Protesting Won't Work — How To Make Actual Changes To The Law The Way Republicans Do
When will Democrats learn?
Sheila Fitzgerald / Steve Edreff / Shutterstock.com As shocking as the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade late last week might have seemed, what we really should be shocked by was how easy it was to do so.
Following the June 24 decision, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi warned that, “the rights of women and all Americans will be on the ballot this November,” urging us to get out and vote.
She's not wrong but Democrats have missed several opportunities to prevent Roe v. Wade from being overturned on several previous ballots.
The rights of women and all Americans were supposed to be on the ballot 14 Novembers ago when Presidential Candidate Barack Obama was elected into office and held a Democratic majority in the Senate and in the House for two whole years after his inauguration.
The rights of women and all Americans were supposed to be on the ballot in 2019, when Joe Biden promised on his presidential campaign trail to work on codifying Roe v. Wade into law, once again failing to do it.
After being failed time and time again by our elected officials who are supposed to represent us how are we supposed to believe that the Democrats will actually do anything to change the way things are?
What can we actually do when it feels like there’s nothing left to do?
Democrats should start taking notes on how Republicans get things done for their side.
Ever since January 22, 1973, Republicans and conservatives alike have been fighting to tear down the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision during the original Roe v. Wade case.
The New Yorker reports that “groups such as the Federalist Society intensified their efforts, making staunch rightist views and allegiance a litmus test for any prospective Court appointment,” which is the reason we now have Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have repeatedly used the liberals’ language of rights against them in the past in order to move forward with their own agenda.
“The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia,” Scalia wrote in the 2007 District of Columbia v. Heller ruling.
Thomas extended Scalia’s argument last week when trying to justify striking down a New York gun law that has been in effect for over a century.
Thomas claimed that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
The right-wing is, put simply, just far more brazen and unforgiving when it comes to combatting the left.
Supporting progressive politicians who have clear plans for both protecting abortion laws and preventing other regressive laws from being pushed through is more essential now than ever.
For example, some progressive Democrats in the Senate and House, like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have been pushing for an expansion of the Supreme Court in order to eliminate the conservative supermajority in play right now.
Speaker of the House Pelosi has flip-flopped on the subject, claiming that she supports “the president’s commission to study such a proposal,” according to The Hill, but that it’s not at the forefront of her mind.
A lot of Democrats also want to get rid of or amend the Senate filibuster, which blocks legislation from being passed unless the piece can reach a supermajority of 60 votes — something that is impossible when the Senate is split 50-50.
Republicans use the filibuster whenever possible in order to block Democrats from passing more progressive legislation but also amended it so that it couldn’t be used while appointing Supreme Court justices — which is why the Supreme Court is in the conservative supermajority it’s in right now.
However, getting rid of the filibuster seems to keep falling on deaf ears as partisan support wavers indefinitely.
Biden claims to be “working” on writing laws that would keep abortion pills available “to the fullest extent possible” across the nation, but that isn’t enough.
More progressive leaders and Democratic candidates that will actually do something with their power need to step up and make their voices heard and be placed in office.
Lobbying career politicians who don't make good on their election promises is also vital. Knowing the ins and outs of who represents you and what they stand for is the only way to enact real change.
Protesting is not enough.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.