Court ruling spurs debate on how to defend the rights of workers, women – The Militant

Restrictions imposed since Roe

By the time the ruling was overturned, state governments had loaded on more than 1,300 restrictions to Roe v. Wade. In 2017 there wasn’t a single medical facility providing abortions in 89% of the counties of the United States. The end of Roe hasn’t led to a huge plunge in actual access to abortion. It highlights what has already been conceded since 1973 and what needs to be fought for in the years ahead.

Unlike laws permitting same-sex marriage and access to contraception — which continue to gain wider and wider acceptance — access to abortion doesn’t hold overwhelming support. Opinion on it remains deeply divided.

The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade allows for reopening the much-needed debate to clarify how best to advance the interests of the working class and of women. There can be no road to women’s emancipation without addressing the broader social crisis bearing down on the working class, and defending the family, a refuge workers are more and more turning to.

Men and women are increasingly using our unions today to take up the fight for jobs, improved wages and working conditions, and an end to brutal work schedules — all things that are key for workers trying to start a family, or to hold one together. That includes the fight for affordable housing and child care; to federally funded medical care for all; for cost-of-living raises built into all union contracts and social programs; and access to adoption and family planning, including contraception and safe, secure abortions.

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Court ruling spurs debate on how to defend the rights of workers, women – The Militant