Mississippi's got it all wrong

Oregon has it right. Governments should not restrict rights or access when it comes to safe and legal abortions.

Mississippi has it very, very wrong. Their ban on abortions after 15 weeks is a disturbing attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade and turn the clock back by generations. It's a fundamental attack on health care and underserved communities.

This is where the Supreme Court comes in. And CNN's early headline from the first day of oral arguments in the Mississippi case is sobering if anything:

We need to get ready.

As of right now, the fate of Roe v. Wade and abortion rights is going to be decided by a Court that includes three Trump appointees and which has grown increasingly reactionary and conservative by the year.

As the Mississippi case is debated before the Supreme Court, it brings two questions to mind.

→ If laws like Mississippi's abortion ban are sustained, where will the Republican intrusion into our lives end?

→ How hard are we willing to work, as progressives, to organize, win elections, and protect access to health care services and so much else in our democracy?

This week is an urgent reminder of why it's important that we keep the pressure on the Senate to join the House in passing the Women's Health Protection Act to etch Roe into law. And of course, it's a reminder of why we need to keep as many extremist Republicans as possible out of Congress.

I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will see reason, but we have to be prepared, no matter what comes next.

Earl