Watch the event below.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow Texas’s law banning abortions after six weeks was a frontal attack on the constitutional rights of women and a very clear sign that the current court may disregard the longstanding precedent of Roe v. Wade.
If Roe goes, abortion will immediately become illegal in 10 states. (As of November, Oklahoma will make it 11.) As in the years immediately preceding Roe, when a few states had already liberalized their laws, the US will be a house divided. But otherwise, post-Roe won’t be like pre-Roe. In one way that will be all to the good: When it comes to illegal abortion, pills are much safer than coat hangers and knitting needles or a visit to an underground “doctor.”
In another way, though, post-Roe will be much worse than pre-Roe, as Nation columnist Katha Pollitt recently wrote. During the entire century or more that abortion was illegal in the United States, hardly any women went to prison for ending their pregnancies. They were subpoenaed, humiliated and harassed, but they were not themselves put on trial. Unless there was a death or serious injury, few providers were arrested. This time around will be different. When abortion was illegal, there was no organized, aggressive antiabortion movement with a wing of violent fanatics.
What is the future of Roe and how best can abortion rights be defended? Join the conversation with Pollitt, The Nation’s “Subject to Debate” columnist well-known for her wit as well as her incisive, long-standing defense of reproductive rights and investigative reporter Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s new abortion access correspondent.
Tickets are $10. All proceeds directly support The Nation’s journalism. We hope you will join us! There will be ample time devoted to audience questions and conversation. All ticket-holders will also be sent a link to the recording the following day. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
