The Role of Joyful Defiance in Abortion Rights and Access Strategy

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout.

In their first national convention since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democrats chose the safe and predictable route, voting to adopt a party platform that advocates for a “return to Roe” instead of anything braver or bolder.

It’s a safe position. It’s a predictable position. And it recreates a failed political compromise on bodily autonomy that, historically, did little to ensure abortion access, but cemented abortion as a political hot potato passed between political parties and administrations.

Roe wasn’t enough ten years ago, and it certainly isn’t enough today. Even the rollout of the Democratic messaging on abortion during the first day of the Democratic National Convention proved this truth. Three women—Amanda Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua, and Hadley Duvall—all shared their devastating stories of being denied abortions. It was the first time I can remember where abortion stories and storytellers were featured so prominently at the DNC. And while I’m grateful for their inclusion, it also feels like Democrats are missing an opportunity to take a meaningful policy step forward instead of retreating to a catchphrase and policy position that, two years after Roe’s reversal, feels stale compared to the fresh new energy coalescing around Kamala Harris.

Rather than stay disappointed, I am, once again, looking to abortion rights activists for inspiration and motivation. Inside the convention were stories of tragedy and pain. Outside the convention, activists marched and rallied in opposition to the Supreme Court, as well as any abortion access compromise Democrats could adopt that would take power and autonomy away from pregnant patients. That is the vision, the energy, and the vibe Democrats need to bring when it comes to abortion. Not a restrained embrace of failed past policy, but a joyful defiance of the weirdos who support abortion bans and the idea that the state has any significant business in regulating reproductive autonomy at all.

My colleague Imani Gandy and I talked about this strategy earlier this summer on Boom! Lawyered with Abortion Access Front’s Lizz Winstead. Check it out if you missed the conversation, which included a sneak preview of AAF’s very own Mife and the Misotones, who made their debut at the DNC.

By the time the DNC closes, two things should be very clear for abortion rights advocates. First, Vice President Harris brings an energy and understanding to the abortion rights and access fight that her boss, President Joe Biden, just doesn’t have. Second, her time in national politics makes her vulnerable to the same policy mistakes and under-calculations as many Democrats before her.

That is exactly why advocates must continue to embrace a politics of joyful defiance. Should Harris win the presidential election, it’s going to take a lot of joy—and a lot of defiance—to move Democrats to where the country needs them to be on abortion policy.

I continue to believe it’s possible.

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