Responding to the Supreme Courts abortion ruling: what can you do politically?

First, vote, “vote the bums out” like they used to say. House and Senate, but also state houses, because those are the bums who made the state laws. Get rid of them and get folks who agree with you in and the state laws can be changed.

Second, don’t worry about the Supreme Court for now. They aren’t going to do anything, so do it for them. In those states where ballot initiatives are a thing, introduce ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights. Michigan has one on the ballot for this November, Arizona didn’t get enough signatures for this election but as they continue to get signatures they should have enough for 2024. Do the same in your state. Set up initiative drives to protect abortion rights, and vote for them, starting with Michigan this year. Remember, these are statewide elections so whatever gerrymandering your state legislature has gotten up to is irrelevant. Vote the bums out and you might be able to change that too.

There are a couple caveats though, a couple things to keep in mind. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that abortion rights are protected by the Kansas constitution despite laws outlawing abortion, so there is an initiative underway there to overturn that ruling by changing the constitution, and Kansas is not alone here. Other states with anti-abortion statutes are in a similar position where abortion is legal despite state laws that are anti-abortion. Don’t rely on it staying that way in those states. It’s also important to undertake ballot initiatives in states where abortion is legal in order to prevent future attacks on abortion in those states, and to vote against ballot initiatives undermining abortion access and rights.

In the meantime, remember the first thing, vote. Vote the bums out, vote for initiatives protecting abortion, and vote against initiatives undermining abortion rights.