Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and this is just the beginning. Justice Thomas, former VP Pence, and other Republicans have been very clear about their desire to impose a federal ban on abortion, and eliminate more rights resting on the same legal principle as Roe: contraception, same-sex relationships and marriage, and interracial marriage.
Beyond social issues, this court has upheld racial gerrymandering and voter suppression and has signaled it will allow state legislatures to overturn election results. Some New York Republican voters might say "This is great. Democrats will never win nationally again. I don't have to worry that my wife (or daughter, or niece) will die from an untreated ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage here, since we're a blue state. Besides, if the GOP goes too far, the people will vote them out."
Here is a warning: If the Republican party achieves its implicit goal of single-party minority rule in the U.S., it will not turn out well for Republican voters either. Under single-party rule, every red state law will become a federal law. Once the rule of law is fully gone, what makes you think any Republican could ever be voted out? What makes you imagine Republican primaries will be free and fair? In de facto single-party systems (like China, Russia, and increasingly Turkey and Hungary) the law is irrelevant. All that matters is loyalty to the faction that is currently in power. A recent Republican TV ad with violent imagery ("hunting RINOs") illustrates the threat of internal GOP purges.
Along with the vivid testimony at the January 6 hearings about the coordinated criminal scheme to nullify the 2020 election, this ruling proves it is no longer exaggeration to say the Republican party is now a theocratic fascist movement, with judges lying to get confirmed, elected officials plotting a coup to stay in power, and voters willing to embrace delusions, reject democracy, and use violence to get their way. The coup failed but the U.S. did not have an orderly transfer of power in 2021, a shocking first in modern American history.
No patriotic American should vote for any candidate who supported subverting the 2020 election (as GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin did). No self-respecting woman should vote for any Republican unless the party changes course. Catholic and Jewish conservatives should open their eyes to the hard-core bigoted base of the party they are aligning with. Once they don't need your votes, the evangelical Christian right will purge you from the movement.
The Democratic party certainly has its flaws, but Democratic voters and politicians have consistently supported the rule of law, voting rights, and democratic norms. Democrats concede when they lose elections. They strive to persuade more voters, not overturn elections by "finding" non-existent votes.
If moderate Republicans won't save democracy for the rest of us, they should at least be smart and save democracy for their future selves and families. Otherwise, this is just the beginning of an inevitable slide into theocratic fascism.
John Hover
East Setauket
