U.S. feminists challenge court
International Viewpoint # 233 • July 20, 1992 choose. The issue has proven to be so powerful that it has driven a wedge in the major capitalist party with the strongest official anti-abortion position.
The National Republican Coalition for Choice has lined up state delegations for a floor fight over abortion at the Natioabortion decision nal Convention in August, and has sent out a strongly worded letter across the country to organize pro-choice activities
THE United States Supreme Court's June 29 ruling on
Pennsylvania state's 1989 Abortion Control Act has added new fuel to the battle over women's right to choose in the
United States. The decision upheld the power of a state to restrict abortion rights by requiring unmarried teenage females to get the consent of their parents or a judge, establishing a 24-hour waiting period for adult women and mandating doctors to keep detailed records of each abortion — information which will be subject to public disclosure.
In addition, the Court approved the requirement that, before the waiting period, women must be given stateproduced anti-abortion information which includes pictures of foetuses taken at two week gestational intervals and a description of alternatives to abortion. The only substantial provision rejected by the court was the requirement that a women must notify her husband of an intention to obtain an abortion.
EVELYN SELL
Y a 5-4 majority, the justices
B utilized the approach that states can impose regulations which do not constitute an
"undue burden" on a woman's right to end an early pregnancy. In fact, each of the approved provisions do inflict such a burden — resulting in a gutting of the
Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which established legal abor-
The US mass media emphasized the fact that the legal right to abortion was affirmed by the Supreme Court. In fact, the court majority transformed the 1973
Roe v. Wade decision into a hollow shell by limiting women's right to choose during the period before foetal viability, and by deepening and expanding a state's power to regulate abortions at any point during the pregnancy.
In 1989, the Supreme Court opened the door to a state's authority to impose restrictions on women's abortion rights in the case of Webster v. Reproductive
Health Services, a Missouri state law.
Exactly what states could or could not restrict was not defined but in 1990 the court ruled that states can require minors to notify one or more parents or receive
14 a judge's permission before obtaining an abortion. Over the past two years, more than 800 bills limiting abortion rights have been introduced in 40 different state legislatures.
With this latest decision, the Supreme Court has added new measures to the approved list of restrictions. The present bare majority of five who did not completely overturn Roe v. Wade can be suddenly turned into a minority.
Four justices wrote a dissenting statement declaring themselves ready to strike down Roe v. Wade and to permit states to outlaw abortion. This leaves women teetering on the brink of total disaster.
Wishful thinking of antichoice lobby
Anti-choice politicians quickly asserted that the court's decision removed the abortion question as a hot issue during the current election campaign. That is wishful thinking on the part of opponents of abortion rights.
The majority of the US population continues to support basic abortion rights, and the feminist movement has engaged in a persistent struggle to safeguard and expand women's right to within that party and to "fight for a national party platform that reflects the pro-choice views of the majority of Republicans".
Feminist activists have been heavily involved in lobbying state legislators and members of the US Congress, and are currently campaigning for pro-choice candidates. In very important respects, this dependency on major capitalist party politicians will be strengthened by the court's ruling on the Pennsylvania law.
There are currently more women candidates running for public office at the state and national levels than before -and it appears that there is a good chance to elect more pro-choice women than in previous years. Countervailing trends at work
Electoralist activities on behalf of pro-choice Democrats and Republicans are being pushed by all major feminist organizations. At the same time, there are two countervailing trends: the success of mass mobilizations and the development of independent political action.
The entire nation was impressed by the largest-ever mobilization which involved 750,000 abortion rights demonstrators in Washington DC on April 5 of this year
In addition the pro-choice movement has consistently outnumbered Operation Rescue (called 'Operation Oppress You" by feminists) in highly successful, wellorganized actions at women's clinics. These public expressions by abortion rights advocates created and perpetuates a pro-choice climate — and may have helped persuade the Supreme Court justices to go out of their way to uphold
The already mobilized pro-choice movement responded to the Supreme Court's June 29 decision with immediate street demonstrations. In many cities, feminist groups had organized beforehand to hold street actions the day the Supreme Court decision was announced.
In other places, "day after" actions took place. For example, the Los Angeles, California, branch of the National Organization for Women (NOW) telephoned members and supporters in mid-June to alert them to demonstrate in front of the downtown Federal Building
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ACTE CARE ¢ MORTUARY WING Engineer: GORSE BUSI Anita: SPREME CONT Contactor: OTERATION PRICHE" the evening of the decision. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 700 marched to the Federal Building and held a rally on the day after the ruling.
Women's rights groups, prepared for the abolition of legal abortions or the weakening of Roe v. Wade, had already organized protests to make sure women could obtain abortions, and had already planned to intensify their efforts to fight for abortion rights in a variety of ways.
For example, one group provides transportation for poor women who need to travel to states where legal abortions can be obtained. This group calls itself the Aboveground Railroad, a reference to the Underground Railroad which helped Black slaves escape to the North and to Canada during the 19th century. The parallel is appropriate: compulsory pregnancy is, indeed, a form of involuntary servitude.
The independent organization of women expressed through clinic defence actions, demonstrations, marches and rallies is a significant form of political action. The electoral aspect of political action is, also, taking on an increasingly independent character.
Feminists' disgust with the betrayals by their supposed friends in the Democratic Party surfaced at the 1989 National NOW Conference and resulted in the adoption of a resolution on independent political action, and an "Expanded Bill of Rights for the 21st Century".
Formation of new party projected
NOW created the Commission for Responsive Democracy which conducted hearings in 1990-91 and projected the formation of a new party based on a broad programme to meet the needs of women, workers, people of colour and other oppressed and disenfranchised groups in US society. The 1992 National NOW Conference overwhelmingly voted to support a new party formation called the 21st Century Party - The Nation's Equality Party.
This expression of political independence by feminists is inter-related with two other significant developments: Labour Party Advocates and the independent presidential campaign of Ron Daniels, a longtime African American activist.
Independent political action - in the streets and in the electoral arena - is becoming the preferred strategy among growing numbers of those fighting to win back and extend abortion rights.
Membership in feminist organizations has swollen since the Supreme Court's 1989 decision established a state's power to limit abortion rights. Student feminist groups have sprung up on campuses across the country.
A new generation of young women and men have joined with veteran feminists to fight for reproductive rights. Each national mobilization has been larger than the preceding one. Previously inactive allies have been drawn into public demonstrations, clinic defence actions and support activities. The movement has combined a nationally coordinated strategy with intensive efforts at the state and local level.
Women and their allies are prepared to march and rally and take political action to gain safe, fully legal, accessible and affordable abortions regardless of residence, age and financial condition. *