Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
We celebrated Mother’s Day just this past Sunday. As described in Heather Cox Richardson’s piece (Letters From An American: May 7, 2022), Mothers’ Day was originally intended as a day for war-weary American mothers to voice their disapproval of the politicians that had sent their sons off to die in the Civil War. The Mother’s Day we know, as started in 1908 by Anne Jarvis, in what started as a day of appreciation, has become what is commonly known as a hallmark holiday. Handmade cards, breakfast in bed—or brunch, mimosas, and flowers are trademarks of this feel-good holiday.
The day (not always a holiday) has traveled far—from a rallying cry for woman tired of war to sappy cards, crowded restaurants, and tipsy grandmas. Now, the US Supreme Court’s leaked draft of a majority opinion detailing its intention to overturn Roe -v- Wade begs the question of what Mother’s Days of the future might look like. Perhaps it’s time for yet another incarnation of the holiday: UnMother’s Day.
In the leaked draft of the opinion, Justice Alito argued that Roe -v- Wade was “egregiously wrong from the start” and that “we hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled” and that “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” (Politco: Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows). This is nothing less than an unmitigated declaration of war against a woman’s right to choose.
Should this draft subsequently become a finalized decision of the Court, federal protections would be removed, and states would have final say on whether abortion could be legal within their borders. Some midwestern and southern states already have triggers in place that would automatically outlaw the procedure should Roe be overturned.
In a republic where any pregnancy—even those conceived in rape or incest of underage girls—must be carried to term against the wishes of the mother-to-be, the Mother’s Day holiday might become a symbol of servitude and oppression for all women, especially those who cannot afford to travel to states where the procedure might be legal. Because—as always—it is the poor and underprivileged, those least able to bear the expense of bearing and rearing a child, who will suffer the most.
What will Mother’s Day, 2024, look like? Women who were forced to become mothers by government doctrine may not look at it so appreciatively. Women who were forced to have their babies after being raped or suffering incest may not appreciate that it is they, not their attackers, who must deal with the consequences of the crimes against them. Women who are forced to go through with pregnancies that threaten their health—even their lives—may not regard it as a holiday. But as a consolation for them, perhaps there will be a National Memorial Service at the gravestones of those women who died in childbirth, thanks to the Alito decision–the UnMother’s Day Remembrance.
Will there come a day when all women of child-bearing age will be forced to check in with government agents to renew their oaths of loyalty to the new Coney-Barrett Fertility Doctrines? Will Mother’s Day cards be government-issued registration cards, not unlike draft cards, with a woman’s ovulatory history updated monthly? Will there be public beheadings of those who conspire to facilitate abortions? (A concept that may not be so far-fetched as you might think.)
Last September, the State of Texas recently passed a new law, SB8, that prohibited abortion after a heartbeat is detected, about six weeks. What is different about this law, however, is the fact that it is enforced not by state agencies, but by private citizens who are encouraged to “snitch” on abortion abettors and providers who violate the abortion ban by suing them in civil court. Any private citizen—whether a state resident or not—can bring one of these lawsuits. If plaintiffs win the suit, they are guaranteed ten thousand dollars in damages, an amount opponents are terming a “bounty”. Anyone from an abortion doctor to a counselor, a parent, a friend, or even the Uber driver who transports the patient to the clinic could be accused by the pro-life zealots. (The Guardian: Texas abortion vigilantes: how the ban empowers anti-choice citizens to sue).
Will the Texas law become the new paragon of reproductive legislation in America, and, if so, will Mother’s Day, 2025, also be marked with the public trials and incarcerations, or perhaps, in few more years, the mass executions of those who aid women who want to lead the life they choose? Will Mother’s Day become a strictly political holiday, a version of May Day, Labor Day, or The Fourth of July?
To those who freely choose to invest themselves in the joy of motherhood, the Mother’s Day holiday will always be a wonderful celebration of the joys of family. At the very least, the mothers of the world deserve a day of appreciation. They deserve it.
What no one deserves is government interference in their private lives. What the members of this socially regressive majority of the Supreme Court want to do is wrong. Forcing a woman to bear children against her will is draconian and misogynistic. By doing so, the United States would join the likes of Haiti, Iraq, Nicaragua, and the Republic of the Congo; most other developed nations offer some form of legal and safe abortions.
Mothers’ Day started as a day of political activism, a clarion call for women to assert their voices against the ravages of war. The day may once again become a banner for a woman’s right to choose. Whether it’s a day to celebrate motherhood or to fight for reproductive rights might not be a choice anymore.