A Battle over Roe v Wade?

The Democrats and the courts won’t save abortion. We need a mass movement in the streets, and DSA has a critical role to play.

By Rosemary Dodd

Abortion rights, long under siege from the right, face an unprecedented threat in 2022. This summer, most likely in June, the Supreme Court will rule on a Mississippi law that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks, which will likely result in the complete or partial overturning of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case which enshrined abortion rights until fetal viability (around 24 weeks).

The court has also rejected four attempts to block a Texas law banning abortion after just six weeks (before most people even realize they’re pregnant) from taking effect while it’s being challenged in lower courts. The Texas law is clearly unconstitutional, so allowing it to stand is a hostile move against abortion law precedent.

In a December hearing on the Mississippi law, the conservative justices, who outnumber the liberal justices 6 to 3, made clear their willingness to gut or even overturn Roe. Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee who ascended to the Court despite sexual assault allegations against him, said, “If you think about some of the … most consequential cases in the court’s history, there’s a string of them where the cases overruled precedent.” 

Chief Justice John Roberts, the most moderate of the conservatives, would prefer to leave Roe intact on paper but uphold the Mississippi law, allowing a massive blow to abortion rights, but potentially reducing public outrage and avoiding a hit to the court’s already shaky legitimacy. However, the other five conservative justices are much more willing to do away with Roe entirely.

“It would take a lot of rose colored glasses to look at the Supreme Court’s decision-making over the past year and look at the political beliefs of the current Supreme Court justices and think there’s any hope there,” argues Max Carwile, a Planned Parenthood activist in Tennessee. She feels strongly that 2022 will see the floodgates open for pre-viability abortion bans. “I don’t think they’ll completely overturn Roe v Wade, but by allowing the 15-week ban to go into effect, they will allow Roe v Wade to be overturned in part.”

Abortion, despite being legal on paper, is already inaccessible to millions.

This would have immediate, devastating results. Ruling the Mississippi ban constitutional would enable so-called “trigger laws” in 19 states to go into effect that would ban abortion at various points. Bans will hit particularly hard in the South and Midwest where abortions are already difficult to obtain. 

Abortion, despite being legal on paper, is already inaccessible to millions. The class character of the fight for abortion is clear: rich people will always be able to access abortion by traveling long distances and paying expensive medical bills. Poor  people, particularly trans people and people of color, however, will be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or use unsafe practices.

Unfortunately, abortion rights have sufferred under a tidal wave of restrictive legislation on the state level for decades, putting the movement on the defensive. A shocking 1,336 abortion restrictions have been enacted at the state level since Roe.

Missing in Action: Joe Biden

Many feminists were convinced in 2020 that a vote for Biden, despite his many failings and the sexual assault allegation against him, was necessary to protect reproductive freedom. Yet we’re seeing minimal fight-back from the Biden Administration. 

As a Senator in 1973, he voted for a failed constitutional amendment that would have allowed states to overturn Roe, saying in a Washingtonian interview at the time “I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.”

As abortion became less stigmatized and social movements succeeded in shifting the base of the Democratic Party to the left, Biden adapted and began tepidly supporting Roe. However, it wasn’t until the 2020 campaign that he finally rescinded his support for the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal spending on abortion care.

According to Bracey Sherman, an activist tracking Biden’s statements since entering office, he hasn’t uttered the word “abortion” once, and didn’t use it in a written statement until 224 days into his presidency.

Where are the Democrats?

In response to the threat from the Supreme Court, House Democrats passed legislation called the Women’s Health Protection Act. This bill would codify Roe into law and enshrine abortion access on a federal level. The bill wouldn’t solve everything, but would be a major step toward preserving abortion rights. Unfortunately the Democrats, despite controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress, have no plan to actually get it passed.

Not only do conservative Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Bob Casey not currently support the legislation, but even if they were convinced to sign on, Republicans could easily block it with the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to override. So far, Biden has been unwilling to support overturning the filibuster on this issue.

The easiest tool at Biden’s disposal is expanding the Supreme Court and adding more pro-choice justices. Although he spoke about this during his campaign, he has yet to act, despite the Republicans shamelessly manipulating norms to make the Court more reactionary in the past.

We must demand that Biden expand the Supreme Court and add more pro-choice justices.

The ruling class, including both its liberal and conservative wings, has an interest in preserving the legitimacy of its governing structure, yet overturning Roe will almost certainly further undermine the Court in the eyes of regular people.

The Court already has low institutional legitimacy. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, when asked how much confidence Americans have in the Supreme Court, only 36% said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence. Additionally, a 2021 Quinnipiac poll found that 61% of Americans say the Court is motivated mainly by politics, as opposed to 32% who say it’s motivated mainly by the law.

Liberal justices issued stark warnings to their right-wing colleagues in an initial hearing over the 15-week Mississippi ban. Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked, “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?”

This is an opportunity for DSA to point out the undemocratic, anti-working-class nature of the Court and call for justices to be elected, and demand that, as a bare minimum, Biden and the Democrats expand the Court to protect our most essential rights.

The Democrats are afraid to lead on abortion due to its supposed unpopularity, but is abortion actually unpopular? Although its opponents are very vocal, according to a 2021 Gallup poll, only 19% of Americans oppose abortion in all circumstances, compared to 32% who support it in all circumstances, and 48% support it in some circumstances. Additionally, an ABC/Washington Post poll found that 60% support keeping Roe while only 27% want it overturned.

Furthermore, we shouldn’t view attitudes about abortion as fixed. As with the women’s movement that won Roe in the first place, a mass movement can have a major impact on consciousness. A bold socialist feminist message, compared to the more tepid arguments of mainstream women’s organizations, could significantly alter public perception on abortion.

Struggle from Below

The massive Women’s March when Trump was elected, in spite of its political and organizational limitations, showed that regular people (with sufficient incentive and leadership) will hit the streets in the millions for feminist issues. In response to the Texas six-week abortion ban, 660 demonstrations for abortion rights were held aross the coutry. These were a great step, but they weren’t nearly sufficient.

Recent feminist movements in other countries exemplify the kind of sustained movement necessary to maintain and expand abortion in the US. In Argentina, the marea verde (green tide) movement defeated the Catholic Church’s opposition and won the right to abortion prior to 14 weeks in 2020. This was achieved through a campaign that brought together activists, women, and the LGBTQ+ community through a combination of community organizing and street protests. The movement, with its supporters wearing distinctive green bandanas, has spread to several Latin American countries and helped decriminalize abortion in Mexico in 2021.

In Ireland a variety of organizations, including ROSA, a socialist feminist group which included the sister organization of DSA’s Reform & Revolution caucus, carried on a sustained, high profile movement that passed a referendum legalizing abortion by 66% of the vote. ROSA engaged in civil disobedience by driving through the country, providing safe but illegal abortion pills, and using these high-profile actions to argue for legalization.

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration reduced medically unnecessary restrictions on Mifepristone, an abortion pill that can be safely administered at home until ten weeks of pregnancy. Many grassroots campaigns are educating people about Mifepristone, and DSA could get involved and perhaps pursue similar tactics to those used in Ireland. Combined with mass protests, speak-outs, labor rallies, and civil disobedience, politicized aide could help those in need of abortions and raise the profile of the movement.

Saving abortion rights, whether it’s pressuring the Democrats to take action or scaring the conservatives on the Supreme Court away from overturning Roe, will require massive, sustained demonstrations. However, the corporate establishment of the Democratic Party refuses to call such demonstrations, and unfortunately, the main feminist organizations follow their lead.

Although Bernie and DSA Congress members have a good stance on abortion, they aren’t using the movement-based approach needed.

The primary impediment to implementing the kinds of tactics necessary to win is not public opinion or the will to struggle, but the lack of adequate organization and leadership. The largest, most influential reproductive rights organizations such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice are deeply tied to the Democratic Party. Planned Parenthood endorsed Biden in 2020 and used its money and political capital to elect Democrats, but has not put the same level of resources into mobilizing its considerable base to protest. The strategy of these organizations has tended to be legalistic and focused on developing relationships with the liberal elite rather than a fighting, movement-based approach. Bernie and DSA Congress members have a good stance on abortion, but they are also not calling for the movement-based approach needed to defend and expand abortion access.

DSA’s Role

DSA, in contrast, can act independently from the Democratic Party, enabling it to pursue militant tactics, as well as connect abortion rights to a broader socialist feminist program. For example, we should argue that abortion care must be part of Medicare for All and free of charge. In England the National Health Service pays for 99% of abortions — a model we can point to.

In addition to fighting for the right to have abortions, socialists can also organize for the right to have children and raise them in a healthy, safe environment. Reproductive justice is a framework that many abortion activists, particularly many Black women, have been emphasizing for years, and it’s consistent with a socialist message that society should provide for people’s basic needs. Presenting abortion as part of a broader program that includes housing justice, parental leave, Medicare for All, anti-racism, gender equality, and worker rights can draw new, energetic people into the movement and introduce them to socialist feminism.

We sent a draft of this article to DSA’s National Political Committee (NPC) and Socialist Feminist Working Group and asked about their plans, but haven’t yet received a response or seen a serious strategy from them. DSA showed through the Bernie and PRO Act campaigns that we are capable of coordinated, wide-scale action. DSA’s NPC should start a campaign around abortion rights and contact Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, the Women’s March, unions, Bernie, and the Squad to organize a day of mass action in the spring to demand:

• Defend Roe — Hands off reproductive rights
• That Biden expand the Supreme Court to uphold Roe
• That Congress pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and overturn the Hyde Amendment
• Medicare for All that includes free, safe abortions, gender affirming healthcare, contraception, and other reproductive care
• Reproductive justice including living wages, affordable childcare, and paid parental leave, paid for by taxing corporations and billionaires

DSA should organize demonstrations regardless of outside support. If we behave as if losing abortion rights is a foregone conclusion, we will be shirking our responsibility to millions in need of abortion care and missing a massive opportunity to build a fighting socialist feminist movement.

DSA’s national leadership should provide graphics and resources to local chapters and organize a national day of action, with a mass rally in New York City and protests across the country. This would set an example of resistance that can be built on. We should invite Bernie, the Squad, and the traditional women’s organizations to speak at this rally — and an additional town hall — and pressure them to use their authority and resources to call for much larger demonstrations.

Even though DSA is weaker in red states where abortion is likely to be outlawed, national DSA can pour resources into smaller chapters, sending money, staff, and volunteers to help organize protests and campaigns to show that people are not giving up reproductive freedom without a fight.

Building a winning movement will require a united front approach that pulls in various groups (big and small) to fight for abortion without sacrificing DSA’s independent socialist profile. Some DSA trends may hesitate to work with larger women’s organizations due to their limitations (as evidenced by DSA’s Socialist Feminist Working Group’s refusal to endorse the 2021 Women’s March demonstrations). However, this would be a mistake: instead of shunning these organizations, we should be getting them to mobilize their bases into action. Even if the leadership of an organization like Planned Parenthood is hesitant to take up a bold strategy due to its ties to the Democratic Party and its position as a healthcare provider, many of their grassroots supporters and staff would be excited to join a movement in the streets, and many will be open to socialist politics.

As Max, the Tennessee activist, points out: “I think what we need is a true revolt, people taking to the streets every single day and not allowing business as usual until we have true safe legal and accessible abortion, but I am really worried… It feels like we’ve gone further into individualist thinking when what we really need is to understand that our well-being and future are tied up in each other.”

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Bringing Feminism to Labor

The most powerful tool available to working-class people is for millions to withhold their labor and go on strike. Usually, strikes occur over workplace issues. However, there are plenty of examples of strikes over political and social issues too. In Poland, women organized a massive nationwide strike for abortion rights and the largest protests in decades, which temporarily stalled legislation banning abortion. 

Although the labor movement in the US is resurgent, we are unfortunately far from a place where labor is prepared to take strike action on issues like abortion. Nonetheless, socialists in DSA should be actively connecting with workers and unions, starting with mobilizations and protests for abortion rights — a healthcare procedure working families need — and building toward strikes in the future.