How the Abortion Rights Movement Parallels the Civil Rights Movement

I received a letter when I was a mayor from a wealthy and prominent woman in my city. She was complaining about my advocacy of protecting the local abortion clinic from protestors. In the letter, she lamented about not joining the civil rights movement of the 50's/60's. She thought of Forced Birth protesting, trying to take rights away from women, as "fighting for rights." It was, of course, the opposite. There are still Forced Birth fans who are confused about this. 

When, 60 years ago, the Roe decision made abortion legal, a kind of equilibrium developed that allowed incremental victories against abortion. These were the stupid showing of ultrasound videos, waiting periods, etc. But, these annoyances were not enough for Forced Birth zealots. They wanted more. They made a big mistake of overreaching. By overturning Roe they went too far and the backlash is making abortion rights stronger than ever. Gay rights became stronger by anti gay operatives arresting gay people in New York City (Stonewall). This and Bible-thumping preachers drove legalization of gay marriage. 

The Montgomery, AL bus boycott in December of 1955 triggered the fame of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and the decades-long march of civil rights. These events now seem inevitable to us. Maybe they were not inevitable. Looking at the details that led up to Rosa Parks (I heard her speak in person) refusing to give up her seat on a public bus makes one wonder if segregationists might have held some ground even to this day if they, like the Forced Birth zealots, had not overreached.

We all know there were lynchings and murders of black people by white people in history. Emitt Till was murdered only a few months before the bus boycott started. But Emmitt Till's murder, the most vicious of crimes, did not set off the big civil rights movement. Segregation of Montgomery buses, not in itself a vicious crime, generated gatherings of black people in churches. Because there was a meeting, someone had to be in front. Martin Luther King had big audiences and the meetings were covered by the press. Other black and white people became energized and the movement spread across the country.

What if segregation leaders at the time had had been smarter and said, "Look, we know lots of you don't like to sit next to a Negro on the bus. We know, too, you like to feel superior and order Negroes around. But if we segregate the buses it will give Negro activists a big audience, they will integrate everything and we are toast. Just put up with integrated buses and keep quiet about it."? No big audience, perhaps no Martin Luther King. 

To me, overturning Roe has given rise to state-wide votes that in turn provide big audiences like Martin Luther King had after Rosa Parks was arrested. Both right wing groups overreached and delivered themselves into the hands their enemies.