There is no doubt that the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the banning of abortions in almost half the United States will follow the Law of Unintended Consequences on steroids. We already incarcerate more people than any other country in the world! And now, there is the very real possibility that we could add to that population family physicians, OB/GYNs, midwives or anyone else ‘abetting’ a woman who seeks out an abortion.
I can see where those corporations who make money from running prisons would applaud the overturning of Roe v. Wade – it will be good for business. There are probably already proposals on the table to expand our prison system with prisons designed specifically for ‘abortion offenders.’ (Does this sound a little too much like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?) In addition to having the distinction of incarcerating more of our citizens than any other country, we could soon have the distinction of having the highest percentage of physicians housed in our prison system. What a country!
There has been a lot of talk about the need for exceptions for cases involving rape or incest, or to save the mother’s life. But let’s think about a more common scenario that, as much as many people would like to put their heads in the sand and pretend doesn’t or won’t happen, is pretty normal. I live in a college town. During the academic year there are about 16,000 students attending Montanan State University here. A lot of those college students have sex! I know, that comes as a complete shock.
Let’s just assume we have a typical couple of 18-year-old college students. They are ‘in love’ or they just go out drinking one night and have a consensual sexual relationship. (By the way, Justice Thomas would like to revisit the previous Supreme Court decision that allowed adults to have consensual sex outside the bonds of marriage – but that’s a different blog post). Our couple, whether during a night of passion triggered by love or during a night of drunken debauchery, have unprotected sex which results in a pregnancy.
The 18-yearold girl at this point has no more choices left if our governor and the Republican-controlled legislature get their way. According to the die hard ‘Right to Lifers’, she will be forced to carry that baby to term. That could very well be the end of her higher education or, at a minimum, it will be put on hold for some indefinite period of time. Economically, she will be forced to make a choice to either keep the baby or put it up for adoption. And, quite frankly, that is a decision that most 18-yea-olds are ill-equipped to make. In either case, whatever decision she makes will have long term consequences on her mental, physical and financial well-being.
Our 18-year-old guy, on the other hand, is off Scott free. He has no obligation to do anything at all. He can just throw up his hands and say, “Shit happens, good luck,” and walk away to potentially impregnate another college student at another drunken party. Not only is he completely off the hook, he has the right, at 18 years of age, to go down to the local sporting goods store, purchase a hand gun, and carry it around campus. How can anyone it their right mind think this is reasonable?
The 18-year-old girl has the same right to go down to the sporting goods store, buy a handgun and carry it in her purse at school, which most people would agree is a pretty big responsibility – and yet, she will not have the right to do anything other than carry the baby to term while the guy just skates away. Think that scenario won’t happen – guess again.
The thing that makes this scenario even crazier is the fact that the same people who are so adamant about forcing women to carry babies to term are the same damned people who want to restrict access to birth control for girls and young women. This certainly smells like The Handmaid’s Tale where the only purpose for young women is to breed and have babies.
We all know that criminalizing abortion will not stop abortion. It will expand the prison population. It will keep prosecutors in Red States busy. It will result in the development of a black market and perhaps another ‘Underground Railway’ to be able to get women to places where they can legally have abortions. The lives of many, many women forced to carry babies to term will be ruined. And many, many women will die needlessly. I would be willing to bet huge sums of money that all of the above will happen as a result of this barbaric and Neanderthal decision.
The argument used to overturn Roe v. Wade, is the same argument that Justice Thomas stated should be used to revisit those decisions which legalized same-sex marriage; consensual sex between non-married partners; and access to contraceptives. If you think this is the end of the inane decisions from this Supreme Court, you are sorely mistaken. It will take decades for this country to recover from this nightmare, if it is even possible. We are well on our way going back to the 50’s – the 1850’s!