What are we doing? A 10-year-old rape victim was impregnated in Ohio, tried to have an abortion after 6 weeks and 3 days, was denied as 3 days late, and had to travel to Indiana for the procedure. Ten. Years. Old. A Tweet by Don Lewis @DonLew87

Now is the time to organize. New York is a legal abortion state, but people will need help getting here. We have compiled a direct multi-abortion fund link to help people seek the medical care they need. 100% goes to them & covers regions across the US. A Tweet by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOCUS Representative,NY-14 (BX & Queens).

A woman’s fundamental health decisions are her own to make, in consultation with her doctor & her loved ones – not to be dictated by far-right politicians. While Republicans seek to punish & control women, Democrats will keep fighting ferociously to enshrine Roe v. Wade into law. Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi

Congress can change the number of justices on the Supreme Court at any time and has done so 7 times throughout history. Since 1869, the last time the court was expanded, the U.S. population has grown by over 800%, yet the court has stayed stagnant at 9 justices. A Tweet by Ilhan Omar @IlhanMN Mom, Refugee and Congresswoman for #MN05.

Today is one of the darkest days our country has ever seen American women are having their rights taken by 5 unelected Justices on the extremist MAGA court These justices—appointed by Republicans and presiding without accountability—have stolen the fundamental right to abortion. A Tweet by Chuck Schumer @SenSchumer Official Account of Senator Chuck Schumer, New York’s Senator and the Senate Majority Leader.

First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; Martin Luther King Jr. in Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963

I put a question mark after Happy because this seems like a sober 4th to me. I originally titled this post Roe Vs. Wade: RIP June 24, 2022, but, when the writing of it bled into July 4th, I changed the title (but not, really, the point).

When I became politically sentient, in the late 1950s, Earl Warren was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was a Republican but Republicans were different then and I felt that the Supreme Court was on my side, protecting my rights. Then came another Republican, Warren E. Burger, then another, William Rehnquist, and another Republican, John Roberts, and it still seemed as if the Supreme Court was on my side, on the side of increased tolerance and personal liberties. It seemed like the natural order of things, but it wasn’t.

On June 24th, 2022, for the first time in my lifetime, the United States Supreme Court took away the Federal protection of a right. In this case, it is a woman’s right to have an abortion. Just as worrying was Clarance Thomas’ hint – well, OK, more than a hint – that the reasoning behind that decision could apply to same-sex marriages and the right to take contraception. Right now, there are a huge number of people, mostly Democrats, it seems, who are outraged over the Court decision, still, the question I have is Will this outrage translate into meaningful action, or will the outrage be tamped down by the social pressure to be civil? Don’t make waves, Leave well enough alone. and Let sleeping dogs lie. are powerful instincts, not just in American culture but, I think, in human culture. For a lot of people change is scary.

Because of an earlier leak from person(s?) unknown, we all knew or should have known, that, in many states, the nullification of Roe was coming but, it seems, many Democratic politicians preferred to think that that change wasn’t really coming. As soon as the opinion was announced they seemed shocked and I started getting emails telling me how important it is to vote for the Democrats and asking for money. Almost nobody offered an idea of what to do. I say almost because some politicians must have thought The Supreme Court will probably invalidate Roe, what should we do about it? But, as far as I can tell from Twitter and emails asking for money, not many Democratic politicians did think about it, not Speaker Pelosi, not Majority Leader Schumer or President Biden, all they did was wring their hands, tell us how important the vote is, and ask for money. I am sure there are other politicians that thought about what we should do about the Court’s decision but the only ones that I got emails from were members of the Squad.

As an aside, I get two kinds of emails from politicians wanting money. To greatly oversimplify, one group is running on a platform of I’m not Trump or the Republicans are trying to take away your rights and I’m not a Republican, and the other group is running on what they want to do. Given that I have a limited amount of money to donate to political causes, I only donate to politicians who are in the second group and I have been unsubscribing to emails from the first group. I say this to qualify the statement in the last paragraph. Many of those I unsubscribed to may, at this very moment, be sending Here’s what I want to do emails and I’m not getting them but, of the emails I am getting, the Squad seems to be the only one sending out emails telling me what they want to do. End aside.

With that caveat, here is what AOC Tweeted:

Here’s how Dems can and must do more than wait for an election. Let’s start w/ why:
7 of the 9 justices were appointed by a party that hasn’t won a popular vote more than once in 30 years
1 of those seats was stolen
Several lied to Congress to secure their appointment…
1 justice’s family (Thomas) was paid by right wing groups for years and he never disclosed it, violating Federal law. The same justice’s spouse participated in 1/6 and he used his SCOTUS seat to vote to keep potential info related to his wife from investigators in Congress.
2 justices stand very credibly accused of sexual assault

And that’s the tip of the iceberg. Election or not, the Supreme Court has a legitimacy crisis and the public reaffirms it: 75% of the US public reports lacking confidence in SCOTUS, & those numbers were *pre-Roe ruling*In a legitimacy crisis, the solution Biden and Dem leaders must offer can’t just be one of voting, but of statute & authority. Compared to Exec and Leg branches, checks on Court overreach and misconduct are little to none. Leaders must share their plans for Roe AND a rogue court.

Past Presidents, from Lincoln to FDR, understood the dangerous stakes of allowing an unchecked Court to overreach its authority and threaten our democracy. Lincoln ignored the court to issue the emancipation proclamation. FDR, in the plunges of the Great Depression, also sought…to confront the Court’s structure (and core gerontocracy problem of lifetime appointments) via a public appeal. While he did not succeed, that check came from the ppl & Congress, NOT Scotus.

The ruling is Roe, but the crisis is democracy. Leaders must share specific plans for both…The President & Dem leaders can no longer get away with familiar tactics of “committees” and “studies” to avoid tackling our crises head-on anymore:
Restrain judicial review.
Open clinics on federal lands.
Court expansion.
Expand Fed access/awareness of pill abortions.

For the moments when we DO insist on elections, we must be PRECISE with what we need and we will do with that power: How many seats does the party need to Codify Roe? Dems must SAY THAT. Not just “go vote” or “give us $6 to win.” That is demoralizing, losing, unfocused nonsense.

Dem leaders must tell voters the plan: What’s the *actual* need? Which specific seats are we focused on? WHAT votes do we need & WHERE (what states and races?) And, what’s the return? What is Biden/Congress ACTUALLY willing+able to do at 52/60 seats? Be honest. Details motivate.

So let’s wake up everybody! What’re good Democrats! If you don’t like what I’ve laid out here, then please present YOUR plan instead of little “why we can’t” lists!! Let’s cut the handwringing and get moving! Chop chop! No more show tunes till November unless it’s for GOTV!!

So with that, remember that the United States of America is chockablock full of great people, on both sides of the political divide. Happy 4th of July to everyone.