The course of American history has changed. The Supreme Court today overturned Roe v. Wade by a 6-3 decision. The landmark 1973 case had legalized abortion in the United States as a constitutional right. Today's ruling leaves state legislatures free to restrict, forbid, or criminalize abortion.
As a gay man, the abortion question has never been an issue for me; but I do know that my late mother and other female relations thought a woman should definitely be able to get an abortion, and I think no man should have a say in that: it's up to the woman who has to bear that child, and in nearly all cases, raise that child.
But today's ruling, supported by all three of the conservative justices Trump appointed to the Supreme Court, is another landmark case that bodes ill for many other rights that we have come to take for granted in the last half-century. A new era begins today, and it's not going to be pretty.
Read the full Supreme Court ruling here (PDF); the first 8 pages are a summary of the actual 200-page opinion.
This is only the first domino to fall. You fellas who are married - you do realize that you could now be un-married by the Supreme Court with the stroke of a pen, don't you? You fellas who aren't married - you could now be prosecuted as felons for having gay sex, the way it used to be here in Texas, if the Court continues to apply today's legal reasoning to other cases. What the Supreme Court gives, it can also take away.
It seems to me that today's ruling is just the first step in establishing a totalitarian, right-wing, one-party government that fuses religion and politics, and crushes the life out of all dissent. Don't think it can't happen here. It just did.
With a two-to-one majority on the Supreme Court - and with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress the likely result of this year's elections - a new dark age looms ahead. Wake up, guys. You Have Been Warned.
Mark my words: the right-wing wolves have tasted blood now, and they won't stop with abortion rights. Better enjoy Pride month while it lasts. Here's live coverage of today's events:
