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Regulation of women’s bodies restored by five men and one woman, SCOTUS justice by overturning two major abortion cases – Roe and Casey – and removing women’s bodies from constitutional protection. SCOTUS destroyed a fundamental right and returned to the states that had unbridled power to control bodies born as women. Within minutes of the Alito opinion popping up on the internet, Republican-controlled state houses immediately passed laws banning and, in some cases, criminalizing abortion.

What does this mean? How does it affect those of us who live in Ulster County, New York? There have been no incidents here within the boundaries of this province or state, so why worry? First, if by some twist of fate, radical Republicans take over the New York state government or Congress passes a national anti-abortion law, it doesn’t matter whether you live in Woodstock, New York, or Woodstock, Georgia. Second, even if you’re nestled in the great state of New York, you should care, even without a womb or birth ability.

I. What if you discover that she is pregnant while visiting your granddaughter in Oklahoma? Your granddaughter won’t be leaving Tulsa until the end of August to start MIT. She wants to terminate the pregnancy; her mother and father both agree. Concerned, you text a colleague in New York that you, her mother and father want to arrange an abortion consultation. The consultation takes place at the local hospital in Kingston, New York, and the parents fly their daughter to New York. You pick up your granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law from Albany International.

By texting this message while in Oklahoma, you, your daughter and son-in-law committed a felony, specifically conspiracy to encourage abortion. Based on the text, family members risk a conviction, accompanied by a possible prison sentence.

II. What if your granddaughter in Oklahoma has a spontaneous miscarriage? Thirteen percent of all pregnancies lead to a miscarriage. Should the police investigate? Sure. Think of it this way: If there is an unexplained death in your home, will the police investigate whether the death is the result of foul play? Simple answer: Yes.

III. Your granddaughter just graduated from MIT with a PhD in nuclear physics. She has an interview with the leading nuclear power plant in Tulsa. During the interview, she is asked if she is pregnant. She states: “No. I am a lesbian.” The interviewer smiles and says, “But you’re of childbearing age.” Your granddaughter will then be informed, because she is of childbearing age, while her sexual orientation is irrelevant, her ability to procreate is extremely relevant. Consequently, acceptance of the job is conditional on her written acceptance to submit to weekly pregnancy tests. The company tries to protect itself from criminal liability if (a) she spontaneously aborts or (b) the new job poses health risks to the zygote.

Sounds weird or draconian? These were the issues that were fought before Roe v. Wade and the fundamental right to intimate privacy became law. And while these may be hypothetical now… wait.

Alito decision is anti-woman, not pro-life

It is delusional to believe that Alito’s decision has anything to do with pro-life. What makes this eminently clear is what Alito (or perhaps his lawyers) relied on to make this decision. First, Alito tells us that because abortion is not specifically mentioned in the constitution, one must consider the legal landscape at the time the Fourteenth Amendment was passed. Alito believes that abortion should conform to notions of ordered freedom rooted in our history at the time the 14th Amendment was passed in Congress. The resulting time is thus 1868: three years after the Civil War.

In 1868, women were not legal entities. As non-legal persons, the rights deriving from the Constitution were not granted to women. Civil, political and legal rights depended on accidental birth, regardless of race, age, economic status or citizenship. In addition, the identity of the woman was subsumed into the identity of her father or husband. Just as men had power over movable property, power was extended over women’s lives. Spouses were empowered to exercise their will over both wives and children. For example, husbands could beat their wives and have forced sexual intercourse, or rape. Indeed, the spousal rape exemption added to the statutes of sexual assault in the U.S. penal code can be traced back to Lord Matthew Hale, the 17th century gentleman quoted by Alito in the Dobbs decision. Marital rape was a nullity because, as Hale opined, “The husband cannot be guilty of a rape by himself committed against his lawful wife, for by their mutual consent and contract the wife gave herself to her husband in this way. , which she cannot withdraw.”

The doctrine of marital rape by Lord Hale, first recognized in the United States in 1857, was incorporated into the New York Penal Code. sec. 130.15, New York’s spousal rape exemption, was not declared unconstitutional until 1984. In People v. Liberta, the New York State Court of Appeals found such laws largely unconstitutional because of the rights listed in Roe & Griswold. The Court stated:

“Rape is not just a sexual act that one party does not consent to. Rather, it is a degrading, violent act that violates the victim’s physical integrity… It is irrational and absurd to ever consent to such an act. A marriage license should not be seen as a license for a man to rape his wife with impunity with impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body…”

Using terms like “physical integrity” and “controlling her own body” are key to understanding Roe’s importance. Abortion was the result of the Rule court’s articulation of the fundamental right to control one’s own body. The state had limited power to interfere with our bodies, be it health care, reproductive health, medicines we accept or refuse, sexual acts we perform privately or with whom we share our bodies. Roe recognized and then ensured that women would have this fundamental right.

Alito would vigorously challenge the New York State Court of Appeals in Liberta, because beliefs about bodily integrity stem from the importance of liberty/privacy expressed in the substantive clause of the 14th Amendment to a fair trial that was adopted in the 1990s. seventy is formulated. Alito’s dependence from 1868, as well as the cramped American and British legal intellectuals, more than underscores the legal scarcity of his decision; it also shows his contempt for women, as well as views on justice under the law.

Of equal importance is the threat this decision poses to accepted and integral fundamental rights as the right to marry, regardless of the sex or ethnicity (race) of the parties; the right to contraception; the right to found a family; and the right to private intimate sexual conduct. We accept these rights without ever thinking about it, whether it be to marry someone of the same sex or a different ethnicity, to prevent pregnancy, to raise and raise our children within the values ​​that one’s family holds dear. or to engage in sexual activities outside of the missionary position. All of these, as expressed by Thomas in his assent, are no longer safe. I wonder if Thomas would find protection of a man’s right to contraception, through a male birth control pill or vasectomy, not protected by the US Constitution, and turn such matters over to the whims of state power. What I do know: We have to face the Dobbs decision, now and until it’s a vague, long-gone nightmare.

What to do until the revolution comes

Educate yourself first. Don’t believe me, MSNBC or that miserable compilation of “news” at Fox. Get the said decisions, and yes, read them. Follow up with articles written about the issues identified in this piece that grow from your measurements. Second, vote, vote, vote! Third, join a group that works to protect the fundamental rights and lives of women. Open your hearts and homes to women and girls who may need an abortion and help those who are unlucky enough to live in anti-women states like Texas, Oklahoma, etc. in states where abortion still exists. Fourth, get politically active; and fifth, do not be silent; as Lincoln once recalled, “Silence makes [us] cowards.”

Kris McDaniel-Miccio is a lawyer, a law professor emerita and a native of Woodstock.

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