Minnesota Report
The fact, our nation continues to be divided on the issue of Abortion should come as no surprise, and the fact, state legislatures are dominated by paternalistic men who are quite comfortable dictating to women what they do with their bodies should come as no surprise.
As the US Supreme Court takes up two abortion questions this term, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Mississippi) and United States v TX et al it’s worth noting the composition of the legislatures that passed these respective pieces of legislation.
Both the Mississippi (MS) and Texas (TX) legislatures are dominated by men and even among the women legislators there is no guarantee they are pro-choice. Of the 120 MS House members, 17 or 14.17% are women and 10 or 8.34% are Democratic women. In the MS Senate, 11 or 21.15% members are women and 4 or 7.69% are Democratic women.
In the Lone Star state the number are slightly better. In the House, 35 or 23.34% are women and 29 or 19.34% are Democratic women. In the Senate, 10 or 32.26% are women and 4 or 12.9% are Democratic women.
Because of our nation’s system of Checks & Balances, the US Supreme Court is the arbiter of the law of the land, with the exception of Federal Law, which when passed by Congress and signed by the President supersedes court action. So as occurred, with the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision it became the law of the land. The composition of court being 6 men and 3 women, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett being a know critic of Roe, it is expected a significant undermining of long-standing precedence will fall and potential the entire provision will be overturned.
This is a prime motivator for new women seeking elective office and our attendance at an event for Leslie Lienemann (DFL-Maplewood), who expressed this very sentiment, and also hearing similar comments from freshmen Reps Kaela Berg (DFL-56B, Burnsville) and Jessica Hanson (56A, Burnsville) who were on-hand and are examples of women, who felt compelled to step forward and who embody this premise. Many women should ask themselves if not me, who, if not now when.
The United States is in the midst of a Cultural War and there is a distinctive North and South divide in addition to an additional layering of Rural, Urban and Suburban.