We hope you’re over the initial shock of the election, because we all need to brace for the continuing shock of the consequences of the election. Welcome to four years of WTF. This is gonna get ugly. But the best way to get through it is to fight back. To do that, we need to have a good idea of what’s coming at us. It’s not a short list.
On the state level, anti-abortion nutballs in the usual states are already lining up to take advantage of the coming Trump-sturm. In Texas (OF COURSE!), Republicans are readying two bills to decimate abortion rights there. One mandates that aborted fetuses be given burials or cremation, and another bans abortion for fetal anomalies after 20 weeks. Not to be outdone, Indiana, having given us the ticking anti-choice bomb that is Mike Pence, is planning a total abortion ban. Pennsylvania and other states are also ready to join the crazy train.
When abortion rights are destroyed in the states, women of means can still–as Der Trump so helpfully pointed out–go to “other states.” But poor women will be left with nothing but the back alleys and coat hangers that were part of the dim past that Trump is so psyched to resurrect.
On the national level, as we pointed out right after the election, the Groper-In-Chief is only too happy to sacrifice women’s reproductive rights to zealots like Mike Pence. Trump has already promised to sign a full nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks. One of his top priorities is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides free access to birth control. That’s not to mention defunding Planned Parenthood, codifying the Hyde Amendment, and the whole conservative nutsack shitlist.
And Trump is virtually certain to put in place Supreme Court justices who would just be biding their time until they had a chance to gut or even overturn Roe v Wade. And if that happens, most women in this country would be crushed by falling dominoes–15 states have laws that automatically lock in abortion bans if Roe goes. Only 7 states have laws that would specifically protect abortion rights if Roe gets overturned.
OK, sorry for the crappy forecast, but if there’s gonna be a shitstorm, you’re gonna want to be prepared. And gloom doesn’t mean doom… if we fight to maintain the light. Roe v Wade has been settled law for 40 years now. Even crazy justices have an inclination to respect precedent, especially when it’s bolstered by public opinion. That’s where you come in: Stay involved, stay in touch, stay safe.