. First, it is
disempowering, and it is difficult to build a movement around waiting
for court decisions. Second, this perspective grants legitimacy to the
court system. The presidential nomination of and lifetime tenure of
Supreme Court justices and federal judges is fundamentally undemocratic.
The feudal nature of these courts should be questioned and challenged.
This has lent itself to a cultish following of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who
is viewed as a liberatory figure who must never retire (or die), lest
abortion rights be overturned once and for all. The centrist justice is
celebrated for her support of women???s rights, but her critique of
Kaepernick???s taking a knee (which she apologized for), ruling against
paying overtime to Amazon workers, support of warrantless searches in
Samson v. California, and failure to condemn solitary confinement within
the prison system in Davis v. Ayala mar her record.
Finally, it is important to remember that Roe v. Wade was approved on
the premise that abortion is a matter of privacy. The courts have never
framed abortion rights as fundamental to ending the oppression of women
or gender minorities. Abortion legality has always had a shaky foundation.
Democrats??? shaky support for reproductive justice
Some activists look to the Democratic Party to protect abortion rights,
framing this as a matter of electing more Democrats into office.
Already, potential presidential nominees have issued statements about
abortion, ranging from Kamala Harris??? remarks in a February 2019
interview that abortion should be a decision between a woman, physician,
priest, and spouse to Bernie Sander???s statement that abortion is health
care and would be covered by his plan for Medicare for All.
Yet, the track record of Democrats on the issue of abortion is part of
the reason why we find ourselves with so many restrictions today. Of the
24 candidates vying for the presidency, only 11 mention prioritizing
reproductive rights on their websites. It was Bill Clinton who said that
abortion should be safe, legal, and rare in 1992, which was echoed by
Hillary Clinton in her 2008 election campaign.
Abortion has indeed become ???rare,??? as access has been curtailed in a
legislative death by 1000 cutbacks. Joe Biden voted in favor of partial
birth abortion bans in 1999 and 2003 and against federal funding for
abortion. Like ???heartbeat??? bans, ???partial birth abortion??? is an
anti-choice construction, as the medical term is ???intact dilation and
extraction.???
In 2017, Bernie Sanders unapologetically campaigned for Heath Mello, an
Omaha Nebraska mayoral candidate and anti-choice Democrat. Some
Democrats, such as Louisiana Gov. John Bel are anti-choice. Bob Casey
Jr., Joe Donnelly, and Joe Manchin are ???pro-life??? Democrat senators who
voted for abortion bans at 20 weeks.
While abortion has become increasingly partisan since the late 1980s,
voting for Democrats is no guarantee of abortion access. Between 2007
and 2009, Democrats controlled the House and Senate and in 1993-1995
controlled the House, Senate, and presidency. These episodes of majority
power did nothing to roll back anti-abortion laws or overturn the Hyde
Amendment. Democrats have consistently supported the Hyde Amendment.
Even Barack Obama stated in a 2009 health-reform debate that although he
is pro-choice, he did not feel that financing abortions should be part
of government funded health care. In the Machiavellian shell game
between the two parties of capitalism, electability trumps values; it is
ultimately the power of social movements and organized workers that
sways the opinions of politicians. Recently, some Democratic candidates
have vowed to repeal the Hyde Amendment or defend abortion rights, but
this is a function of the success of social movements rather than a sign
of courage or conviction.
A response by women worldwide
Boycotting anti-abortion states, depending upon courts, or voting for
Democrats will not secure abortion rights. The way forward for the
abortion-rights movement is to take cues from mass movements elsewhere
in the world.
In October 2016, thousands of women in over 140 cities in Poland
protested against legislation that would have punished anyone who
terminates a pregnancy with five years in prison and investigate women
who had miscarried. In March 2017, Polish women protested wearing black,
boycotted classes, and went on strike against the proposed new law and
the restrictive abortion laws passed in 1993. This mass mobilization
shifted abortion discourse in Poland and forced politicians to quickly
retreat from new restrictions. In March 2018, thousands of demonstrators
marched against a renewed effort to pass more restrictive abortion laws.
Ireland???s movement, Repeal the 8th, likewise mobilized against Ireland???s
constitutional ban on abortion.
Inspired by Poland???s Black Protests, activists marched and went on
strike on March 8, 2017, in cities across Ireland. About 66.4% of Irish
voters voted to legalize abortion in a referendum held on May 25, 2018.
Abortion is now legal and free in Ireland due to a movement that was
catalyzed by the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died in 2012 because
she was denied an abortion while experiencing a miscarriage. The vote to
legalize abortion was shocking to some, as Ireland had been a bastion of
conservatism regarding abortion; like Poland, the country had strict
anti-abortion laws.
Social attitudes can change quickly, which should offer some hope to
those who dismiss the Southern United States as impossibly reactionary.
Despite the efforts of the hundreds of thousands of participants in the
Ni Una Menos movement that has sought to legalize abortion and end
gender-based violence, a bill to legalize abortion in Argentina failed
by two Senate votes in August 2018. Even in the face of defeat, the
protests and strikes continue as well as efforts to build a feminist
international. Recently, activists involved in the movement for abortion
rights in Argentina protested on the red carpet at the Cannes Film
festival at the premiere of ???Let it be Law,??? a film about their struggle.
A glimpse of the capacity to build such a movement in the United States
happened on May 21 with a day of protest actions called Stop the Bans.
Thousands mobilized in a day of action that consisted of over 400
protests spread across all 50 states.
The feminist movement must build upon the successful mobilization for
the Stop the Bans day of action and continue to show up in mass to put
pressure on politicians to support abortion rights. Based upon recent
feminist organizing that culminated in the International Women???s Strike,
a framework for building a global feminist movement was put forth by
Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, and Nancy Fraser in ???Feminism for
the 99%: A Manifesto.??? Key ideas from the manifesto include tactics such
as mass action and strikes against the conditions of paid and unpaid labor.
The feminist movement must abandon liberal feminist vision of equality
under the law and instead fight capitalism head on, including fights
against imperialism, mass incarceration, environmental destruction, and
austerity.
Social Reproduction theory grounds the tasks of building a global
anti-capitalist feminist movement. Understanding social reproduction
theory (SRT) is vital to combating anti-abortion laws in the context of
capitalism. SRT posits that capitalism does not reproduce the labor
power required to perpetuate itself. In other words, capitalism produces
goods and services, but doesn???t in itself produce workers and due to
profit motive (wherein profit is derived from surplus value of labor),
capitalism does little to provide for the upkeep of workers. Thus, women
are tasked with supporting the continuation of capitalism through
biological reproduction, the care of non-laborers such as children,
elderly, or people with illnesses, and unpaid household labor such as
cooking and cleaning.
When women can control their biological reproduction through birth
control or abortion, they are denying capitalism the reproduction of a
future labor force. Lack of bodily autonomy enforces the traditional
family and gender roles, thereby further enforcing social reproduction.
At the same time, the drive for profit always works to erode or deny
social provisioning such as paid maternity leave, free day care,
socialized health care, or other social benefits that the United States
lacks, but encourages or supports reproduction. This creates a
contradiction wherein birth is mandated but not supported.
It is little wonder that the war against abortion access has intensified
in the last decade, following the world economic crisis that erupted in
2008. Abortion became legal in the United States in the same era as our
waning hegemony and the accompanying age of neoliberalism that promotes
austerity and the movement of industrial production to the low wage
???developing??? world. Women???s bodies are punished into ameliorating the
crisis of capitalism.
The United States was founded upon the subjugation and destruction of
bodies through slavery and genocide. Reproduction is controlled in the
name of national interests, which is itself a guise for the overarching
interest of amassing wealth for an elite few. At times, this has meant
the forced sterilization of Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Blacks,
low-income women, and women with disabilities. In the interest of
population control, birth control was first tested on women with mental
illness without their consent, and later on Puerto Rican women.
Today, the rhetoric of walls and criminal immigrants is used to control
some populations while the limits on abortion access are used to control
another. A part of this continuum of control is violence and oppression
of trans and non-binary people, whose existence challenges the gender
binary and traditional family structures that have so long been the
cornerstone of social reproduction. Trans and non-binary people are
denied reproductive justice too.
The struggle for abortion access, as part of the larger movement for a
feminism for the 99% must also be a struggle against racism,
transphobia, ableism, and for the liberation of all bodies long
subjugated by capitalism.
The author, Heather Bradford, is the Socialist Action candidate for vice
president of the United States in 2020.
Share this:
???Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
???Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
May 27, 2019 in Vote Socialist Action, Women's Liberation.
Related posts
Socialist Action launches 2020 presidential campaign
Court blocks Texas anti-abortion law
Supreme Court strikes down Texas anti-abortion law
Post navigation
??? Bronx NYPD settles with Copwatch
Get Involved!
Donate to help support our work
Get email updates
Join Socialist Action
Newspaper Archives
Newspaper Archives Select Month May 2019?? (11) April 2019?? (12) March
2019?? (13) February 2019?? (10) January 2019?? (16) December 2018?? (12)
November 2018?? (15) October 2018?? (10) September 2018 (8) August 2018??
(12) July 2018?? (13) June 2018?? (11) May 2018 (19) April 2018?? (15)
March 2018?? (17) February 2018?? (14) January 2018?? (13) December 2017??
(13) November 2017?? (13) October 2017 (16) September 2017?? (15) August
2017?? (16) July 2017?? (17) June 2017?? (16) May 2017?? (17) April 2017??
(14) March 2017?? (13) February 2017?? (19) January 2017?? (13) December
2016?? (12) November 2016?? (19) October 2016?? (12) September 2016?? (10)
August 2016?? (10) July 2016?? (14) June 2016?? (14) May 2016?? (9) April
2016?? (12) March 2016?? (14) February 2016?? (8) January 2016?? (11)
December 2015?? (11) November 2015?? (9) October 2015?? (8) September 2015??
(10) August 2015?? (7) July 2015?? (13) June 2015?? (9) May 2015?? (10)
April 2015?? (12) March 2015?? (9) February 2015?? (11) January 2015?? (10)
December 2014?? (12) November 2014?? (11) October 2014?? (9) September
2014?? (6) August 2014?? (10) July 2014?? (11) June 2014?? (10) May 2014??
(11) April 2014?? (10) March 2014?? (9) February 2014?? (11) January 2014??
(11) December 2013?? (10) November 2013?? (11) October 2013?? (17)
September 2013?? (13) August 2013?? (10) July 2013?? (11) June 2013?? (15)
May 2013?? (14) April 2013?? (14) March 2013?? (12) February 2013?? (10)
January 2013?? (17) December 2012?? (7) November 2012?? (8) October 2012??
(19) September 2012?? (2) August 2012?? (27) July 2012?? (18) June 2012??
(3) May 2012?? (19) April 2012?? (14) March 2012?? (17) February 2012?? (19)
January 2012?? (17) December 2011?? (3) November 2011?? (33) October 2011??
(14) September 2011?? (13) August 2011?? (34) July 2011?? (24) June 2011??
(19) May 2011?? (19) April 2011?? (15) March 2011?? (15) February 2011??
(15) January 2011?? (15) December 2010?? (17) November 2010?? (1) October
2010?? (6) September 2010?? (3) August 2010?? (8) July 2010?? (7) June 2010??
(2) May 2010?? (10) April 2010 (3) March 2010?? (8) February 2010?? (3)
January 2010?? (9) December 2009?? (6) November 2009?? (5) October 2009??
(16) September 2009 (3) August 2009?? (2) July 2009?? (5) June 2009?? (2)
May 2009?? (7) April 2009?? (6) March 2009?? (16) February 2009?? (9)
January 2009 (10) December 2008?? (11) November 2008?? (8) October 2008??
(16) September 2008?? (14) August 2008?? (18) July 2008?? (12) June 2008
(3) May 2008?? (2) April 2008?? (3) March 2008?? (14) February 2008 (11)
January 2008?? (11) December 2007?? (8) November 2007?? (1) July 2007?? (1)
June 2007?? (1) April 2007?? (1) March 2007?? (1) February 2007?? (3)
December 2006?? (11) November 2006?? (11) October 2006 (13) September
2006?? (15) August 2006?? (11) July 2006?? (18) June 2006?? (7) May 2006??
(14) April 2006?? (6) March 2006?? (14) February 2006?? (5) January 2006??
(2) December 2005?? (9) November 2005?? (8) October 2005?? (13) September
2005?? (12) August 2005?? (9) July 2005?? (16) June 2005?? (16) May 2005??
(16) April 2005?? (12) March 2005?? (14) February 2005?? (19) January 2005??
(15) December 2004 (14) November 2002?? (17) October 2002?? (19) September
2002?? (22) August 2002?? (21) July 2002?? (15) May 2002?? (21) April 2002??
(21) February 2002?? (15) January 2002?? (15) December 2001?? (17) October
2001?? (24) September 2001?? (18) July 2001?? (19) June 2001?? (18) October
2000?? (17) September 2000?? (21) August 2000?? (19) July 2000?? (16) June
2000?? (26) May 2000?? (21) April 2000?? (22) March 2000?? (28) February
2000?? (18) January 2000?? (20) December 1999 (20) November 1999?? (26)
October 1999?? (25) September 1999?? (18) August 1999?? (40) July 1999??
(38) June 1999?? (24) May 1999?? (27) April 1999?? (25) March 1999?? (26)
February 1999?? (29) January 1999?? (24) July 1998?? (12)
Search
???View socialistactionusa???s profile on Facebook
???View SocialistActUS???s profile on Twitter
???View SocialistActionCT???s profile on YouTube
Subscribe to Our Newspaper
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events
Category Cloud
Actions & Protest Africa Anti-War Arts & Culture Black Liberation Canada
Caribbean Civil Liberties Cuba East Asia Economy Education & Schools
Elections Environment Europe Immigration Indigenous Rights International
Labor Latin America Marxist Theory & History Middle East Palestine
Police & FBI Prisons South Asia Trump / U.S. Government Uncategorized
Vote Socialist Action Women's Liberation
View Calendar
Blog at WordPress.com.
Follow
--
---
David Hume
??? In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable
degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral
evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. ???
??? David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
