The whole world waited with bated breath on Thursday morning for the outcome of the historical election between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump. In one of the darkest mornings in America’s history, it was announced that Donald Trump had won the presidency. Again. A man who described the woman he was running against as “retarded” only 38 days ago, is now the leader of the free world.
I wish I could say I was surprised. A twice impeached rapist who incited a domestic terror attack on the Capitol sounds like the perfect candidate for presidency. But guess what? It was white women who voted him in. According to the exit polls, 52% of white women voted for Trump. 52% of white women voted against their own freedom, livelihoods and rights to their own bodies. Almost half of white American women over 65 decided that the freedoms they had enjoyed all their lives are not owed to their daughters, nieces and granddaughters.
The man who killed Roe
While continuing to constantly brag about being the man who killed Roe v Wade, when appointing the Supreme Court Justices who historically overturned the law which allowed safe and legal access to abortion for women in the United States, Trump has been incredibly shifty about whether he will ban abortion through a federal law, which would be effective for the whole country.
Now that Roe v Wade has been overturned, the jurisdiction of whether abortion is legal or not falls onto specific state leaders. The situation is complicated because after ignoring and dodging the question of banning abortion at rallies and press conferences, Trump posted on X(formally twitter) and his own social network platform TruthSocial that:
“EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT”.
Luckily for America, neither the Republican or Democratic party hold enough power in the government to force a federal law into place, so while Trump assures us he doesn’t support a federal abortion ban, he never mentioned the one that is technically currently in place. In 1873, a federal law called The Comstock Law was brought into place. This banned the distribution of any abortion pills or abortion-related paraphernalia like speculums or dilators to be sent in the post. While this became void due to the implementation of Roe, it was never technically formally repealed. This would make the safe and legal transportation of abortion services virtually impossible.
Former Solicitor General of Texas and staunch anti-abortionist, Jonathan F. Mitchell said “we don’t need a Federal abortion ban when Comstock is on the books”. Unsurprising when you learn that his is the mind behind the Texas Heartbeat Act which has been in effect since 2021, which makes abortion illegal from the moment cardiac activity is detected in the womb, this can happen as early as six weeks, one missed period, before a woman in Texas is forced to carry her baby to term. Mitchell warned anti-abortion groups to “keep their mouths shut [about Comstock] as much as possible until the election” in order to not draw attention to the law that had slipped through the net.
Planned Parenthood, the federally-funded non-profit that provides reproductive and sexual healthcare to Americans like contraception, abortions and STI management, is under threat yet again. During Trump’s first term as President, he issued a rule to limit the amount of federal money that goes into these clinics. This was immediately reversed during the Biden administration, but the reduced funding from the Trump administration forced many clinics to close, meaning less access to sexual health education and safe reproductive healthcare. It seems as though Trump is back to finish what he started.
Project 2025
Project 2025 is the American Conservative movement’s detailed roadmap describing the next Republican president’s presidency. It talks of not only having more political power in the Department of Justice but also removing FDA approval of abortion drug Mifepristone, ending funding for stem-cell research, banning contraceptives, eliminating the Department of Education, cutting free-school meals and limiting funding to universities who enrol ‘illegal aliens’. Not to mention rolling back a considerable number of climate change initiatives, including further investment in oil and petroleum.
It’s the blueprint for a maniacal dictator and while Trump claims to have no knowledge of it, many high-powered government officials that he appointed have written it, as well as the plan for the potential Republican president being focused heavily on trade, which seems incredibly similar to Trump. Now he is president-elect, it may only be a matter of time before Project 2025 is wheeled in in a Trump-shaped Trojan Horse.
What does this mean for women then?
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s really bad. It looks like female reproductive rights are going to be hit the hardest, but who knows what the ‘Christian’ right-wing Trump state will go after next?
As a white woman myself, I was devastated and frankly angry that the majority of white women in America would rather vote for a rapist convicted of 34 felonies, than an accomplished woman of colour. But because we are not like them, we will stand with the women of America and do our best to support them through what may be one of the most turbulent periods of their lives.
And I’m just saying that Plan B has a four-year shelf life, so if someone were to stock up now, they could see themselves through to the next presidential election…