“Well, I did something no one thought was possible, I got rid of Roe v. Wade.” Former President Donald Trump

“After today, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had. The majority accomplishes that result without so much as considering how women have relied on the right to choose or what it means to take that right away. The majority’s refusal even to consider the life-altering consequences of reversing Roe and Casey is a stunning indictment of its decision.” ~ Excerpt of Dissenting Opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision

“Above all, we’re sending a message to all women; your body belongs to you.” ~ Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of France, CNN

“Abortion is a fundamental right for all women. It must be protected. I wish to express my solidarity with the women whose liberties are being undermined by the Supreme Court of the United States.” ~ President Emmanuel Macron of France, Axios

“Our grandchildren will never have to fight to have an abortion.” ~ Sarah Durocher, co-president of Le Planning Familial, New York Times

“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.” ~ President Joe Biden

In my celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s History Day that we observed on March 8, I wish to express my appreciation to the women — and the government — of France for their support of American women in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Roe v. Wade in a 7-2 vote , which guaranteed women reproductive freedom, including the right to have an abortion. Women who were young adults during that era, including myself, breathed sighs of relief and joy that we, our daughters, granddaughters and future generations would enjoy the freedom to choose their own destinies. And for nearly a half century that was the case. That is, until June 24, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of Dobbs in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in a 5-4 vote, and overturned Roe v. Wade.

Reportedly inspired by the Dobbs Decision, the government of France on Monday, March 4, 2024, enshrined in its Constitution the “guaranteed freedom” to abortion, even though such reproductive rights have long been available in that country.  France has taken stands to protect the rights of its women and to demonstrate its solidarity with the women of the United States on the issue of women’s reproductive freedom.

This is a touching and powerful statement by the government and the people of France about the freedom of women to control their own bodies, and not the right of the government to interfere with such private and personal healthcare and life choices. 

As the women of France reach across the sea to us, the women of America, we, too, should once again be stirred to action, just as in response to the overturning of Roe women have voted in favor of adding new protections to their already legalization of abortion healthcare, including in some cases enshrining abortion healthcare in their state constitutions in the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia 

Alaska and Kansas already protected abortion healthcare in their constitutions.

New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia are expected to keep abortion healthcare available, but at the moment it is not specifically protected by their state laws.

Iowa, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming will likely continue to experience court challenges on both sides of the issue.

Tragically, reproductive healthcare is either severely restricted or outright banned in nearly all circumstances in the rest of the states, including  Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina,  Nebraska, Arizona, Florida and Utah. (Source: New York Times)

We have seen that the catastrophic Dobbs decision has dealt great harm to women and in many cases to their families. That is because abortion is not only for women who wish to terminate a pregnancy because they do not want children at that particular moment — or perhaps ever, but also for women who want to be pregnant but who experience health challenges and even life-threatening situations while pregnant. Some of those cases are now well-known: Kate Cox, Amanda Zurawski, Kayla Smith, and the 10-year-old child who had been raped, impregnated and denied an abortion in her home state, to site just a few examples.

This interference in the lives, health and wellbeing of women in America does not stop with allowing the states to legislate abortion rights. Ongoing efforts to apply restrictions nationwide to the popular abortion healthcare medication, mifepristone will culminate in the Supreme Court this week.  Depending on the decision of the Court, there could be restrictions that apply to all states, effectively making this a national restriction on a form of abortion, which goes against the Dobbs decision to allow states to make such decisions. The decision could also impact the FDA’s authority in reviewing other medicines on which Americans rely. 

But the fallout from Dobbs doesn’t end with abortion. Alabama’s Supreme Court decided that embryos should be treated with all the legal protections that actual children have, rendering personhood to an embryo, making a collection of cells equal under the law with women. Really, there are no words. That deeply disturbing decision puts couples who are desperately trying to have actual children in an impossible position. Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs in combat experienced fertility challenges, possibly as a result of medication treatments for her injuries. As a result, she used IVF to conceive her two daughters. But if officials in one particular political party have their way, it is possible that IVF could be criminalized in many more states and even nationally.  As well, miscarriages under certain circumstances could be criminally charged. Like many women, I had a miscarriage years ago and was in terrible physical and emotional pain; I cannot imagine being arrested for criminal activity on top of that! 

Finally, even contraception is on the extremists’ list. Maybe not today, or even tomorrow, but if such fanatics are elected to government positions I have no doubt that they will exercise their authority, perhaps successfully, to close all doors to women’s reproductive freedom.  

The French and American Journeys

The women of France did not always enjoy reproductive freedom, just as the women of the United States had a checkered history of such rights, as outlined in my previous post, The Workplace: Books, Guns And Choice – Part Three. 

But the decade of the 1970s proved to be turning points for women in both countries. On January 17, 1975, almost two years to the date after the U.S. Supreme Court declared Roe v. Wade the law of the land in America on January 22, 1973, France passed legislation decriminalizing abortion. I would like to believe that France was inspired by America back then to allow women to have the freedom to control their own bodies; I find such parallels then and now between France and the United States inspiring and heartwarming.

Another parallel is that of the introduction of “The Pill” in America in 1960, and its legalization for married couples in the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1965’s Griswold v. Connecticut, prompting serious discussion and debate in France, which made contraception legal in 1967. Back in the U.S. 1972’s Eisenstadt v. Baird legalized contraception for unmarried people. The Pill contributed to the growing demand by women to enjoy equality on all levels with men.  

We the Women

The overturning by this new radical Supreme Court of the federal right to women’s reproductive freedom produced shock waves through the country, although the warning signs had been there for many years.  One irony is that among certain elected and appointed officials great efforts are made to protect the rights of gun owners with minimal interference by the government, but there is no problem with the government interfering in the fundamental right of certain Americans to make decisions regarding their own bodies. Or their right to vote. Or the right to fair taxation. Or the right to healthcare. Or…well, just fill in the blank.

Women and the men who love and support them, indeed everyone — woman or man — who possesses reason along with ethics and empathy — two of the Three Es upon which my blog is based — should want to restore a woman’s right to choose how to care for her own body, her own health and her own life.

We can do that by voting for those who will guarantee the restoration of Roe v. Wade through legislation and an amendment to the Constitution. As someone who was a young woman when the Supreme Court decided Roe in 1973, I know that We the Women can accomplish anything we set our minds to.

This November, the power of our votes can restore our rights and the nation’s sanity, and once again ensure that our daughters, granddaughters and future generations will enjoy the reproductive freedom that Roe brought to their mothers’ and grandmother’s generations. We can show the women of France and the world that this generation of American women can meet the challenges that their foremothers did more than 50 years ago with the same grit, determination and success. 

Abigail Adams once asked her husband to, “remember the ladies, when men were creating the Constitution, and added, “Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.” The men didn’t heed or respect Abigail’s request and advice, so women took the reins and over time got the job done themselves.

We need to do it again.

Until next time,

Jeanne