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Roe V. Wade: Uncertain Under Kavanaugh

Jayla McNeill | October 26, 2018

Topics: kavanaugh, nomination, reproductive rights, supreme Court

Through a lifetime appointment, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has the potential to affect U.S. law for decades to come. With Kavanaugh’s confirmation and diving into his third week as a Supreme Court Justice, questions have been raised about what this could mean for the future of reproductive rights.

Kavanaugh has replaced conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the court this past summer. Kennedy was a swing vote in favor of Roe v. Wade, a landmark case that legalized abortion on a federal level.

Dr. Betha Coston is a Virginia Commonwealth University professor for the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. In an email, Dr. Coston stated that Kavanaugh’s identification as a political conservative will have a profound effect on his future opinions as a Supreme Court Justice.

“Every Supreme Court judge has impacted the balance of power in some way,” Dr. Coston said. “Although they are required to be impartial while serving, they are still human beings who have been socialized into their belief systems prior to the Supreme Court.”

Dr. Coston said Kavanaugh’s confirmation has beget “legitimate and real fears about the future of reproductive rights.”

In 2017, Kavanaugh defended a dissenting opinion when the D.C. Circuit court ruled in favor of a minor attempting to obtain an abortion.

In this case, a 17-year-old minor illegally entered the U.S., unaccompanied. Upon arrival, she was held in a federal detention center. While detained, she elected to end her pregnancy, but her request was vetoed by the federal government.

Kavanaugh stated that the majority opinion to grant the abortion was “radically inconsistent” with precedent, and maintained the government has “permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor, and not facilitating abortion.”

In addition, Kavanaugh voiced his concern that the court’s decision would precipitate “a new right for unlawful immigrant minors” to “obtain immediate abortion on demand.”

Within his dissenting opinion, Kavanaugh characterized Roe v. Wade as precedent, which must be followed.

In a 2003 memo, Kavanaugh stated that although Roe v. Wade was “important,” the Supreme Court “can always overrule its precedent.”

In a CNN article, Clare Foran and Joan Biskupic wrote that Kavanaugh’s past writings indicates he may permit the government to place greater restrictions on contraception and abortion access.

“Overall, his testimony reinforced his past writings suggesting he would permit the government to more strictly regulate abortion,” Foran and Biskupic wrote. “For example, with additional requirements that could delay the procedure, or stiffer rules for physicians who would perform it.”

The Supreme Court has had a historically profound effect on the advancement or retrogression of civil rights law.

Coston urges individuals to remember that it would be “naïve” to depend on the Supreme Court to uphold the rights of marginalized society members.

“Those rights only come alive when we organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel and violate the law in order to uphold and restore justice,” Dr. Coston stated. “In this way, Kavanaugh’s confirmation is a direct call to action; a call to turn our despair into radical, critical, intersectional social change.”

#MeToo and #HimToo and the Continuing Fight Ahead

Jayla McNeill | October 16, 2018

Topics: #MeToo, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, hearings, himtoo, kavanaugh, sexual assault, women's rights

As the nation watched Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, it witnessed the unfolding of a decisive moment in the #MeToo movement. 

Ford testified that an intoxicated, teenaged Kavanaugh — who vehemently and explicitly denied all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct — pinned her down on a bed and attempted to remove her clothing during a party 36 years ago. But despite public outcry from women’s rights advocates, Kavanaugh’s confirmation process was successful. After a 50-48 vote, Kavanagh was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice on Saturday, October 6.

When Ford took the stand, she was supported by a community of sexual assault survivors and women’s right activists, but they were unable to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Dr. Sarah J. Brubaker (Virginia Commonwealth University associate professor, and Criminal Justice and Public Policy Director) said she believes the Kavanaugh hearings are illustrative of a larger societal problem in America.

“Both the allegations regarding sexual assault and the threat to eliminate women’s reproductive rights reflect the overall status of gender relations in our society,” Brubaker said, “and the power differentials that continue to place women in subordinate position to men.”

As Kavanaugh was sworn in, protests erupted at the court doors. These protests continued outside the high court Tuesday, as Kavanaugh prepared for his first day as a U.S Supreme Court Justice. USA Today reported that over 40 protestors arrived at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning to meet Kavanaugh as he entered the building.

This level of support for Ford and opposition to Kavanaugh comes in the wake of the strengthening #MeToo movement.

In a CNN discussion with Jake Tapper, Sen. Nina Turner, D-Ohio, stated that the Kavanaugh hearings are an important moment for #MeToo and the treatment of assault survivors.

“This is a watershed moment for this country, and I hope that more good can come from this,” Turner said. “We have lots of work to do, even beyond what is happening in this Kavanaugh case.”

Turner’s opinion, however, is not universally shared. Conservative commentator and journalist Tiana Lowe argues that Ford’s allegations do more harm than good for future of the #MeToo movement.  

In an article for Politico Magazine, Lowe stated that Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh represent a shift from credible “evidence-backed” claims to politically-motivated “revenge” accusations. Lowe wrote that the partisan tunnel vision seen within the two parties throughout this process only served to delegitimize the #MeToo movement.

“It’s these two factions, keen on engaging in scorched-earth political bloodsport, that threaten to derail the groundbreaking potential of the #MeToo movement,” Lowe said.

Conservative writer Lisa Boothe noted in an op-ed article for The Hill that the #MeToo movement has begotten an unprecedented weaponization of sexual misconduct claims.

“Since the #MeToo movement started less than a year ago, we have seen an overcorrection in society that is dangerous and inarguably anti-men,” Boothe said.

Boothe thinks #MeToo has led Americans to be “coerced” into believing a woman’s allegation solely because she is a woman. Furthermore, Boothe states that Ford’s allegations are being used as a “battering ram” to attack Kavanaugh’s character and career.

Boothe’s opinion correlates to the rising #HimToo movement, which emerged as conservative response to #MeToo.

Sandra E. Garcia, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote that Kavanaugh’s confirmation “energized” the #HimToo movement — which was popularized with a rogue tweet from a mother, claiming her son was afraid to go on solo dates because of the current political climate surrounding sexual assault allegations. Her son, a Navy vet and ally of the #MeToo movement, quickly cleared up the incident and spoke out in favor of women’s rights.

After the Kavanaugh hearings, this hashtag quickly became representative of belief that the current political climate in America is dangerous to men.

“During the hearings, many people tweeted #HimToo to show their support for Kavanaugh,” Garcia wrote, “and to reprimand women who they believed had made up accounts of sexual assault to destroy a man’s career.”

A multifaceted debate, Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court represents a pivotal point for #MeToo.

On one hand, this process has significantly furthered the conversation on sexual assault and misconduct in American society. Furthermore, the ongoing opposition against Kavanaugh from sexual assault survivors, #MeToo supporters, and women’s rights activists demonstrates the continuing vigor of this movement.

On the other hand, allegations of political agendas and the “weaponization” of sexual assault claims may discourage individuals from coming forward in the future. Additionally, these assertions may negatively affect the perceived legitimacy of individuals who found a voice under #MeToo.

The next few months are likely to have a long-lasting impact for the #MeToo movement. If it is to remain strong in the future, women’s rights activists will have to be prepared to continue the fight at full strength.

“Scary Time” for Men, Scary Lifetime For Women

Amy Rector | October 3, 2018

Topics: feminism, kavanaugh, patriarchy, rape, SCOTUS, sexual assault, sexual violence, supreme Court, trump, women's issues, young men

When the 45th President of the United States says that it is a “very scary time for young men in America,” he is blatantly discounting the fact that it is always a very scary time for women – young and old – in America. I have more than 100 students in my anthropology classes this semester, and the reality is that nearly 25 percent of them will experience sexual violence before they graduate. 

In the general population, 1 out of every 6 women will survive rape or attempted rape. LGBTQ women experience sexual violence at an even higher rate; more than half of transgender women of color will survive sexual assault during a lifetime that will be, on average, only 35 years long. The RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) website reports in large, dominating letters that every 98 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted. 

In a culture where sexual violence against women is this pervasive (and embedded in places like the high schools of potential U.S. Supreme Court members), it doesn’t matter if these women are our daughters, sisters, or wives: it matters that being a woman – any woman – comes with a very real, very tangible risk. 

A risk that is not just “scary,” but one that shapes our lives.

Most of us don’t remember where or when we picked up certain tricks, but many of us carry our keys between our fingers in case we need to defend ourselves while walking to the car. We’ve learned somewhere along the way to look under our cars and in the back seats before we get in; we rarely, if ever, get in an elevator by ourselves with a man or group of men we don’t know. We have all, at some point, called a friend on a walk home so that someone knows where we are, and listens with us for danger as we walk alone. 

These are ways that, every day, every woman in America acknowledges and mitigates – as best we can – the risk of sexual violence we face simply for being women. 

Ways that men mitigate the risk of sexual violence? They don’t, because for the most part, they don’t have to. Scary, indeed. 

Years ago, when I first started teaching at VCU, one of my undergrads asked me to sign a pledge to Start by Believing. At the time, it didn’t seem all that profound to me: it seemed logical pledging to simply believe women when they reported surviving sexual violence. But since then, as students have come through my classes, I’ve found myself in more than one situation looking in tear-filled eyes and saying, before all other things, “I believe you.” And each time I say it, the reality becomes more stark: despite statistics that clearly show women in America are at risk, the default seems to be that when they report their experiences, they are questioned and ultimately doubted.

“What were you wearing? Were you drinking? Were you walking home in the dark by yourself?”

Patriarchy is a deep and profound thing. 

The net result of this doubt is that only 20 percent of undergraduate survivors report their assaults. For non-student survivors, nearly 2 out of every 3 assaults go unreported. Their reasons? Fear of retaliation from the perpetrator, and law enforcement’s disinterest or inability to help. 

And what we watched, as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judicial Committee, is this same tragedy playing out in a very national and public way.

For those who think college kids or millennials today aren’t engaged in a national conversation, I counter with this: students listened on their phones to Dr. Ford’s testimony in the hallway between classes, and asked me to finish lecturing early so we could watch together as a class. They gathered in a conference room on campus to watch the hearing with allies. They turned to each other, turned to me, and said, “I believe her.”

They witnessed, with the same gnawing fear and disquiet in their stomachs, as man after man on the committee told Dr. Ford some version of their doubt in her story. Doubt in her ability to remember, doubt in her ability to judge what makes assault assault. 

Her reasons for not coming forward were questioned by the leader of our country in a tweet on September 21: “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!” 

The resulting stories from survivors use the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. They are swift, profound, and brutal. During her testimony and in the following days, RAINN saw a 338% increase in traffic on their sexual assault hotline. This is evidence, according to RAINN president Scott Berkowitz, that Dr. Ford’s “story has clearly resonated with survivors, and has led thousands to reach out for help for the first time.” 

The President would like us to focus on the fear of false accusations, or on criminalization of the “boys will be boys” mentality. But statistics tell us that of all assaults reported, only 2% are found to be false. The President – accused of sexual violence by more than a dozen women – has also mocked Dr. Ford and her testimony, which fuels the belief of women across the country that our experiences do not matter. It fuels the belief that, even in raising our voices to the most prominent leaders of our country, we will not be heard. 

Dr. Ford has likely spent her entire academic career being talked over by male colleagues, so in that sense, the hearing was nothing new. Having young women look to her as a role model is likely not new either. 

The conversation we are seeing on the national stage – of a smart, credible, accomplished woman being mocked by the president for reporting her sexual assault – is being heard by every woman in the country. 

It’s heard by women who may think to themselves, “If a professor of psychology isn’t believed, why would anyone believe me?” It’s heard by more women who have kept their assaults quiet for decades, and by women who do not remember all the details – and one result could be that all of these women see the writing on the wall, and simply continue to say nothing. 

Yet, by speaking out, Dr. Ford has done something for women in this country that we perhaps didn’t know we needed. In this moment, women are finding voices that they didn’t know they had, courage from places deeply buried. Another American will be sexually assaulted every 98 seconds until we, as a country, dismantle the power structure and language that believes the accused over the survivors. Starting, sadly, at the very top. 

I believe you. And if you are a survivor of sexual violence, I encourage you to call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. 

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