Who Knows What’s Best for You? Anthony, Clarence, John, Samuel, and Antonin – or You?

by Cynthia Pearson, Executive Director

This time I really hate to say it, but we were right. Usually we have a lot of fun saying “We were right!” In fact, we even have an occasional feature in this newsletter titled “You Heard It Here First” in which we share news about an issue, research finding, or new development that the Network had gotten right long before everyone else. But this time, even though we accurately predicted important women’s health news, we are far from happy.

I’m talking about Gonzales v Carhart, the Supreme Court decision on abortion. When George W. Bush ran for president, the Network and many other groups predicted that he would appoint Supreme Court Justices who believe that the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion should be overturned. Now we know just how right we were. In the Carhart decision, a majority of the Court -- including the two Justices appointed by President Bush -- turned away from a core aspect of the Roe v Wade decision, specifically, the right of a woman whose fetus is not viable to make her own decision about abortion without significant interference from the government.

Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Scalia decided that the Constitution allows the government to prohibit specific types of abortion procedures. They used myths and misrepresentations about abortion procedures to defend their decision and uphold a prohibition on intact dilation and extraction abortion. Even more upsetting, however, was their assertion that the Court could decide, on behalf of women across the country, that a certain type of abortion procedure might be too upsetting and therefore could be banned. It’s hard to believe, but here are their exact words: “It is self-evident that a mother who comes to regret her choice to abort must struggle with grief more anguished and sorrow more profound when she learns, only after the event, what she did not know” [about this procedure].

It seems to me that these five Justices believe they know what is best for women based on their own rigid preconceptions about women’s lives. This is not new territory – there is a long and dangerous history of such beliefs about women. NWHN members certainly know what happens when someone who believes women don’t know best for themselves usurps the power to make decisions about women’s reproductive lives. In just the last century, for just these reasons, many women were forced to bear children, and others were denied the ability to bear children. Women were forced to abstain from sex, and others were forced into unwanted sexual relationships. Women were given contraceptive methods they didn’t want and couldn’t stop from affecting their bodies, while others were denied access to contraception because they were deemed to be too young, unmarried, or hadn’t had “enough” children yet.

We thought America had moved beyond those times. We know what’s wrong with the Supreme Court decision. We know the kind of world we don’t want to go back to. And we know the kind of world we want to create – one with respect and support for all women as they make the best choices for themselves. The Supreme Court decision shows us what we need to do to create that world: we have to make change on all levels. Let’s get started!