What Happens Now?
What Do We Do Now To Protect the Right to An Abortion?
The decision by the Republican appointees on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade was very disappointing, even if it wasn’t surprising after much of the opinion had been leaked last month. It was a rejection of the idea that women have autonomy over their own bodies and that judges should recognize some obvious rights and freedoms outside of the ones written down by slaveholding men in the 1780s. And while individual rights in my view shouldn’t be totally left up to public opinion, the ruling was also a clear rejection of the feelings of most Americans. Total bans on abortion, which this ruling is leading to, are supported by about 20 percent of the public. There was no public clamoring for this ruling—in fact, the public was essentially begging the court not to do this. Even many Americans who would not have an abortion themselves do not support these kinds of bans.
Within hours of the decision, Kentucky became one of the first states where abortion is totally banned. Doctors who conduct abortions can be charged with a Class D felony, with a prison sentence of 1-5 years. We are likely to see complete abortion bans in around half of the states, and about half of Americans will live in a place where abortion is essentially outlawed.
I’m not an expert on abortion policy. But people who are experts say that there is one thing in particular you can do if you oppose this decision: donate to local abortion funds, local abortion clinics and organizations that help people who are seeking abortions pay for childcare, travel and other expenses. Here is some other practical advice.
What Do We Do Now About Living in Kentucky?
When I lived in Washington, D.C., I was constantly in discussions lamenting how an increasing number of states including Kentucky were becoming dominated by extremely-conservative Republican lawmakers (state legislators and governors.) These states were turning down federal money through Obamacare to expand health insurance to their lower-income residents, overriding left-leaning cities in those states when they tried to adopt mainstream ideas like raising their minimum wages and engaged in aggressive, overt attempts to make it harder for black people in particular to vote and use their political power. From the D.C. vantage point, it seemed that not only was the Democratic Party weak in these states, but that the media and other institutions were not equipped to deal with this radicalized Republican Party.
I moved to Louisville in 2018 in part because I wanted to better understand what was happening in red states and in part to play whatever small role I could in addressing some of these challenges. I anticipated by that by early 2020, Kentucky would have a radical Republican governor who would do a lot of terrible things, including hounding abortion providers in the state with so many investigations and regulations that Kentucky would be the first state where no abortions were conducted, even while Roe stayed on the books. I assumed the governor would then run for president bragging about stopping abortions in an extra-legal manner.
Matt Bevin didn’t win a second term. But abortion is now banned in Kentucky, with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court. And on many other issues, lots of bad policies are being adopted here in Kentucky.
What I have learned in the last four years is that living in a state dominated by radical Republicans is a bit more complicated than I realized, in ways that make it harder to combat that radicalism. First, the radical Republican takeover is happening gradually, making it harder for people to mobilize against it. The Republicans, in the last decade, have installed an overseer to control Louisville schools, limited how often the city’s school board can meet, restricted the number of terms a Louisville mayor can serve and adopted a number of other policies to govern the city in ways opposed by its residents.
Louisville is less run by the mayor and the city council than run by the mayor, the city council and the Republicans in the statehouse. But it’s not as if Kentucky Republicans publicly announced one day, “We are ending any self-government for Louisville.” Instead, their moves are incremental. Louisville is on a slow, steady path to a government via Frankfort.
Secondly, the institutions aren’t set up to combat this kind of Republican Party. The news media in Kentucky actually has more journalists than I realized and many of them, like the Courier-Journal’s Joe Sonka, are excellent. But the leadership of these outlets are still fairly invested in “both sides”---portraying the parties as equally good/bad. So the radicalism of the Republican Party is at times not clearly centered in coverage, particularly when a cartoonish villain (Bevin) isn’t running the GOP. States like this need more news media (like black-owned news outlets or ones backed by labor unions) that can be biased towards anti-racism, democracy and other values that can’t easily fit in a both sides framework.
Labor unions, churches with lots of left-leaning members and progressive organizations in the state aren’t set up to contest the kind of Republican rule we have now.
Many of the state’s Democrats are in my view often still trapped in the “can’t we all just get along” mentality. It was odd when supporters of Morgan McGarvey’s congressional campaign emphasized that he had worked across party lines as a state senator and therefore could do that in Washington too. Is the idea that McGarvey has worked well with Robert Stivers here and will therefore work well with Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell and other Trump-aligned Republicans in Washington? The value of bipartisanship approaches zero when the other party has such a bad agenda. WDRB News had a detailed story over the weekend that left me with the impression that Kentucky Democratic officials consulted too much with Republicans in the statehouse in creating a tax and economic plan for heavily-black West Louisville and not enough with residents there.
Third, the people who vote in Kentucky (lots and lots of people don’t) are more conservative than even I feared. Bevin, one of the worst governors in America, barely lost to Andy Beshear, who said nothing controversial and whose dad was a popular two-term governor. I am 41 years old. I think it’s entirely possible that Andy Beshear is the last Democratic governor in Kentucky in my lifetime.
I have family, roots and a life in Kentucky. I’m not looking to move. At the same time, I worry that I will gradually adapt to more and more terrible laws and one day wake up and realize I have essentially assented to a political situation that is much worse than I ever could have imagined.
What Do We Do Now About Living in America?
Most of my adult life has seen America becoming more democratic: gay marriage; a black president; more women, people of color and LGBT people in positions of power. Now, we are seeing the opposite: Republican politicians banning books on racism from being in public libraries, restricting the rights of transgender people, outlawing abortions. The Republicans have control of most state governments and the federal judiciary. As the Jan 6 hearings are showing, many in the party will use any means necessary to win control of the White House. Donald Trump could become president again, but with even fewer constraints. Things are bad.
I have found the emphasis on voting and donating money to candidates and other electoral-focused messaging from the Democratic Party in the past few days to be frustrating. I already vote whenever I can and I’m guessing you do as well. The reality is that most Americans live in places where one party is dominant, so their votes don’t affect much. It is virtually guaranteed that Louisville will be represented by a Democratic mayor and congressman, two Republican senators, and a legislature dominated by Republicans. It is better that Beshear is governor than Bevin, but the legislature writes most of the laws and will guarantee that abortion remains banned here. Getting the millions of people who currently don’t vote to participate in the process could be a game-changer. But tweets, television appearances and texts from politicians are largely reaching people who are already voting to effectively tell them to vote harder or better or something.
I highlighted the groups who support people who want abortions at the top of this newsletter and I will highlight groups that work on other issues in the future. Participating in the political system is vital, but with the courts and many states totally captured by the Republicans, voting is necessary but not sufficient.
Trouble in Booker-land?
There have been a number of departures in the last few months from Charles Booker’s U.S. Senate campaign, including from senior level jobs. My understanding is that there was tension between many of the Louisville natives who Booker initially hired and the campaign manager he brought in from Georgia.
Campaigns often have internal drama. But sometimes campaign tensions illustrate broader challenges—and that might be the case here too.
Booker was always fairly unlikely to win, running as a Democrat in a statewide federal race in Kentucky. I was hoping his campaign could advance other political causes in the state, even if he lost. But he didn’t endorse any of the black or progressive candidates (or anyone else) in the recent mayoral and congressional races in Louisville. There is little sign that he is building a big statewide organization that could help future candidates. I can’t recall any particular big or fresh ideas for Kentucky or Louisville that he has introduced in his campaign.
Rand Paul is terrible. Booker would be a huge improvement. So I really hope Booker wins. But even if he doesn’t, I hope the last few months of his campaign are more memorable and dynamic than what we have seen so far.
Greenberg says he won’t enforce abortion ban
Democratic mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg says that, if elected, he would not allow Louisville police to be involved in enforcing the state’s abortion ban. He strongly opposed the ruling striking down Roe. Republican candidate Bill Dieruf issued a statement that didn’t give his view on Roe or how Louisville police would handle abortion rights if he were mayor. Current mayor Greg Fischer says he is examining exactly what the city’s obligations are. He also opposed the ruling.
I am not quite sure what to make of these statements. The state’s abortion clinics have already stopped conducting abortions. So I am not quite sure what laws would need to be enforced right now. I would assume that the state legislature will pass more restrictions in its next session (likely aimed at making it harder for Kentucky women to go out of state for abortions.)