Cancel July 4. We can't celebrate Independence Day when women's liberty has been lost
On Friday, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision where the court found that the Constitution of the United States protected a woman’s right to have an abortion.
The court’s 1973 decision was based on the premise that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution provided a fundamental "right to privacy," which protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion.
The impact of the court’s ruling in 1973 was wide-ranging and extraordinary. For the first time in our nation’s history, women could make their own decision about their reproductive healthcare choices. Legalizing abortion increased the labor supply of women in the workforce, and women could pursue a career outside of the home. A family could save and plan when to have children.
The decision nearly 50 years ago was based on the legal arguments, as well as the medical and scientific consensus that the embryonic stage begins with fertilization.
Lawmakers falsely claim that a fetus is viable (can survive and thrive outside the uterus) when a heartbeat is detected. Scientists and doctors will tell you that isn’t true, and the Supreme Court believed in science in the 1970s.
The Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 rejects science and reason. The decision is radical and unprecedented, and they ignored the long-established principle of stare decisis, which means “to stand by things decided” in Latin. When a court faces a legal argument, if a previous court has ruled on the same issue before, it will align its decision with the previous court's decision. They stick with prior legal precedents with very few exceptions.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday overturning Roe v. Wade ignored stare decisis and reversed five decades of precedent. They abandoned equality, and their decision abridges all women of their freedom, liberty, and independence. Eliminating a Constitutional right is short-sighted and contrary to the principles of equality which our nation was founded upon.
As a man, I’m horrified that a longstanding institution in the United States would overturn Roe v. Wade, and consign women to being second-class citizens.
In just a week we have a national federal holiday that celebrates our independence and the birth of our nation. The July 4th holiday is often celebrated with barbecues, family gatherings, parades, and fireworks displays. For the first time in my life, I can’t celebrate our country or its ideals.
Demonizing immigrants and people of color. Denigrating women. Slandering drag queens while defaming LGBTQI+ people. Blocking gun control and allowing the slaughter of innocent children. These actions don’t reflect our American values. These values earn our scorn because they represent the politics of hate.
I am calling on our leaders on both sides to cancel all taxpayer-funded July 4th fireworks and celebrations. We cannot celebrate Independence Day when the freedom, liberty, and independence, of women, have been lost and remains restricted.
I cannot celebrate Independence Day until the independence of women is fully restored. Can you?
Roy Steele lives in Palm Springs. Email him at roy.steele@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Abortion: We can't celebrate July 4 when women's liberty has been lost
