Quick Summary:

Do not be fooled by the Republican candidates that evade whether they will vote for national abortion rights legislation. Or pretend to sympathize with women’s right to choose. It is classic Election-time Republican ‘bait and switch’ sales technique. Once they get elected, then they will vote for all of the draconian laws that the Republican Trumpers tell them to support. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

Full Voting Report:

The 50 year old constitutional right of women to control their own bodies since Roe v Wade, 410 US 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey, 505 US 833 (1992), was brutally abandoned by a partisan US Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 US ______ (2022).

Six years of Trumpian misogynistic politics, sedition, coup plotting and corruption stoked the pent-up rage that erupted immediately from women’s groups, the general public and sympathetic politicians.

However, as usual the Republicans are deaf to what the majority of voters want – especially women.  Because their new mission is only to ‘control’ for the wealthy 1%, not to ‘govern’ for the other 99% hoi-polloi and peasants.

On June 11, 2021, Reason_com published a Gallup poll that stated 80% (32 + 48) of Americans said abortion should be legal:

Some 32 percent of poll respondents this year said abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” while nearly half—48 percent—think it should be legal “under certain circumstances.” Only 19 percent say it should be “illegal in all circumstances.”

After the Dobbs decision was leaked in May 2022, a poll taken by Morning Consult and Politico (May 9, 2022) stated at paragraph POL14 that 53% of responders said Roe v Wade should not be overturned, 28% said it should, and 19% had no opinion. Then at POL16_1, 56% of responders hoped the Supreme Court would continue to support abortion rights.

Now that the radical Dobbs decision has sunk in, a new September 25, 2022, Grinnell College poll stated that 69% of overall respondents believed that having an abortion before the 15^th week of pregnancy should be a ‘Guaranteed Right’ (89% of Democrats, 49% of Republicans and 69% of Independents). Peter Hanson, director of the Grinnell College National Poll, said “We find that Americans overwhelmingly reject the court’s view [in Dobbs].”

The one meaningful benefit that DUP observes is that it has galvanized women’s groups and their supporters to get out the vote for Nov. 2022 and hammer the Republicans in every way possible. It should be noted that “women’s rights” in this modern era are seen as fundamental across the political spectrum.  Now they realize that Dobbs is just the beginning of the eradication of their hard fought rights.

But not to Trump Republicans! Oppression and control is their mission. Which begs the question – “What rights of women will the Republicans take away next? Why, Contraception, of course!”  Because the right to contraception comes from the 1965 Griswold v Connecticut case that also relied upon the 14^th Amendment.

Do not be fooled by the Republican candidates that evade whether they will vote for national abortion rights legislation. Or pretend to sympathize with women’s right to choose. It is classic Election-time Republican ‘bait and switch’ sales technique. Once they get elected, then they will vote for all of the draconian laws that the Republican Trumpers tell them to support. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

Remember, this election cycle, with Trump and dozens of Republicans facing investigations for multiple crimes, they will tell you anything to get elected. Then return to worshiping Trump and donor money, forgetting the hoi-polloi.

Well then, get out the vote in your locale and hammer, hammer, hammer away!!

Timeline

1. Early 19^th Century
   1. Abortifacient such as ergot, pennyroyal, savin and others were in use by midwives and homeopaths for abortions. However, they had their risks and the resulting deaths finally prompted states to pass laws against their use. These laws became the first anti-abortion measures at the state level.
2. 1812 Massachusetts Supreme Court –
   1. Commonwealth v Isiah Bangs, 9 Mass. 387, 1812 WL 1295 (Mass., 1812) Isiah Bangs gave Lucy Holman an abortifacient, but it did not induce an abortion. The court determined that since Holman took the elixir voluntarily, there was no crime. The court had to rely on the English Common law since there was no other precedent at that time in United States.
3. 1821 Connecticut Statute (see also 1849 Conn Stat)
   1. In 1821 the Connecticut legislature first enacted “Title 22, Crimes and Punishments, Section 14, Administering Poison with intent to Murder, or Cause Miscarriage”. Prior to this time, abortions were generally legal, but dangerous.
   2. In 1817 a well known Connecticut minister got a young girl pregnant and demanded that she abort the pregnancy because of what it would do to his reputation. He first supplied an abortifacient, and then tried a physical termination. Neither method worked. She bore the child anyway, but it was stillborn. It was a sensational scandal that went on for several years and prompted the Connecticut legislature to pass this prohibition, which was reenacted in the 1849 Connecticut laws, and beyond.
   3. In the years that followed many states followed suit passing laws criminalizing abortion, including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, and more.
4. 1847: Formation of the American Medical Association (AMA)
   1. In 1847, doctors banded together to form the AMA. It became the all-male authority on medical practices. The AMA scrutinized midwives and nurses, and the obstetric services they provided.
   2. AMA members believed they should have the power to decide when an abortion should be performed citing their training in pregnancy and reproductive health.
   3. [Historical Abortion Law Timeline: 1850 to Today, Planned Parenthood]
5. 1857
   1. The new American Medical Association begins a campaign to criminalize abortion — partly an effort to put midwives and homeopaths out of business.
   2. AMA members launched a full-fledged political assault against abortion and female abortion providers.
6. 1868 – 14^th Amendment to the Constitution ratified by the states
   1. The constitutional basis for the decision rested upon the conclusion that the right of privacy embraces a woman’s decision to carry a pregnancy to term.
   2. See https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/
7. 1869
   1. Pope Pius IX of the Catholic Church condemned abortion at any stage of pregnancy and regarded it as murder.
8. 1873
   1. Congress passes the Comstock Law, which bans information about abortion and distribution of contraceptives. Twenty-four states subsequently pass similar laws regulating the sale and use of contraceptives.
9. 1880
   1. Abortion had become stigmatized by the 1880s and most states had enacted laws against abortion, with some exceptions for the life of the mother.
10. 1916
    1. Margaret Sanger is arrested for opening the country’s first birth-control clinic in Brooklyn, the precursor to Planned Parenthood.
11. 1930
    1. Even though abortions had been illegal for decades, the need continued and the service had just gone ‘underground’, like alcohol prohibition. According to the Guttmacher Institute, illegal abortion was the official cause of death for nearly 2,700 women, approximately one-fifth of all maternal deaths that year.
12. 1951
    1. Margaret Sanger enlists scientist Gregory Pincus to develop a “magic pill,” which will become the first oral contraceptive.
13. 1955
    1. Planned Parenthood organized a national conference on abortion law reform, as a public health measure due to the unsafe underground abortion maelstrom.
14. 1960
    1. The FDA approved its first oral contraceptive, Enovid.
15. 1962
    1. Nearly 1,600 women are admitted to Harlem Hospital Center for incomplete abortions from unregulated providers.
16. 1962
    1. A pregnant TV host took Thalidomide as prescribed but then learned of the severe birth defects it causes. She had to go to Sweden to get an abortion. 52% of Americans supported her decision. The Thalidomide disaster pushed abortion law reforms.
17. 1964
    1. Geraldine Santoro dies in a Connecticut motel after a botched abortion. This harrowing photo is published by Ms. magazine in April 1973 and becomes a symbol of the pro-choice movement.
18. 1965 – Griswold v Connecticut, 381 US 479 (June 7, 1965)
    1973. The Supreme Court ruled that the 1873/9? law (Conn. Comstock Act) criminalizing contraception violated a married couple’s right to privacy, laying the groundwork for Roe v. Wade in 1973.
19. 1966
    1. The San Francisco Nine – first abortion law reform measures
20. 1967
    1. Colorado is the first state to liberalize its laws, allowing abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal defects, or for mental-health reasons.
21. 1968
    1. A Los Angeles hospital admits 701 women with septic abortions this year, approximately one admission for every 14 deliveries.
22. 1969
    1973. The underground Chicago collective Jane performs 12,000 safe abortions between 1969 and 1973.
23. 1969
    1. NARAL established – National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws – to campaign for repeal of abortion bans.
24. 1970
    1. Hawaii is the first state to legalize abortion. New York repeals its law criminalizing abortion soon after.
25. 1970
    1. New York State legalized abortion. In the first two years two-thirds of the women are non-residents.
26. 1971
    1. The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case of Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) against Henry Wade, the Dallas D.A. who enforced a Texas law banning abortion except in cases of life endangerment.
27. 1972
    1. In the year before Roe v. Wade is decided, an estimated 130,000 women have illegal or self-induced abortions. Over 100,000 women travel to New York City for an abortion, 50,000 of them traveling more than 500 miles.
28. 1972 – Eisenstadt v Baird
    1. Eisenstadt v Baird, 405 US 438 (1972) extended the right to contraception in Griswold to unmarried couples based upon the 14^th Amendment guarantee of Equal Protection.
29. 1973 – Roe v Wade, 410 US 113 (1973)
    1. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court granted women the right to terminate pregnancies under the 14th Amendment, Right to Privacy, with Roe v. Wade. For the first time, abortion was legal in all fifty states as a genuine public health issue.
30. 1976
    1. Congress passes the Hyde Amendment, barring the use of Medicaid and other federal funding for abortions.
    2. Noting that their evangelical Christian voters had joined the nascent Catholic anti-abortion movement, the Republican Party decided to add ‘anti-abortion’ to their platform.
31. 1982
    1. Pennsylvania passed the Abortion Control Act, which imposed a 24-hour waiting period, required married women to inform their husbands, and mandated parental consent for minors.
32. 1984 – Reagans Global Gag Rule
    1. What is it exactly ?
33. 1992 –
    1. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 US 833 (1992)
    2. affirmed the core ruling of Roe v. Wade but also upheld much of the Abortion Control Act. States will be allowed to restrict abortion access short of imposing an “undue burden.”
    3. Could only challenge if the state law placed a substantial obstacle or “undue burden” to the patient seeking an abortion.
    4. But of course, numerous states passed restrictions and courts have said most do not impose an undue burden.
34. 2000
    1. In June, the Nebraska statute banning “partial-birth abortion” is ruled unconstitutional because it doesn’t make an exemption for preserving the life of the mother, invalidating 29 other state laws.
35. 2000
    1. In September, the FDA approves the abortion pill mifepristone (RU-486) after a decade-long campaign by activists and health-care providers.
36. 2007
    1. The Supreme Court effectively reverses its 2000 ruling on “partial-birth abortion,” upholding a 2003 federal law banning the procedure of second trimester abortions. But the SC did not state an exception for the health of the mother.
       1. Gonzales v Carhart
       2. Gonzalez v Planned Parenthood Federation of America
37. 2010
    1. States have enacted 1,074 abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade, more than a quarter of them since 2010.
38. 2016
    1. Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt – Texas too restrictive as imposed an ‘undue burden’ on access to safe, legal abortion.
39. 2020
    1. June Medical Services v Russo – June 29 2020 – Louisiana access and last case for Justice Ginsburg who died later that year and was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett, Trump appointee.
40. 2021
    1. Texas 6 week abortion ban but SC allowed it pass into law.
41. 2022
    1. June 24 > Dobbs v Jackson Planned Parenthood
       1. Roe v Wade overturned

Larson, Jordan, The 200-Year Fight for Abortion Access, Jan 17, 2017;

https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/timeline-the-200-year-fight-for-abortion-access.html

LAWS

The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut, May 1821

Title 22. Crimes and Punishments, p. 152

Section 10 – Rape.

Every person who shall commit the crime of rape, and be thereof duly convicted, shall suffer death.

Section 11 – Abuse of Female Child.

Every person who shall carnally know and abuse any female child, under the age of ten years, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall suffer imprisonment, in new-gate prison, during his natural life, or for such other term as the court having cognizance of the offense shall determine.

Section 12 – Intent to commit a Rape.

Every person who shall, with actual violence, an assault make on the body of any female, with an intention to commit a rape, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall suffer imprisonment, in new-gate prison, during his natural life, or for such other term as the court having cognizance of the offense shall determine.

Section 13 – Intent to Kill.

Every person who shall, with actual violence, an assault make on another person, with an intention him or her to kill or rob, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall suffer imprisonment, in new-gate prison, during his natural life, or for such other term as the court having cognizance of the offense shall determine.

Section 14 – Administering Poison with intent to Murder, or Cause Miscarriage –

Every person who shall, willfully and maliciously, administer to, or cause to be administered to, or taken by, any person or persons, any deadly poison, or other noxious and destructive substance, with an intention him, her or them, thereby to murder, or thereby to cause or procure the miscarriage of any woman, then being quick with child, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall suffer imprisonment, in new-gate prison, during his natural life, or for such other term as the court having cognizance of the offense shall determine.

Section 15 – Secret delivery

If any woman shall conceal her pregnancy, and shall willingly be delivered in secret, by herself, of any issue of her body, male or female, which shall by law be a bastard; every such woman, so offending, being thereof duly convicted, before the superior or county court, shall pay a fine not exceeding the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding three months, at the discretion of the court having cognizance of the offense.

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1849 revised statutes of the State of Connecticut

Title VI – An Act Concerning Crimes and Punishments

Chapter II – Of Offenses Against the Lives and Persons of Individuals.

SECTION 19. Using Means to Produce a Miscarriage

Every person who shall willfully and maliciously administer to, or cause to be administered to, or taken by, any woman then being quick with child, any medicine, drug, noxious substance or other thing, with intent thereby to produce the miscarriage of such woman, or to destroy the child of which she is pregnant, or shall willfully and maliciously use and employ any instrument or other means to produce such miscarriage, or to destroy such child, shall suffer imprisonment in the Connecticut state prison, for a term not less than seven nor more than ten years.

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