On July 20, Celeste Burgess—a young woman accused of having an illegal abortion when she was 17 years old—was sentenced to 90 days in jail. She was found guilty of “removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body.” Her mother, Jessica Burgess, was also charged with a felony count of “performing an abortion beyond 20 weeks.” Jessica is awaiting sentencing and faces up to five years in jail. At the time, abortions in Nebraska were banned after 20 weeks. They are now banned after 12 weeks.

When Celeste discovered she was pregnant, she was terrified. She was in an abusive relationship and did not want to have a child. She sought out her mom for assistance and together they found a way to order medication abortion pills through the mail. This took weeks for them to procure and after taking the pills, she induced a miscarriage at about 29 weeks. Scared and feeling no other recourse, they burned and buried the remains.

The judge found Celeste and her mom guilty, at least in part, based on unscientific, anti-woman views. During the trial, he refused to call the fetus a fetus, using the word “baby.” When delivering his verdict, he said, “What you did with the remains of that baby was wrong. It is a wrong decision that involved a human life, or at least a life that was living inside of you at one time.” With this dangerous logic, women—who are full human beings—are reduced by law to the status of incubators.

This case also set a dangerous precedent of spying on women suspected of having abortions. The cops got a warrant to search Celeste's private messages with her mom on Facebook where they discussed getting abortion pills.

Think of the fear Celeste felt—of having something growing inside of her that she knew she could not care for and did not want. Think of the relief at being able to talk to and rely on her mother. And think of the cruelty of the state that would criminalize this young woman for making a decision about her own body, her life and her future; and criminalize her mom for providing support and assistance.

Multiply this terror by thousands and millions across the country.

It's hard to quantify how many more women are having babies since the right to abortion was overturned, but one study found that Texas, which has banned abortion past six weeks since 2021, has had nearly 10,000 more births than would have been expected without these severe abortion restrictions, and that was just in the last nine months of 2022. Ten thousand young women living with the terror of having your body overtaken by something you didn't choose. Women driven deeper into poverty and tied more permanently to abusive partners. Women with life plans and dreams—of going to college, making music, getting out and discovering who they are... all hitting a wall that no matter what else they may be able to pursue, the state has now forced them to be a mother. To be clear, having a child can be beautiful and full of joy—If you choose it. But having this forced on you—by the state—is female enslavement.

The Idiotic Immorality of “Abortion Pills Forever”

When it became clear that Roe v Wade—the national right to abortion—was about to be overturned, many from the “pro-choice” movement minimized the extreme impact this would have.  They put forward  slogans like, “Fuck SCOTUS [the Supreme Court], We're Doing It Anyway! #AbortionPillsForever”.  They refused to call people in the streets in mass resistance to wage a fight to stop the Supreme Court from reversing abortion rights in the first place.  This would not have been easy and would have taken enormous struggle, but could have succeeded and is the only way the horror now being played out—and many more like it to come—could have been avoided. Instead, these forces capitulated in advance, downplaying the actual danger being faced with many opposing and attacking Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights—an organization which DID call for and in fact lead such resistance.*

One of the leaders of this effort argued that they would build “a functional, supportive, patchwork system of access, regardless of legality.” They set up websites and phone networks for people to access medication abortions without going through abortion clinics.

As vital as this work is—to be able to help some women with life-saving abortion access—this will only ever be, as they say, “patchwork.”  And, put forward as a strategy instead of mass determined uncompromising resistance fighting nationally for Abortion On Demand and Without Apology, it is deadly. 

Aside from the fundamental problem of capitulating to a situation where women—nationally—have lost a fundamental right, there is the immorality of knowingly leaving so many women behind.  What about the many, many women in prison and immigration detention centers who have no internet or phone access?  What about homeless women who don't have a stable mailing address to receive this medication abortion? 

To this day, groups like Shout Your Abortion are promoting lawn signs that say “Fuck the Supreme Court. We are having abortions forever. They will never stop us. Seriously, fuck these dorks.”

Tell that to Celeste Burgess and her mom!  This kind of empty triumphalism is covering over a great danger.

In addition to a court case in Texas that could outlaw medication abortion entirely, this case in Nebraska is a harbinger (a sign of things to come) of how the fascists are moving to criminalize abortion and imprison women and those who help them. The argument that we shouldn't worry about fighting for abortion to remain legal federally was—and continues to be—an argument for capitulation. It's an argument for working within the margins of defeat, and trying to carve out elusive safe spaces while the larger fascist juggernaut rolls along. And it's a cowardly front for refusing to actually confront this.

The Harm of Thinking You're “Safe”

There has been almost no outrage and protest about this case in Nebraska because most people are trying to ignore what's happening. Some even argue that if you live in a state where abortion is legal, you're OK. And even if they don't say it out loud, that thinking underlies the tremendous passivity.

There are three problems with this:

First, this is profoundly immoral. If any women are subordinated, shamed and degraded—this impacts all women and all of society. During the time of apartheid in South Africa, where Black South Africans were violently segregated, controlled, and policed, the Neville Brothers righteously sang, “that's my blood down there.” That spirit and determination is needed now.

Second, right now, the attacks on abortion providers and clinics in states where abortion is legal are escalating. A recent report from the National Abortion Federation (NAF) said that attacks have increased 200 percent. This includes increases in arsons, stalking providers, burglaries, death threats and clinic invasions. Melissa Fowler of the NAF said, “The data is proof of what we have known to be true: anti-abortion extremists have been emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the cascade of abortion bans that followed. As clinics closed in states with bans, extremists have simply shifted their focus to the states where abortion remains legal and protected...”

And finally, the fascist movements have not rested—and will not rest—with a patchwork of some states banning abortion, and others allowing them. They are moving relentlessly to outlaw abortion on a nationwide level. In states where abortion is already largely banned, they are seeking to tighten these bans. They are passing laws to criminalize and punish abortion providers, supportive friends and family, and of pregnant women who attempt to obtain abortions. And they have declared their intention of passing a federal ban on abortion. The most “tame” of these would be a 15-week ban, but some are insisting this be a six-week ban—before most women even know they're pregnant.

Break the Chains! Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution

These fascists—with millions of armed thugs in official and unofficial capacities, and going up to the highest levels of government—are moving rapidly to an all-out theocratic rule through open white supremacy, driving LGBTQ people out of public life, and the full subordination of women. The outlawing of abortion is one major linchpin.

While the fascists are on the march, the Democratic Party-led “pro-choice movement” is focused on fighting this state by state, relying on court cases and funneling people entirely into preparing for and relying on elections. All while minimizing the actual danger we face and trying to cling desperately to what have been the norms of this patriarchal system.

But these are not our only choices! What's needed—and more possible now—is a revolution to overthrow this system, bringing into being a socialist society, “a whole new way to live, a fundamentally different system.”

This sharpening split among the ruling powers and throughout society is irreconcilable—and it is hurtling towards a showdown. The Proclamation WE ARE THE REVCOMS says, “Shaping up before us now are two fundamentally opposed futures: Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating. And this truth rings out now more powerfully than ever: Which future we get depends to a great extent on what we do.”

If you don't want to see a society where women are reduced to breeders and incubators—now is the time to wake the fuck up and fight. To get in the streets and raise hell—uniting broadly with anyone and everyone who does not want to see a world where women and girls are being forced to have children against their will... or put in prison for defying this.  And make this resistance part of bringing a whole new world into being.  Raising the mass demand: The Existing Capitalist-Imperialist System And Institutions Of Government In This Country Must Be Abolished And Dismantled—And Replaced By A New, Socialist System Based On The CONSTITUTION FOR THE NEW SOCIALIST REPUBLIC IN NORTH AMERICA.”

This Declaration from the revcoms makes clear that, “In the new socialist society, eliminating all the oppressive divisions that characterized the old society—including oppression based on nationality and race, sex and gender—will be a fundamental goal and of the highest priority.”

Stop clinging desperately to illusions that these fascists will somehow go away, that you'll be OK in a “blue state” while millions of women and girls suffer and the very ground you stand on is being shredded. Stop lowering your sights and being defeated by woman-hating dark ages dinosaurs who see women as nothing but baby-making machines. Stop swallowing and taming your rage, turning it inward, giving in to depression and fear, while every day the nightmare intensifies.

Join the revcoms—the force for real revolution—of women, men and differently gendered people, fighting for a whole new world. Join those determined to take on these fascists, and to do so as part of getting organized for revolution to overthrow this system which has bred these fascists.

____________

FOOTNOTE:

* Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights is an organization made up of people from diverse perspectives coming together first to stop the Supreme Court from overturning the right to abortion, and then fighting for legal abortion to be reinstated nationwide.  The day after Roe v Wade was overturned, a series of vicious attacks was launched against the organization, while specifically targeting and slandering the co-initiator, Sunsara Taylor (co-host of The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show) and the revolutionary leader she follows, Bob Avakian. [back]