If Roe v Wade is overturned

[ohio_liberal]

and it follows that abortion is no longer a legal option, do you think tubal ligations and vasectomies will be next on the checklist?

There's already a hospital here in the Upper Ohio Valley that refuses to allow tubal ligations. Luckily most of the local physicians have privileges at more than one hospital. What do you think?

Discuss.

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. No more birth control and the repukes only care about the unborn

Once a baby is born, the repukes stop caring.

[ohio_liberal]

4. Yes, should've added

all forms of birth control to the original post. My mom didn't have the option to use birth control, and I am just terrified of the thought that we could ever go back to that.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Get ready for that.

:scared: What is the rhythm method? LOL Just pull out! :evilgrin:

[ohio_liberal]

11. LOL

I married into a Catholic family and the running joke was:

What do you call people who use the rhythm method?

Parents

Every single woman in the family used either the pill or an IUD. :D

[Cocoa]

2. if Roe v. Wade is overturned

I think it's possible that abortion would remain legal.

I'm not at all sure about that, so I'm not suggesting anything rash, but it's a real question for me.

[gmoney]

3. Right, it was legal in 5 states BEFORE Roe v. Wade

If it's overturned, it might go back to being a states rights issue. There would have to be a case that makes it a federal crime to perform one.

I'm listening to the audiobook of Freakonomics, and it's really illuminating. There's a section on how Roe v. Wade may be a large factor in the decline in crime rates in the 90s, among many other interesting phenomena.

[ohio_liberal]

5. I didn't know that

Thanks for clarifying. I feel rather ignorant about the whole thing. I guess it doesn't hurt to ask. :shrug:

[Cocoa]

7. that was 30 years ago

a lot has changed in those 30 years.

[brak]

13. It will definitely become a state's rights issue...

It will be up to the states at that point. There's a decent article in the newest Nation about this. Apparantly about 20 states are currently considered "safe" in the event of an overturn of Roe. Obviously your blue strongholds. It would be interesting to see how public opinion changes if its handed over to the voters. I'm sure there are many people who are publicly anti-choice but might vote to keep abortion legal... you know... "just in case."

I've known many people who were anti-choice until they had to make that choice themselves.

also, that freakonomics stuff is crazy. I read an interview with that guy. He researches tons of interesting stuff. what a dope job that would be.

[bunkerbuster1]

14. I think the leaders of Jesusland would learn real fast

just how unpopular illegalizing abortion really is.

Christofascists talk a good game, but in their hearts most of them want the option if there's an unwanted pregnancy.

I'm hardly the first to say this, but overturning Roe is a disaster for the Reeps. It's really the last thing they want--having to put their money where their blabbermouths are.

[LynneSin]

6. Have you head Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale"

Yeah, I'm thinking that.

FOr those of us who can breed but not 'desirable' we would be baby machines for anyone who can't

[ohio_liberal]

10. I read the book in high school

and I saw the movie a long time ago. The movie version sticks in my mind more than the book. I should reread it.

[brooklynite]

9. Take away MEN's reproductive rights?

Perish the thought...

[hippiegranny]

12. the unintended consequences

of this make me laugh... take away all forms of birth control and make a great case for people to consider homosexuality. Too funny.

[tubbacheez]

15. If Roe is suddenly deemed invalid, then states are allowed to enact

anti-abortion laws.

I'm not sure all 50 states will promptly do so. I imagine a few states in deeply fundamentalist regions will. But I'd be quite surprised if (say) California would be so quick.




A hypothetical overturning of Roe would not automatically make abortion illegal. To be illegal a law must be written somewhere decreeing that an act is a crime and punishable. The mere overturning of Roe would not instantaneously create new legislation.

Without Roe, abortion loses its current Federal protection. Without Roe, the states are free to come up with, and try to pass, some form of new anti-abortion law.

So yes, the overturning of Roe would create the opportunity for anti-abortion laws. But it would not, by itself, make abortion illegal.



I realize the event could be seen as practically assuring the next. But let's not completely blur the two things together.

[Squeech]

16. No, I think this is how it works

First of all, it's correct that overturning Roe returns the question to the states, who will decide as they wish.

Secondly, while Roe preserves the right to an abortion on paper, it does not do so in practice. There are scads of jurisdictions, including I believe some entire states (all of them red, to nobody's great surprise), where a poor pregnant woman couldn't find a doctor willing and able to perform an abortion. Many doctors in needy communities have abandoned OB/GYN practices for reasons that have nothing to do with the law. For one thing, OB/GYN is the second most expensive specialty for malpractice coverage. For another, there are places where being known as an abortion provider can endanger your life. Moreover, medical schools tend not to teach their students how to do a D&C any more, possibly because of the previous consideration.

So I would suggest that the status quo is sufficiently dire that overturning Roe wouldn't make things any worse.