It’s all strategy

Slow-burn strategy is the name of the game

bodie robinson staff writer

The Christian right understands politics. Democrats don’t. That’s why they lost Roe v. Wade.

In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States decided, concerning the legal case Roe v. Wade, that access to abortion was a Constitutional right. On June 24, 2022, not even fifty years later, the Supreme Court overturned that decision. Since Roe was overturned, abortion is now banned or severely restricted in 14 states. Similar bans are being attempted by 10 additional states. It’s been two months since Roe was overturned. Now, over 85 million Americans have had their bodily autonomy and freedom to choose ripped away from them.

In the remaining 26 states, the future of abortion is unclear, for it no longer enjoys Constitutional protection. The war over abortion has entered a new phase. The Christian right has been preparing for this moment since Roe v. Wade was first implemented in 1973. The same cannot be said of the Democrats, whose incompetence now jeopardizes all Americans’ right to access abortion.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision, President Joe Biden appeared at the White House to make a speech. In an increasingly rare moment of lucidity, he said, “Make no mistake! This decision is a culmination of a deliberate effort, over decades, to upset the balance of our law. It’s a realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error by the Supreme Court, in my view.” A reasonable assessment. However, if Biden – and pro-choice Democrats generally – knew that overturning Roe was decades in the making, then why didn’t they do anything to stop it?

The fact is Roe v. Wade was a house of cards from the beginning. The rationale that made abortion a Constitutional right was grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment. Put simply, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees Americans a fundamental “right to privacy,” among other things. After Roe v. Wade, this right to privacy included the right to have an abortion. This is the shaky legal precedent that guaranteed people could access abortion in the United States. What could have been done to make the right to abortion better protected, to make it impervious to the whims of the judiciary? The Democrats – the allegedly feminist party in the United States – proposed to codify the right to abortion in Federal law through Congress; obviously to no avail. The Democrats never had the political wherewithal to pull this off. Their opposition is too great, too organized, and too fanatical to let this happen.

Unsurprisingly, the Christian right in America has in its service an elaborate web of special interest groups and lobbyists. This labyrinth of political reaction – motivated by misogyny, queerphobia, voter suppression, and big capital – tenaciously pursues its ends with cunning and expediency. That is, the Christian right is willing to do what it takes to see their agenda fulfilled, unlike the Democrats. While the Democrats quibbled over Congressional procedure, the Christian right was patiently and methodically chipping away at the right to abortion.

In the event that Roe was overturned, 13 states had already implemented trigger laws that immediately banned “medically unnecessary” abortion. This isn’t to mention the states where abortion is so severely restricted that it is, in effect, already banned. For example, the handful of states that allow abortion only within the first six

Justice should not need a fence to feel safe

Victoria Pickering via Flickr

weeks of gestation. The Supreme Court itself has been packed with conservative justices over the past few decades as well. Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices. All three are current or former members of the Federalist Society, a rightwing legal organization whose stated goal is to challenge the allegedly leftist ideology that dominates elite American law schools. Five out of nine Supreme Court justices are Catholic, even though only about 20 per cent of Americans are Catholics themselves. This decades-long Machiavellian campaign made the overturning of Roe v. Wade a foregone conclusion.

But it is much more than abortion healthcare. Many legal scholars and political commentators say that overturning Roe may also jeopardize other rights. For example, Samuel Nelson, a political science professor at the University of Toledo, stated that “the right to contraception, same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, freedom from forced sterilization, and the right to educate one’s children are now subject to reversal.” The Democrats have proven time and again that they can’t be relied on to protect the vulnerable and marginalized. They should learn from the Christian right instead. Expediency, cynicism, and unwavering resolve produce results. So that slogan of the second wave feminists must be revived: abortion on demand and without apology.

Public Transit in Regina

With your bus pas already included in tuition, what is there to lose?

victoria baht staff writer

Hey students! Are you debating on how to get to and from classes come this fall, now that a majority of classes are returning in person? Well, I am going to tell you one of the options that may just be right for you and describe why you should consider it. Did you know that the city of Regina has public transit? Plus, a pass for unlimited rides is included in your tuition fees. So, today I am going to tell you some of benefits of riding public transit and why you should consider partaking in it this fall.

First of all, because the amount of a transit pass is already included in our tuition fees. That means an unlimited rides bus pass, known as a “U-Pass,” is already charged to our account and only costs $87.60 per semester. This means you can use the U-Pass to get around the city as much as you like! Not only is it already included in our tuition fees, but also when taking transit bus, you do not have to pay for gas to drive to and from campus. Plus, you save on the price of a parking pass as well. Not only does this save you the $220 a semester on a parking pass, it also lets you avoid the hassle of looking for a parking spot on campus.

Now that we have talked about some of the price benefits of using public transit, I wanted to talk to you about some of the student life benefits to taking public transit. When I first started at campus, I was someone that would drive to and from campus. Now I have been taking public transit for over two years, and I have learned some of the real benefits to taking public transit. One of the main benefits while taking transit is that the city of Regina offers a variety of different routes that take you directly to campus. The routes that take you directly to campus are routes 3, 4, 18, 21, 22, and 30. You may have to transfer buses depending on where you live but let’s be real, getting dropped off basically right at campus doors in -20 degree weather is a pretty good perk.

Not only do you get dropped off at the campus doors, but you also gain some time on the bus to yourself since you are not driving. Taking the bus can mean you now have time to skim your notes before a big exam one last time on your way to class, or you can reflect and finish up notes that you missed in class. It can also give you time to just sit back and relax and watch your favourite show or listen to your favourite tunes while you travel back and forth. Don’t all those options sound like a great idea, having the ability to get places and get things done all at once?

I also want to bring to your attention some of the websites you should use to your benefit if you choose to use public transit. Make sure that you look at the City of Regina Transportation website to find information on what route to take, route map, live route map and more. Also check out the University of Regina Student Union website or visit the URSU member desk in Riddell Centre on second floor to activate your U-Pass for the fall semester. Since you now know all these benefits to taking public transit, make sure you highly consider taking public transit to and from campus this fall semester!

Taking the bus can reduce traffic and carbon emissions, assuming your bus ever arrives.

OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay manipulated by Lee Lim