Tracy, if you'd like to see what the US would be like under those circumstances, get a hold of Rain Without Thunder, a 1993 independent film. It was dismissed as "shrill", a "feminist screed", and "boring" when it first came out. It was chillingly prescient then (made my blood run cold the first time I watched it), and it's even more so now. I've been recommending it for years, as it shows all the ramifications of exactly the outcome you're talking about.

Seriously, check it out. Post about it on Broadsheet. Because it's a film that really SHOULD be resurrected. We need it more than ever now.

The right has moved on to Griswold v. Connecticut. They've always hated the right to privacy. Just think of the games they could play by repealing that. Not just birth control, but any sexual activity between consenting adults in the privacy of their bedrooms. It's already started with the "religious objection" provisions that allow pharmacists to object to dispensing birth control. It can only get worse under a McCain/Palin administration.

Not sure what Linda Hirshman's sources on the alleged personal rights violations by West German police are--"according to news stories and other accounts"?

From 1976 to 1992, (West) German law stated that abortions were illegal but exceptions were made for medical/psychological, social, and ethical reasons during the first three months. If two doctors documented the need for termination, the procedure was covered by health insurance or social security. The widespread opposition to this law at the time had as its goal the general decriminalization of all abortions. West German women went to the Netherlands or Denmark if they were unable to obtain the "indication" necessary for a legal abortion at home (some West German regions were/are more conservative than others and it could be difficult to impossible to find doctors locally).

I grew up in West Germany and remember the protests well but I've never heard of police-state type searches at the borders. That intro alone makes it hard to follow Hirshman's argumentation.

Speaking as a physician and a committed supporter of a woman's right to choose her own destiny, and someone who was around pre-Roe Vs. Wade, I can say without question that the scenario laid out here is not only possible, but quite probable, given the correct circumstances. It is absolutely chilling to me to think of going back to those days of back street illegal abortions, for that will most certainly be a direct effect.

The only way out of this for the good of all women's rights is to get more progressives in office, from school boards, mayors, to senate seat and presidents. We can lock the Right out of making decisions that effect the way women deal with life.

Don't underestimate the convictions of the God Squad. They really do believe in their silly superstitions, and they really do want the whole world to follow suit.

Yes, yes, but John McCain is not a member of the God Squad. He merely panders to them, and not very convincingly, as most members of said Squad will tell you if being honest.

I say this as a leftist atheist who has absolutely no love for McCain and would only vote for him if forced to at gunpoint while my family was being tortured in the next room.

On another note, I loved your "TaliBaptists" neologism! LOL I hope you don't mind if I start using it regularly in conversation. And if you ever need anyone to help you defend the women's clinics through force of arms, then rest assured that I'll be by your side with a smoking AK-47 and bandoliers strapped across my chest. Huzzah!

>> Repubs are serious about outlawing abortion!

>Just as serious as they are about finding Osama bin Laden.

>-- uptoolate

Oh they're definitely serious about finding Osama... they really need for him to cash his check so they can close out the books for September 2001.

Just as serious as they are about finding Osama bin Laden.

so, someone's wild speculations are supposed to be a valid argument nowadays? Let's be serious here. The next thing we know someone will come and say that the USA shouldn't have a Jewish president because he will rule from ISrael, or some other sort of similar crap. If you have to use this sort of rhetoric, why stop here? Why not say that McCain will force everyone to wear khakis as well? and dye their hair blonde? It is the logical next step from this crap. Stick with reality please, it's plenty scary as it is.

firstly, I'm gonna say that you are so right, tracy clark-flory! right about what will really happen if mc cain gets elected! i've been reading this in Ms. magazine for some time, about how one state will soon outlaw abortion;plus arrest any woman crossing over the state lines to get one; say from seymour, indiana to maybe buffalo new york. the connecticut, and massachusetts' , state troopers already do this up in VT and NH with the state liquor stores near the border!

secondly, are you ever right as to how easy it is to get RU486 online! as easy as it was for me, a transgender woman; to originally get my estradiol[ estrogen] and androgen blockers[ testosterone killers]. the thailand overseas pharmacy does not carry RU486, but many others surely do!

well at last check, there is hope coming over the horizon!! OBAMA is up in every national poll today, for the first time since " mrs. moose-asshole", palin, was made mc jerko's pawn in his game of checkers! even in majority-republican dominated florida! obama's up by 2 pts.!!mc cain's still the rising star in all those states that you mentioned,like MS and KS. of course, those 'operation rescue' folks must love mrs. palin there!

... the convictions of the God Squad. They really do believe in their silly superstitions, and they really do want the whole world to follow suit. They really do think that abortion is the slaughter of infants, and they don't think that minimizing abortion with contraception and education and such is acceptable. It's a good idea to make contingency plans for a worst-case scenario. Take the equipment and go underground. Re-establish the Jane network. Or perhaps stand and fight! I've sometimes imagined that I'll die inside a clinic, out of ammunition, making a last stand as the TaliBaptists overrun our position.

Some of us are pro-choice and shoot back.