The overturning of the landmark Roe v Wade case providing federal protection for a woman’s right to choose is both appalling and enraging. Now, several conservative states have already begun outlawing abortion rights. It is undeniable that women’s rights have taken an enormous blow, and the effect will have repercussions around the world.

But if anyone thinks it will stop there, they are deluding themselves. In just 24 hours, the SCOTUS has also weakened the rights of citizens who are arrested by police, in a country that houses the biggest prison population in the world and suffers from enormous police brutality, especially against communities of colour. And right now, they are targeting privacy rights and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

As I and many others on the left have been warning for years, this appears to be the beginning of a massive shift toward a bolder and more abusive fascist trend. And the corporate, “centrist” Democrats have only enabled its rise. For instance, just recently pro-Life Texas Democratic Rep Henry Cuellar won in elections, and he garnered the lavish support of non-other than the Speaker of the House herself, Nancy Pelosi.

It should be remembered that fascism has never needed a majority to create a hell-scape in the nations where it rises. A majority of Americans support the right of a woman to choose, but it mattered little because those who control the levers of power have the last say. It seems that Margaret Atwood’s fictional Gilead has been a sort of template for them. We can only hope for a mass movement that will upend this repressive arrangement of power before it is too late.

Kenn Orphan, June 2022

*Photo is of members of the SCOTUS who openly lied to the public about their intentions.