Nobody Is Coming For Your Guns — They Are Coming For Your Birth Control
The question was simple: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?” Donald Trump could’ve replied, “No.” He didn’t. Trump suggested he is open to allowing states to restrict access to birth control. Said Trump: “We’re looking at that…Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others.”
Trump’s supporters will tell us that he didn’t mean it or that Trump walked it back. The mainstream press will also downplay Trump’s extreme statement. Instead, they will focus on gas prices or Biden’s age.
Trump isn’t the only prominent Republican who has targeted birth control. Trump supporter Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) contended that Griswold v. Connecticut is “constitutionally unsound.” (Griswold v. Connecticut is the 1965 Supreme Court ruling that legalized birth control). The holdings in Griswold and Roe were based upon the right to privacy. Every elected Republican opposes the right to privacy.
In the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion in which he said the Supreme Court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.
Before the 2022 Dobbs decision, the mainstream press and the Republicans told us not to worry our little heads about Roe being overturned. Now these people that told us Roe was safe are telling us we don’t need to worry abut the right to birth control. They say we are being hysterical. Why should we trust them this time?
The right to birth control is currently under assault by the MAGA Republicans. In 2022, most House Republicans voted against codifying a national right to birth control. Mike Flood, Don Bacon and Adrian Smith all voted no. Don Bacon and Mike Flood also support legislation similar to the Alabama personhood law which banned IVF treatments.
In November 2013, while he worked as a lawyer challenging the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate, future House Speaker Mike Johnson labeled certain types of contraception “abortifacient,” a common belief among extreme right-wing evangelicals. Radical Republicans like Johnson believe that oral contraceptives, IUDs and morning after pills are so-called “abortifacients.”
Senate Republicans used a procedural trick in 2022 to block an up or down on a national right to birth control. I’m looking at you Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week that the Senate will vote on legislation in June to protect access to contraception.
“Now more than ever, contraception is a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms,” Schumer said from the Senate floor, adding that “Senate Democrats are committed to restoring women’s freedoms and will fight to protect access to contraception.”
In 2023, a Trump/MAGA judge banned abortion pills on a nation wide basis. That ruling has since been temporarily reversed by the Supreme Court. We are presently waiting for a final decision from the Supreme Court in this case. The Republican majority on the Supreme Court consists of right wing Catholics who are hostile to abortion and birth control.
The Republicans are openly talking about using the 1873 Comstock Act to ban the mailing of abortion pills. Trump’s closest allies in the extreme Christian right have trotted out a scheme to ban most abortions in all 50 states that doesn’t require any new federal legislation or a new Supreme Court ruling. The center piece of this plan is the Comstock Act, a long-dormant law that has the potential to ban “any drug, medicine, article, or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion” from being mailed or otherwise transported by an “express company” such as UPS or FedEx.
Anyone who violates the Comstock Act would be looking at five years in prison— and the maximum sentence doubles for repeat offenders. Thus, anyone who sends an abortion medication or any device used in a surgical abortion could potentially face such harsh sanctions that the delivery of such goods would cease. This would have a significant impact since abortion pills are used in 63% of abortions
If a potential second Trump Administration banned the majority of abortions under the Comstock Act, there would be a court challenge that would end up in front of the Supreme Court. Does anybody expect the Republican majority to rule against Trump?
The assault on birth control is also being waged by Republicans in the states. In May, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed bills guaranteeing the right to contraception in that state, bills that would have ensured the right for all Virginians if the Republicans on the Supreme Court overturned Griswold v. Connecticut.
Youngkin ran for governor as a friendly moderate in 2021. What this means is that so-called moderate Republicans oppose birth control. Fortunately, Youngkin is termed out and can’t run for re-election.
Just last week, Louisiana became the first state to classify abortion pills as controlled substances, making possession of the pills a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In a statement, President Joe Biden called the legislation “outrageous” and said it’s a “direct result of Trump overturning Roe v. Wade. As Donald Trump says that women should face some form of ‘punishment’ for accessing reproductive health care. We’re seeing that play out,” his statement said.
The Alabama Supreme Court banned IVF treatments earlier this year. Since then, the Alabama legislature has partially reversed that extreme ruling. The new Alabama law has discouraged IVF clinics and treatments by creating an uncertain legal situation. That’s a feature — not a bug. As a consequence, some IVF clinics have been closed in Alabama.
You have been warned. GOP wants to institute a right wing Christian nationalist theocracy.
“If Roe v. Wade can fall, anything can fall. Social Security can fall. Medicare can fall. Voting rights can fall,” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “And God help us all, but democracy itself can fall.” Freedom and liberty are on the ballot in November.
Don’t despair. All is not lost. This is a fight we can win. Recently, there have been a wave of good polls for Joe Biden and the Democrats. Currently, Biden leads in a majority of national polls.
Many Democrats have been spooked by the Trump friendly NY Times-Siena polls. However, the NY Times admitted that its false narrative that Trump leads is based upon people who don’t vote. Nate Cohn of the New York Times: “Disengaged voters are driving the overall polling results and the story line about the election.” This is a staggering revelation.
Polls are not the only important election year metric. Biden has more money than Trump and 130 offices in the battleground states. Trump has zero offices. Many state Republican parties in the battleground states are broke and in a state of civil war. Approximately, 2/3 of Trump’s campaign cash is going to pay his attorney fees and campaign overhead.
Trump has never once gotten more votes than his political opponent. Ever. Trump’s only win was in 2016 and it was a fluke. The Republican Party has had historic electoral defeats in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023. The Democratic winning streak has continued into 2024.
Be confident going forward. Take nothing for granted. Keep working hard.
It’s America or Trump. Choose wisely.