Hypothetical re Roe v. Wade

[Martina]

So, what if Romney is elected, he appoints more conservative Justices, and Roe v. Wade is overturned?

What do you think will happen in the United States? How do you imagine the public reacting? Women reacting? You reacting?

How would things change here in the short term? Long term?

[easygoingfemme]

Well just thinking about it feels like a kick in the gut, for starters.

I think that there would be a great outrage and backlash and a big fight back.

I think that we'd find that there are a lot of women who have been preparing for this by learning how to provide safe abortions by alternative methods. And that those would be women who would risk their own freedom by providing them because they would know that if they were caught they would get longer jail sentences than people who rape and murder children.

I think we'd get back to back alley unsafe abortions and more women would die because of that- while those in practice would gloat about the money they make off of it.

I think there would be a massive slide back on women's safety and security because this is so tied into the rape issues that keep coming up. Because of that abusers/rapists would feel quite entitled and supported by the men in power and violence would increase.

In the long term I think we'd get it back, but it would be a long ugly crawl.

Those are my initial thoughts. Sure I'll be back.

[Martina]

I really don't know. That's why I posted this. I'd like to think there would be rioting and civil disobedience that would scare those conservatives into emigrating. But I doubt it. We've been way complacent through getting an election stolen, through being lied to about weapons of mass destruction and having our children sent to die for no reason. This would affect so many families though. The scared parents wondering what they are going to do to help their daughter -- I wonder how long this shit would go on before people had enough.

I am also not sure what I would do. I would protest, donate, work. I would not do anything that would get me arrested. I made that decision a while ago re civil disobedience. But this issue. I guess if it went on a long time and women were dying, I would be more willing to risk more.

I would also do my research and make sure I knew of places that women could go to get good help. I would not want to say "I don't know how to help you" to anyone.

Culturally, I think we would be dealt a serious blow if it lasted for any length of time. There would be a lot of anger. Could we get past the us vs. them thing without a lot of time passing after something like that? I don't know.

The complacency of Americans has floored me though. I never would have believed that we would have tolerated this many war dead, that we would be so indifferent. So, I just don't know.