Even as countries like Sierra Leone are making progress by decriminalizing abortion, the United States of America has regressed on the issue of abortion by declaring Roe v. Wade unconstitutional, doing away with abortion as a constitutional right.
An Ineffectual Democratic Administration And Growing Reactionary Forces
The White House declared the Supreme Court decision a “solemn moment,” though has done little in response to stymie the tide of anti-abortion laws and legislation being enacted, despite pleas for more action by his administration that appear to have gone unnoticed or ignored, given the apparent lack of direct responses to suggestions such as using military and other federal facilities to provide abortion access. As a statement by the Communist Party USA highlights from history:
The Supreme Court decision surely ranks high among the worst, anti-human decisions in its history such as the Dred Scott decision of 1857 or Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896. The first decision, made by a Supreme Court dominated by slaveholders, eliminated all restrictions on slavery in the Republic. Adding insult to injury, the court stated that the Constitution’s authors never intended any Black person to have citizenship rights. Plessy held that racial segregation was constitutional, enshrined in the “separate but equal” doctrine. We all know how the “equal” part went.
Under the governorship of Glenn Youngkin and his cohorts, we face a very real danger of abortion access being minimized or barred to many families of color, to those of low-income wealth statuses, and minority groups. In addition, even the so-called “liberal” justices on the Supreme Court cannot always be trusted. To quote the SCOTUSblog, an outlet that examines the Supreme Court cases of the United States, “The conservative justices showed high levels of agreement. And the three liberal justices dissented at the highest rates of their time on the court.” This opens up further danger of other civil rights and freedoms being taken away or undermined, making it more dire for states like Virginia, whatever other SCOTUS decision happens moving forward.
In regard to the recent decision, as the Virginia Mercury says in its recent article “If (when?) Virginia imposes new abortion restrictions, those with the least will suffer the most”:
As of Thursday, bans were in place in 20 states, and abortion remained legal in 19 states plus the District of Columbia, according to a state-by-state count of abortion laws by The Associated Press. Virginia was listed among 11 states where the issue remains to be determined.
Thirteen of the states that now ban or sharply restrict abortions had “trigger laws” on the books waiting to take effect as soon as the Supreme Court released its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. In those states, except for a few where court challenges have enjoined the law from taking effect, abortion clinics were forced to close immediately. In some states, the law would make a felon of any doctor who performed an abortion.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin kept his opposition to abortion, although it wasn’t one of the primary issues in the race for the governorship of Virginia, during his campaign. He is most famous for running on an agenda that held Critical Race Theory as a central issue, even vowing to ban it through executive order on day one of governorship, which he eventually did. There have also been attempts to pass anti-CRT legislation in the school boards of the state, such as was the case in Virginia Beach last October. This intersects with recent efforts in Virginia, and in particular northern Virginia, or NoVa, to try and ban books from libraries with LGBTQ+ themes, particularly in regard those that touch on the transgender and non-binary community in public and private libraries.
There is more to this apparent moral panic than this article will touch on, but it does show what could be a rising reaction in Virginia with implications for the rest of the country as well. With this reactionary and right-wing sentiment will come other states trying to emulate more and more laws passed here in Virginia. But it also gives even more leeway for the current governorship in Virginia to pass anti-abortion legislation.
In addition, Glenn Youngkin has been passed by the media as being a possible Presidential candidate with even the Washington Post entering the conversation by bringing up the new Virginia governor’s meetings with Republican mega-donors and a change in his overall rhetoric (wading into national discourse more and using the term “Americans” more than “Virginians” in his speeches, public appearances, etc.).
It is possible that he may try to be one of the leading figures in the moral crusade (more of a moral hysteria) in suppressing abortion from healthcare services that provide them, even going above and beyond, by performing a political stunt in spearheading further laws and policies that will harm women in the name of combatting abortion. Currently, his reputation as the governor that turned Virginia back to being solidly red is a strong asset that he can play up among the nation as a whole. It would galvanize reactionary figures much as Rick DeSantis’ anti-communist tirades and legislation have done in Florida.
What We Say: The Supreme Court Justices Are Glorified Politicians And We Stand Against Youngkin, the Ultra-right Danger, and Anti-choice Forces As a Whole
We must never forget that the justices themselves aren’t above politics. Indeed, it should be obvious given that we talk of “liberal” and “conservative” judges in U.S. politics itself. And furthermore, many Presidential campaigns are fought over not just for the Executive Branch of government, but one of the other “three main branches” often touted as being primary in American governance, the Judicial Branch. It is ignorant, propagandistic, and simply untrue that Supreme Court justices simply interpret the U.S. Constitution as it should be interpreted or that keeps in line with the spirit of the American legal tradition. Traditions can change and be bent, often in the name of tradition itself. We must call the U.S. Supreme Court justices what they are: glorified politicians.
Let it be known that the Communist Party of Virginia stands against any ultra-right advance to deal any further blows to the legal framework that gives access to abortion in Virginia. Indeed, we are for the strengthening of the right to abortion as healthcare. Subsidized by the government, even. We do not shy away from our position as many a Democrat or liberal might do. While we welcome support in fending off the encroachment on access to abortion, and welcome any support for a wider United Front in fighting the forces of ultra-right and neo-fascist reaction, we wish to say that we cannot cede more ground. We are willing to work on the local level with any group fighting for abortion as a civil right, for abortion as a right to healthcare, for abortion freely given by the government structure.
If you are part of any progressive or left-wing group that is concerned with this vital part of healthcare access for many low-income and BIPOC families, please contact us. In addition, we welcome any recruits to the Communist Party USA, which has been around since 1919. We are the original Communist Party founded in the United States after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. But more than that: we are also in need of expertise and any help. If by chance, you are from a state outside Virginia, but wish to help out, please contact our main email, read the Party Program and Constitution, respect the history and theory of the party and worldwide communist movement, and do your research to see if it is right for you.
Numbers are certainly important and quantity turns into quality. But ultimately, discipline, action, and organization augments the strength of each other. We implore that you learn the communist theory, tactics, and history as we are indeed a Communist Party.
However, if you feel that you can’t, do consider joining other organizations that can lead the fightback against the ultra-right reactionary forces that oppress many daily. Do not be a bystander, but rather, become an active force in your own right in the political, cultural, and socio-economic environment of the country and the world. I say this as a potential comrade, but even in a friendly manner: we need numbers not just in our party but in the other organizations that are fighting against the growing right-wing and fascist danger. We have all seen and felt it. It’s time to get organized and start changing things.
We are not alone and neither are you.
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Solidarity,
Elijah Jones