Think tossing Roe doesn’t affect WA? Try again. State must protect abortion, other rights
If it’s possible for breaking news to be utterly jarring and completely predictable at the same time, Monday’s breathtaking scoop from Politico achieved the rare feat.
As you know by now, yesterday the online news site published a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court, foreshadowing the high court’s apparent intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that currently guarantees the right to abortion. The authenticity of the draft opinion has since been confirmed by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The reality of the half-century old Roe precedent is simple: Generations of Americans have never known a time when access to an abortion was anything other than a Constitutional right. While that right has been under conservative attack for nearly as long, for many, the possibility of it actually being stripped away has often felt distant — at least until Merrick Garland got cheated, Donald Trump harnessed nativist resentment to become president and, well, you know the rest …
Now here we are, on the cusp of a turning point that in many states will set women’s reproductive rights back 50 years while forever cracking the foundation and legitimacy of a supposedly high-minded institution that fancies itself above partisan politics. The ripples that will surely follow — whether it’s a long-overdue attempt to codify Roe into federal law or the prosecution of the leaker — remain to be seen. But one thing’s certain: If the decision expressed in the draft ruling holds, we’re standing at the threshold of a pivotal point in our nation’s history, and the fight ahead will be fraught and painful.
In Washington, thankfully, lawmakers and voters have consistently stood up for the right to choose. Thirty years ago, Initiative 120 guaranteed a person’s right to terminate a pregnancy up until roughly 24 weeks. Even if Roe is overturned federally, those protections aren’t likely to go away unless the U.S. Senate passes a nationwide abortion ban, which is possible but unlikely.
Still, that’s not to say Washington residents don’t have anything at stake as the country now waits for the Supreme Court’s official ruling. Far from it.
If Roe is thrown out, more than 20 states “are poised to immediately ban or acutely curtail access to abortions,” according to a late 2021 report from National Public Radio. And as state Sen. Emily Randall (D - Bremerton) wrote in an April op-ed published by The News Tribune, a seismic change like that could result in Washington seeing a massive influx of patients seeking abortion care from other states.
It’s the cold, hard truth, and we should be prepared to welcome them — while also gearing up for a potential strain on services and access.
“We have been preparing for this moment for decades — because we always knew that those who sought to control pregnant people’s bodies would stop at nothing, and because Roe v. Wade never guaranteed adequate and equitable access to sexual and reproductive health care,” Randall and Jennifer M. Allen, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, wrote of assaults on the constitutional right to abortion.
“The doors of abortion providers in our state will stay open — no matter what,” they concluded.
Then there are the threats to other constitutional rights that a ruling overturning Roe portends to.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Tacoma) issued a stark warning.
If a Supreme Court now packed with conservative jurists is willing to toss 50 years of precedent to eradicate one constitutional right — thus fulfilling the long-promised goal of an increasingly dangerous and belligerent national Republican party — what’s stopping the next assault?
“Let’s be honest about this stunning decision: desegregation of schools (Brown v. Board of Education), gay marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges), interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia), and other rights are now in danger,” Strickland said via a statement from her campaign team. “This is a threat to the health, safety, economic security, and basic freedoms that we cherish.”
Less than a day after Politico published its massive scoop, the stakes are clear.
Washingtonians must stand up for a patient’s right to choose — and stand ready for whatever comes next.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 11:51 AM.
