/ Social Commentary

So it begins.

Mississippi – abortion ban except in cases of rape, incest & the life of the mother.

Missouri – expected to pass an abortion ban with no exceptions but for the life of the mother.

South Dakota – abortion ban with no exceptions but for the life of the mother. The title of this particular law? The Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act–ah, the irony.

Some ideas:

Of course, people need to fight these laws with every resource at hand. But might there be other kinds of leverage? Are there ways that we can create coalitions of artists, educators, scholars, scientists, etc., to punish states who seem to actively seek stone-age mentality and disregard for women’s reproductive rights? It makes no difference if I pledge never to work, visit or spend money in South Dakota, but what if we could get thousands of people to make such a pledge? Are there economic ways these states can be held accountable for their reactionary politics? Could we set up a network of Reproductive Rights Center’s in other states in order to help finance and provide support for women who need to travel out of state for control over their own bodies?

The South Dakota law has a particularly overdetermined line: “the mother’s fundamental natural intrinsic right to a relationship with her child.”

fundamental AND natural AND intrinsic! Damn, they sure are positive. It is telling that a woman’s relationship with her child is more “natural” and “instrinsic” than the rights she has over her own body.

Remember, we also should hold all those Democrats accountable who didn’t have the guts to stand up to the Republicans on the cloture vote for Alito. They are as morally and politically responsible for this sustained and coordinated attack against women’s rights as those Republicans who voted to confirm Alito.

Fight, find ways to fight. But let’s also try to think outside the box. If you own a business, can you stop doing business with South Dakota? If you provide a service can you cut South Dakota off? I don’t have any specific ideas, but there has to be ways to send a clear message to reactionary states: if you want to eliminate women’s reproductive rights, then we will eliminate your access to creative arts, to technological services, to brain-power, to tourist dollars, to purchasing power. Some sort of South Dakota embargo. Any thoughts?

On this day..