Ending Roe v. Wade May Have Had the Opposite Effect That Conservatives Had Hoped For

[justaprogressive]

On Tuesday, Ohio voters passed a ballot measure enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution, joining several states where voters have responded to the end of Roe v. Wade by protecting reproductive rights via popular referendum. We recently learned, however, that even without these votes, reproductive rights might be safer than many expected following the end of Roe in 2022.

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the conventional wisdom was that there would be a steep drop in the number of abortions in the United States. As it turns out, though, conventional wisdom was wrong. To many observers’ surprise, two recent studies reveal that national abortion numbers have actually slightly increased since the Supreme Court ended Roe. Based on everything we know about abortion seekers and providers, however, that abortion numbers would go up in the face of Supreme Court retrenchment should have been exactly what was predicted.

Abortion seekers, both in this country before Roe and around the world in countries where abortion is illegal, have shown again and again that they will do what they need to do to get the care they need. In this country, before abortion was legal, women went to both reputable doctors and back-alley quacks to get care. Some estimates even indicate that abortion numbers immediately before Roe were comparable to those after legalization. In other countries where abortion remains illegal or severely restricted, people who need abortions obtain pills outside the established medical system or find covert abortion providers. They do this in the face of sometimes unsafe conditions and legal systems that could punish them.

We also know that abortion providers, and those who support their efforts, will do whatever they can to care for their patients despite systems that are designed to make abortion care difficult, if not impossible. We know this because even before Roe was overturned, abortion providers in many states in this country had to jump through medically unnecessary hoops in order to deliver safe care for their patients. These restrictions and regulations—from imposed waiting periods to parental consent for minors’ abortions to bans on insurance coverage to excessive, expensive requirements for clinic spaces—were unique in the medical field. Rather than throw up their hands and give in to the legislative roadblocks, abortion providers and their supporters developed practices and workarounds that made abortion as accessible as possible in hostile environments.

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[Johnny2X2X]

1. Trump

The very minute they get the power to do so, they'll institute a national abortion ban that is aligned with the strictest ones in the country. They always go for the most extreme position. Trump is on record that he wants legal consequences for any woman who gets an abortion.

[TSExile]

3. That's so rich.

How many abortions has he had to pay for in his life? Of course...it's all about punishing women. Women are the enemy, don't you know?

[Lovie777]

2. The GQP/Conservatives/RWers/White Supremacists/Nazis, etc...........................

have been removed from reality for a long long time. They are also, in my opinion have cherry picked with misguided interpretations of the "true" meaning of the Bible using it as a weapon of terrorism against anyone who does not comply with their deranged ideology.

[Sky Jewels]

7. Yes, terrorism gives these Christofascist men control over women.

That's what a lot of them want more than anything. It enrages them when Non-Penis-Havers get a say in controlling their own healthcare and bodies and futures. Alito, of course, couldn't take it.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

8. They're not 'misguided' in the least

The book is full of awful rules and ideologies.

Anyone who's read the entire thing knows how appalling it is.

[PatrickforB]

16. Yes, it is if you read it literally.

Plus, we always must remember that the choice of books to be included was determined according to the political realities of the time. I mean, they ignored the whole set of gnostic gospels because they spoke of reincarnation and demiurges, Archons and so on. Are these then irrelevant? Or did the people in the councils fear them because they were about spiritual ascent, not the growing economic power of the newly 'official' Christian church.

This is why the dogmatic concept of inerrancy is a bad idea.

Like the Bhagavad Gita, the Avadhuta Gita, the Dao De Jing, the Hermetica, the Tipitaka, if you take it literally you miss the point.

Spiritual truth tends to hide until you're ready for it, you know?

If we take the bible, for example, you can take three chapters from the Gospel of Matthew (5-7), the parables, and for a Kabbalistic cosmology, the first chapter of the Gospel of John and have the 'how to live' text. But again, creating dogma from a literal interpretation even of these texts is not wise, and definitely leads to oppression, wars, and other horrible things.

I contend, respectfully, that the evils perpetrated on humanity by various religions are not the fault of the creative force. The fault lies squarely with us - our fear, greed, envy, pride, wrath, gluttony, lust, and escapist behaviors - are the architects of religious, economic, gender, LGBTQ+, racial and ethnic oppression. It is a great truth that if the species of sapiens is to leave adolescence and grow up, we must shed our ego-attachments to the wrong things, and rather become conscious of the sacredness of all life on this earth.

There is a video I just watched by an astronaut who spoke of his change of mindset when he saw our planet from space. This is called the 'Overview Effect.' He states in the video that this planetary mindset is the necessary step for our species of sapiens to grow up. Right now we are children, pounding our chests with imperial style nationalism. But when I reflect that the West allows eleven people PER MINUTE to die of starvation on this planet, and our earth loses over six species per hour, we simply must grow up.

A last thought - when Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, the first word out of his mouth was 'love.' Love God and your neighbor. That's it. It is all about what used to be called the Golden Rule - to do to others only what we would want them to do to us. All of the major religions have some version of this, and you must ask yourself what single factor keeps us here in the US from practicing this great truth? Oh, that's right. Wall Street and its bronze bull, which is actually the God this country worships. Profits-over-people is actually a legal doctrine - it is how we roll.

This doctrine is called 'shareholder primacy,' and the pseudo-religious worship of shareholder profits over all else encourages sociopathic corporate behaviors that are literally killing all life on this earth.

[Zambero]

4. Roe "settled" the issue with a larger majority

while Dobbs "unsettled" the issue with a larger majority. Until Roe is reinstated in some form on a national basis, the anti-choice party will continue to be perceived by a sizeable segment of the population as being out-of-touch and obsessed with interfering in individuals' personal matters. Rick Santorum chimed in yesterday and remarked that The GOP should do everything it can to keep "sexy stuff" off state ballots. For one, that remark sheds a lot of light on the anti-democratic posture embraced by what has become of the GOP in recent years. And it also reveals a level of cluelessness that these people have, in terms of NOT recognizing how the short-lived victory lap they took with the Dobbs ruling had them proverbially running off a cliff before they arrived at the finish line. This SNAFU is of their own making, for deliberately intruding into the "sexy" stuff that Santorum alludes to. They went there, and are now paying a price for it.

[Attilatheblond]

11. The extremist wing of GOP thinks the people all agree with them, save a few 'baby eating' DEMS.

And that anybody who doesn't go along to get along (even pols in their own party) are gonna face serious punishment.

They are deluded and politically violent.

[Mad_Machine76]

12. They are in the "Finding Out" phase

but yet they still can't break free of their dependence on the pro-forced birthers for votes and I'm not sure they ever will to their detriment. They will keep trying to message their way out of it but they can't. It's simply not possible. Even if you think abortion is a horrible thing, making it illegal, as we've seen, also makes it harder for women to get emergency care that they may direly need as well.

[liberalla]

5. This is so shocking! NOT.

[Warpy]

6. But but but only sluts were supposed to be forced to bear unwanted children!

Certainly not suburban white girls with big plans or pregnancy complications!

God was supposed to punish all those Jezebels out there who think we're creepers when we try to hang out at college bars, not our, own churchgoing womenfolk!

Stupid assholes.

[Chainfire]

9. The big problem for the Republican leadership is that they have begun to believe their own lies.

It came back to bite them in the ass on Tuesday.

[Give Peace A Chance]

10. I am almost ready

to send the 5 supremes a thank-you note for waking up a sleeping giant. Women
(& especially young women) are PISSED & fighting back!

[RobinA]

17. It's Been Speculated

since forever that overturning Roe would be a disaster for Repubs. And they seem to have forgotten that "send it back to the States" line since many of the States aren't doing their part and outlawing abortions.

[Mad_Machine76]

13. They are living like it's 1973

The ability of pregnant people to travel and otherwise circumnavigate abortion restrictions in their own state make their laws unenforceable or at least difficult to enforce and they hurt pregnant people experience severe pregnancy complications.

[gratuitous]

14. I don't know who thought this . . .

From the article, "conventional wisdom was that there would be a steep drop in the number of abortions." I don't know anyone who thought this. Certainly the people who want government to make everyone's health care decisions sold that as a talking point to gullible reporters, but anyone who thought about it for more than a few seconds knew that the number of abortions wouldn't be affected by Dobbs at all. The "steep drop" we'd see would be in the number of safe abortions.

Oddly enough, women seem not to appreciate the Supreme Court's efforts to turn their health care decisions over to a bunch of old men operating in bad faith on false information.

Nobody could have foreseen . . .

[EllieBC]

15. Listen. They said they wanted states rights and now they have them.

They just didn’t expect it to mean this. Be careful what you wish for and all that.

Personally, I’m enjoying their tears of failure.