This is One of the Reasons Why I Don't Always Trust the Democrats

Ward Report Don, writing at TPM Cafe expresses an opinion many "liberal" men share that I'm getting a little weary of:

Am I the only one on the left who suffers from Roe fatigue?

I’m just tired of being burdened with defending Roe often to the detriment of so many important things that we who are centrist and to the left of center need to be advocating.

Now, before you freak out and write hateful comments or worse, send me hateful email, hear me out. For starters, I have always supported a woman’s right to chose. Always. So hear me out.

The American public for decades has by some margin supported a women’s right to chose, and most just take it for granted that this right will never be taken away. As a result, a good many pro-choice folks happily vote Republican and just count on those of us who they don’t support to carry their water on this issue, all the while they’re busting our chops on other issues, making fun of us and generally carrying on like ignorant fools.

Well, I’ve had enough. Let the GOP overturn Roe and teach these so called moderate creeps a little civics lesson. Elections have consequences and one of them is that the winner of the presidential race gets to pick Supreme Court judges. They can also learn about one party rule.

I agree with that last bit about the President getting to pick Supremes ...uh, with the consent of the Senate.

Anyway, Don goes on to argue that everyone knows that Roe is bad law, that it's the "penultimate example of activist jurisprudence." Certainly other Supreme Court decisions fall into this category, but you never ever ever ever ever ever ever hear some "liberal" men grow weary of supporting them. I wonder why that is. Actually, not really.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't pretend to be an Constitutional expert. But, as I've stated many times here and elsewhere, I believe a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy goes to the heart of "life, liberty and the pursuit of property." Some believe that's not the measurement the Supremes should use when making decisions, but maybe they should.

UPDATE: Scott Lemieux IS a constitutional expert and addresses some of the legal issues in a must-read follow-up to this post.

Comments

[Ann Bartow]

Harry Reid's record on abortion is just scary.

[The Countess]

I bet that if it were a matter of men being forced to have vasectomies, the liberal guys would be all over it. But no, it's only about women's right to control their own bodies. Women aren't important to liberal guys, at least until election time rolls around and they demand our votes. To use a pun, screw 'em.

[eli]

democrats are transparent. they want to secure more votes from the growing hispanic population and they will say anything and do anything to get them

[upyernoz]

i am a lawyer and i don't think roe is a bad decision.

but i do partly agree with don that endlessly defending roe is getting tiresome. not because there's anything wrong with the decision, but as don says, because so much of the public is really in favor of it. why the hell to we have to be on the defensive all the time about it? and don is right that lots of roe supporters take the decision for granted and vote republican. hell, i know an abortion doctor who voted for bush. isn't that absolutely crazy?

[Bud]

I hope the Democrats continue on there path of being obstructionist for the the next year. This will surely give the GOP the chance to pick up more seats in both houses of Congress. The Democrats should help in making sure that Social Security will be available for Senior Citizens when they retire. Personal accounts would be a first step in that direction.
Bud Mayne

[Greenlily]

Timely issues to consider! Hey, nothing wrong with stepping back and seeing where we're at. We have had this discussion lately at blogs I frequent or contribute to,possibly because so many people are asking these questions as the 'movement' does some housekeeping and obviously because of SCOTUS shake ups. This question also comes up at many specifically feminist sites/blogs because an oft-repeated criticism of the modern women's movement is that it is too focused on abortion and defending Roe. There are some, and I am not describing my own position here necessarily, that believe that this has been at the expense and perhaps detriment of women because it amounts to lost opportunities to expend resources on other issues such as women's healthcare,child care, parenting, the workplace, etc. Rather than monopolize your comment space,self promotion not intended,I'll link you to Foxes in the Henhouse which aims to explore the role of the "Pro-Life Feminist", the new chicks on the block. They state that there is a role for them in feminism... that abortion is not the only issue. Others say that this movement is a right wing strategy (and indeed has been catupulted by Christian media (Robertson etc.) to make inroads and to force feminists to recognize them by accusing them of narrow focus. Once in they can mutate and "change the organism" from the inside. I have to admit that at first, I did nod my head to the idea of a more inclusive feminist umbrella- but once I did more reading, they made me nervous.
Note to self: when "feminists" are on Christian news programs, prick up your ears and take notice!!!!
Great blog!

[JDC]

You know, I think I speak for many when I say that I've been experiencing a bit of welfare state fatigue of late. I suggest we take some R & R from that battle as well. And if while we're gone the Constitution in Exile posse manages to have the federal government rolled back to what it was in 1937, so be it. That's what we get for reelecting the president.

[Deanna]

We don't have a trackback function on AlterNet, so here's my post referring to you: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/28398

[Elisson]

"Roe is the penultimate example of activist jurisprudence."

If that's so, what is the ultimate example? "Penultimate" does not mean "ultimate." It means "next-to-last." This guy is supposed to be a lawyer?

[Stephen Frug]

A lawyer named Charles Black (who helped Thurgood Marshall's legal team with Brown v Board) argued in his last book that "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" should precisely be considered as law -- and, therefore, by the Supremes. He argued this on two grounds: first, he argued that the Declaration was, among other things, a *legal* document (it constituted the legal founding of the country); and that even if one didn't believe that, it stretched credibility that rights which were "self-evident" would not be among the unenumerated rights included in the ninth amendment a mere fourteen years later (including by some of the same people!)

Anyway, I'm not a lawyer -- but Black was; indeed, he was one of the leading legal scholars of his day. (He died a few years ago.) He makes a serious legal argument for this, and I strongly recommend his book -- A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM (1997). It's inspiring.

SF

[InsultComicDog]

Well, I'm a male and a Democrat and I am not ready to throw Roe out the window.

[arlene]

Feminists for Life is not a new organization. They were thrown out of the National Organization for Women in the late 1970's

[paperwight]

Women aren't important to liberal guys, at least until election time rolls around and they demand our votes.

Lets not tar every liberal guy with the same brush, shall we? There are some "liberal" men who are willing to throw women under the bus. I note that there are some "liberal" people of both sexes who are willing to throw gay folks under the bus as well.

Neither behavior is attractive.

[T]

I couldn't comprehend the amount of work this person has done for the cause and the FRUSTRATION at feeling like a lot of people in the center and center-right who have benefitted from his work seem more willing to bash the pro-choice movement then in actually working to assist. I believe that was his point.So...someone who has spent 30 years of his life ardently defending an important right, something he has spent days and nights for years on end working for says he is tired and says he is ready to quit. And instead of offering understanding but challenging words to remind him that yes, its been hard but don't give up, you scream betrayal and then accuse him of throwing you under a bus. Nice.