I am by no means an expert on the Supreme Court, the legal history of abortion, or the experience of being pregnant. But here are a few things I’ve been thinking about that I think are worth you thinking about too:
Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 in a 7-2 decision. Six of the nine justices on that Supreme Court were nominated by Republican Presidents.
There were many Protestants and even Catholics in support of the decision. In 1968 a symposium of Christian theologians, sociologists, and physicians released a statement that read “Whether or not the performance of an induced abortion is sinful we are not agreed, but about the necessity and permissibility for it under certain circumstances we are in accord.”
In the late 1970s, an aspiring filmmaker named Frank Schaeffer made a propaganda film based off his Christian father’s writings called “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” It featured a scene with a thousand dolls scattered on the shore of present day Sodom - and later those same dolls being incinerated - meant to represent the potential lives lost to abortion. He did this to get a flashy visual for his Hollywood demo reel. Which is absolutely bonkers. But hey, we all make humiliating artistic choices in our twenties.
Evangelical power broker Jerry Falwell really liked the movie. More specifically, he liked how the inflammatory imagery enraged feminists and his political opponents. The movie played in stadiums across America, where his support, the activists picketing outside, and local news coverage boosted ticket sales significantly.
By the early 1980s, the Republican party of Ronald Reagan had come to recognize how powerful the evangelical movement could be as a single issue voter block, but they had experienced quite a bit of trouble finding an issue that could unite the entire community. They stumbled over attempts at rallying around prayer in schools, pornography, segregation, and even tax exemption (which actually almost worked, because capitalism). At the insistence of Falwell and Christian politicians like Paul Weyrick, they tested Shaeffer’s over-simplification of the massively complex abortion issue into baby murder. And it took off. Hello single issue voters. Raegan was elected.
Despite this, in 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed Roe’s holding that a woman’s right to have an abortion is constitutionally protected. Eight of the nine justices on that Supreme Court were nominated by Republican Presidents.
But the Republican Party had a new base, and they started gerrymandering their districts to grow the power of that base. While Democrats focused on ever-changing American demographics - and began to wield the double-edged sword of identity politics - Republicans focused on local elections and the courts. My god, did they focus on the courts.
Senator Mitch McConnell obstructed the confirmation of Merrick Garland 11 months before President Barack Obama’s second term ended. He then oversaw the confirmation of 3 Supreme Court Justices in one term: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett - who was confirmed just 8 days before the national election the Incumbent Republican President would lose. It honestly baffles me that this happened in real life.
The 3 newly appointed Justices all have strong support from institutions which were created to bolster Christian advocacy, with Amy Coney Barrett even teaching at Blackstone Legal Fellowship (established to inspire a “distinctly Christian worldview in every area of the law.”)
The draft opinion that was leaked this week, if adopted as the Court’s final opinion, would be a major deviation from the Court’s previous opinions and a contradiction of the foundational jurisprudential principle of “stare decisis” (or deference to precedent). This opens up a legitimate path forward to challenge and dismantle other civil rights issues Christian fundamentalists take issue with in the future. These issues include: the right to marry someone regardless of gender or race… or even a woman’s place in society.
Frank Schaeffer is now a self-described “Christian Atheist” and renounces the entire movement he helped create.
That movement went on to cause the creation of “single issue terrorism” - which has led to several bombings of clinics where healthcare is provided and the murder of doctors in their homes.
I can’t stop thinking about all of this. How objectively shitty art influenced an entire movement (people were making bootleg cassettes of Schaeffer’s stadium talks and passing them around like they were Grateful Dead tapes in the 70s). How we are measurably moving backwards. How I never thought this day would come. How gay or interracial marriage could be taken away from us. How people will do anything if they believe in a God that wants them to do it. How deeply ingrained misogyny is in religious communities across the globe. How my own family history of religious martyrdom in Iran and the Islamic theocracy that tricked a nation in 1979 is a perfect example of the unification of “church” and “state” and a prophetic vision of where this could lead.
The co-opting of Christian values and the manipulation of Christian people by the Republican Party has been the most awesome (in the traditional sense of the word) and effective political strategy I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. It has destabilized one of the world’s most progressive nations, sowed conflict which has lead to a violent culture war, lowered the bar for intellectual rigor and debate, and shored up power in a shrinking group of people.
I didn’t grow up citing the Bible, but I’ve come to learn there’s a lot of good stuff in there. For example: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I’m an atheist, I believe the intelligent design narrative is flawed and fictional, but you don’t see me running around trying to outlaw your religion. If you don’t want an abortion, then don’t get one. But for the love of god, respect each person’s right to make this incredibly difficult decision for themselves.