Dear Cousin,
The clocks have been set back, one of those turning points of autumn. I took the chance to sleep in, enjoying the cozy Sunday morning silence of my apartment. I hardly ever stay there, and I figured out this morning I hadn’t stayed there alone in more than three months — since early August, or Midsummer holiday. Time flies and I rarely leave my photo studio, except to go outside to the Grandmother Land and make a fire. I’ve noticed that I like living in a room full of iMacs and photographs.
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For some reason I woke up and had to have popcorn, so I made some and, prompted by something I heard on the news, I called Steve Bergstein to talk about the Supreme Court. In particular, about various sequences of events that could lead to the repeal of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that guarantees that a woman in any of the United States and its territories has the right to choose an abortion, early in her pregnancy, if she wants or needs one.
In our prior conversation, I learned that Roe is based on an earlier decision. Griswold vs. Connecticut. You wouldn’t think that you need a ruling by the Supreme Court to ensure that you can use a condom when you’re having sex with your husband or wife, in your own bedroom, without getting prosecuted; but that is what Griswold protects. You would be stunned what laws have been passed that deny you rights in your own bedroom. Until very recently, a locality could, if it wanted, pass a law against two adults having oral sex (thanks to a horrendous decision called Bowers vs. Hardwick, which was recently turned over).
I also learned that the court came close to overturning Roe in 1992, with the decision Planned Parenthood vs. Casey. He said that at the time, just 19 years later, none of the justices had the balls to throw out Roe.