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by George S Griffith
The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the USA to overturn Roe v Wade, is a misguided display of the radical political partisanship which now characterizes this once revered legal institution. This shocking decision will result in millions of women and girls of childbearing age without access to the critical sexual and reproductive health services to which they are entitled and which was considered a fundamental right for close to half a century.
The fact that approximately 60 per cent of the population of the USA are opposed to the denial of these critical services to women, is indicative of the depth to which the Court has fallen as it seeks to fulfill its political agenda.
The only redeeming factor of this shameful episode, is the expectation that come the Mid-Term Elections in November, the now highly motivated and energized supporters of Women’s Rights, will ensure that their disappointment and rage are reflected in the Ballot Box across the nation.
It is indeed painful to acknowledge that the greatest casualties of this partisan political play by the Court, will be the poor, marginalized, disadvantaged and dispossessed women and struggling families. Unless immediate action is taken to reverse this travesty, the fundamental rights and freedoms for which so many gave their blood, sweat and tears, especially during the Civil Rights struggles, will be an indication that Jim Crow is about to raise his ugly head in 21st century America.
The world must frown upon what the USA is fast becoming and I hope that its right-thinking citizens, are able to muster the courage to do what is so absolutely necessary to undo this despicable wrong come November, 2022. State legislatures have a duty to make good use of the opportunity to ensure that, once and for all, these women’s rights can be restored and codified. It is said that “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance”, this should never be forgotten, especially in today’s volatile political environment.
The image of this great country, once regarded as a bastion of freedom, opportunity and democracy and that shining light on the proverbial hill, has fallen from the lofty heights it once enjoyed and is now in a free fall, into a dark and dangerous valley of deep crisis.
Despite the warning signals, one never thought that the Supreme court would be so shameless, tone deaf, and lacking in good judgement, as to declare war on the majority of its most vulnerable womenfolk. It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said: “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”.
This recent episode will long be remembered as an indelible stain on “the greatest” nation on the face of the earth. It seems quite clear that the political agenda of the Republican Party and its handmaidens, has taken precedence over the best interest of the vast majority of those who move and have their being in the USA.
The time to correct this abominable wrong is now!
George S Griffith is a former Executive Director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, Consul General for Barbados in New York, former Chairman of the National HIV/Aids Prevention Committee and a former Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
