Chicago Sun-Times (Sunday)

We can’t and won’t forget the day Supreme Court struck down Roe

- MARY MITCHELL mmitchell@suntimes.com | @MaryMitche­llCST

If you are a woman, it’s likely you will remember what you were doing on the day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.

I got the news just as I was about to attend out-of-town festivitie­s for my youngest son’s wedding.

It was supposed to be a day of love and laughter. Instead, it became a day of reflection.

Some women met the ruling with regret and anger. Others embraced it.

“This is certainly a day that pro-lifers have been waiting for for 49 years,” U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., said. “Today’s Supreme Court decision was a step to protect the most precious and basic right — the right to life.”

Because we were warned that Roe v. Wade was on the way out when someone leaked the justices’ draft opinion weeks ago, the decision did not come as a surprise.

And, as shocking as this ruling might seem to some people, they had to know Roe v. Wade would continue to be challenged because it cut to the heart of our moral core. The attacks on legal abortion in this country never stopped.

Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the United States again will be sharply divided by an issue that will test our growth politicall­y and spirituall­y.

Democrats wasted no time in getting their message out.

“Today’s SCOTUS decision will have real and immediate consequenc­es. I will do all in my power to protect women’s rights, and voters also need to make their voices heard,” President Joe Biden said in an annoying text asking for a $15 contributi­on to the Democratic National Committee.

Though not in Illinois, abortion bans are expected to soon take effect in about half of the United States. While women seeking an abortion can travel to other states, the ruling could result in abortions being available only to women who have the resources to travel to places where abortion is legal.

As life changing as this ruling is, our political leaders in both parties could see it was coming after a half century of attacks on legal abortion.

Yet even as some protesters marched around abortion clinics in the name of the Lord, trying to shame women who were already broken, many churches were silent on the subject.

Abortion wasn’t something we talked about in Bible study. We were taught God shut up Sarah’s womb and opened it again when she was old enough to be a greatgrand­mother.

As a young woman, abortion is a word I had never heard spoken from the pulpit.

Legal abortions undoubtedl­y saved the lives of countless women who felt incapable emotionall­y and financiall­y of taking responsibi­lity for a helpless child. But they did nothing to assuage the shame some women felt afterward.

Now, the strangest thing has happened.

After 50 years of this being so-called settled law, a political change in the makeup of the Supreme Court, orchestrat­ed by an unhinged president, has shown us how easily the government can take away our “rights.”

It took four years for former President Donald Trump to accomplish something Republican­s have been trying to do for nearly a half century.

This is a culture war that won’t end anytime soon.

Instead of begging for nickel-anddime donations, Democrats need to strategize how to support organizati­ons that now bear the burden of ensuring that impoverish­ed women get access to safe abortions, like well-heeled women do.

I pray the same love and concern “right to life” advocates have expressed for nearly 50 years for the unborn will be poured into the unwanted children who will now be born.

We can’t forget this day.

DEMOCRATS NEED TO STRATEGIZE HOW TO SUPPORT ORGANIZATI­ONS THAT NOW BEAR THE BURDEN OF ENSURING THAT IMPOVERISH­ED WOMEN GET ACCESS TO SAFE ABORTIONS, LIKE WELL-HEELED WOMEN DO.

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 ?? TYLER PASCIAK LARIVIERE/SUN-TIMES ?? Protesters march in downtown Chicago on Friday after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
TYLER PASCIAK LARIVIERE/SUN-TIMES Protesters march in downtown Chicago on Friday after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

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