Population Control (Part III)

Ziegler contends that the abortion movement was not race driven and the modern movement abandoned its radical view of population control. Let’s say Ziegler is right, the abortion movement deemphasized radical philosophies such as population control and racial overtones following the Roe decision. This does not mean these are no longer supported views, it simply means these radical views were no longer needed for tactical support of the movement since it already won in the Supreme Court. Besides, a movement founded on eugenics, racism, and population control does not make it okay if those views are deemphasized in the modern movement. What if slavery still existed but modern laws protected slaves so owners could not beat them; slaves had to be paid a fair wage; and slaves had more rights such as the right to vote. Would this make a “modern” slavery movement any more acceptable? Of course not. Abortion, like slavery, is stigmatized in our history and for good reason. However, no one can dispute the fact that abortions affect African-Americans and the poor disproportionately. African-Americans make up 42% of all abortions, but consist of only 13% of the population. This was the vision and mission of Margaret Sanger and the pre-Roe movement which has come to fruition. I do not see any pro-abortion rights persons concerned about this statistic nor do I see them concerned about how abortion may violate the Equal Protection clause because it disproportionately affects minorities. Sure, the Court found abortion legal through substantive due process as a right (not in support of racism or population control). But the Court also found slavery legal in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) via substantive due process. In other words, anything can be found legal via substantive due process depending on the opinions of the Justices sitting on the bench at the time. The bottom line is that abortion and slavery were both founded on hate, discrimination, and other radical views and they are therefore not much different. Abortion rights advocates were still pushing ideas and philosophies used by Nazi Germany 30 years after World War II. Consider that for a moment: the feminist abortion movement was precisely based on “war crimes” that nearly exterminated a race of people. And if the Supreme Court did not side with the abortion movement in Roe, these ideas and philosophies would have continued to be used for many more years. The abortion movement was and is radical. It was founded and supported by socialists and anarchists. Radical opinions, ideas, and philosophies may have been deemphasized but they still exist and that does not change the fact abortion was founded and practiced under radical terms. Consider the below interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

In a 2012 interview Ruth Bader Ginsberg gave the following responses to questions about feminism, abortion, population control, and eugenics:

Q: If you were a lawyer again, what would you want to accomplish as a future feminist legal agenda?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that had changed their abortion laws before Roe [to make abortion legal] are not going to change back. So we have a policy that affects only poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don't know why this hasn't been said more often.

Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae -- in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn't really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.

What does this mean? It means that population control and racism were at the forefront of the abortion movement. If the abortion movement was not about eliminating the poor and minorities than why was there a big push to have Medicaid pay for abortions? Why would Ginsburg (ACLU attorney representing women’s rights at the time of Roe) admit as much? And the fact that minorities and the poor obtain abortions at a much higher rate than other classes of people demonstrates that abortion was and is readily available and affordable to those in need (I believe this is what Ginsberg is talking about when she says her perception was wrong).