The Next Steps to Protect Abortion Rights

It’s almost a certainty that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. With the release of the draft decision, it would be suicidal for any of the conservative justices who signed off on it to change their minds, as every anti-abortion fanatic in the country will know who they are, and the so-called “pro-life” movement has demonstrated many times that they are capable of deadly violence. At the same time, there’s virtually no chance of a nationwide ban being enacted any time soon, even if the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress after the midterms (and with this decision, that just became less likely).

So we’re looking at a scenario where abortion will remain legal in around half the country, and illegal to some degree in the other half. As supporters of abortion rights, what can we do to preserve them in the states that remain, and assist women in other states who need them?

I have a few ideas:

Vote Democratic. Yes, I know Hillary was terrible, but if she’d won in 2016, we’d have a 6–3 liberal majority on the Supreme Court, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Putting everything else aside, one party wants to preserve abortion rights, and the other wants to end them. Not voting, or voting third party because you disapprove of the Democratic position on some other issue isn’t an option anymore.