Thom Hartmann: Is Obamacare the Right's new Roe v. Wade?

[thomhartmann]

If you think the Supreme Court's ruling that Obamacare is constitutional is the end of the debate, think again. This is one of those cases where history has a HUGE lesson to teach us. Back before 1973, abortion was illegal nationwide. I'm old enough to remember a girl in my highschool in Lansing, Michigan who, in 1967, died of sepsis from an illegal abortion. One day she was there, and a week later she was dead. Her dad worked at Oldsmobile and had health insurance, but it didn't cover abortions because they were illegal. The rich girls had their parents get them a D&C operation in the hospital, and everybody knew that when a 17-year-old girl was "getting a D&C," it was code for an early-term abortion. But this girl's parents didn't have the money to pay for a hospital procedure that wasn't covered by insurance, so she tried the coat hanger method, and died. Many people old enough to remember 1973 can tell you similar stories.

Back in 1973, many, many Americans knew similar stories - for example, Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell had a clerk whose girlfriend died from a botched self-administered abortion, and Powell helped him cover it up. Which is why when the Supreme Court struck down the nation's anti-abortion laws in 1973 in Roe v. Wade, well over half of Americans agreed with the decision. So when Roe v. Wade was decided, Democrats figured that was the end of the issue. The Supreme Court had spoken. Let's move ahead, they said, and deal with bigger issues, like the environment or trade policy or ending the war in Vietnam - which, by the way, wasn't ended until two years later in 1975. Democrats figured the controversy around Roe v. Wade would soon settle down because, after all, the Chief Justice, Warren Burger - who had just been on the bench four years - was a longtime conservative and Republican activist who'd helped Dwight D. Eisenhower win the White house. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1969 by Richard Nixon, who'd been Eisenhower's Vice President and known Burger for decades. And Burger had voted mostly in a conservative direction - for example, in 1972, albeit in the minority, he argued hard and voted to keep the Death Penalty legal in the United States.

But then in 1973, Roe v. Wade came before the Court. And conservative Nixon appointee Chief Justice Warren Berger voted, in a split decision, that abortion during the first three months of pregnancy should become legal in the US. Pundits and Republicans were shocked that the Nixon appointee for Chief Justice had joined with the liberals on the bench, and there was lots of huffing and puffing, but, again, liberals figured it was a done deal and that would be that, "Live with it, right wingers," was the mantra of the day. But immediately after the decision, conservative politicians started using opposition to the Supreme Court's decision - and opposition to abortion - to make political hay - and to raise huge piles of money. For a century the phrase "right to life" had described the anti-death-penalty movement, but the National Right to Life Committee incorporated in 1973 in response to Roe v. Wade - and today pretty much nobody remembers that the phrase used to refer to the movement to stop the death penalty.

Instead of going away, as Democrats thought it would, the newly-birthed "right to life" movement to overturn the Supreme Court decision - or to legislate around it - grew into a powerful national force. It became the litmus test for Republican-appointed justices to the Supreme Court, and even to federal appeals courts. Similarly, opposition to Roe v. Wade became the litmus test for Republican candidates for elective office. Pretty much the only strongly pro-choice Republican in the Senate, for example, is Olympia Snowe - and she's resigning this year! And, most importantly, the anti-abortion forces have raised hundreds of billions of dollars for the Republican party over the years.

Which brings us to this week's Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare. Democrats and the President are basking in the glow of winning a Supreme Court case. The President even made a statement encouraging us all to move on from this debate, not to relitigate the past, and instead focus on bringing jobs back to America. Progressives are breathing a sigh of relief, thinking the issue is settled and over. The issue is not over. Mark my words, this is the beginning of a generational battle. There's no such thing as a perfect health care system - and Obamacare isn't, either. There will be people who get bad care or even die from mistakes in the system - and the Republicans will make them as iconic as Terry Schiavo. Every little failure or problem will be magnified a hundredfold.

"Repeal Obamacare" will be the battlecry for Republicans for the next twenty years or longer. You think not? It's already started. Michelle Bachmann was on TV this morning encouraging governors to refuse to implement the state insurance exchanges - and Scott Walker has already said he's not going along with Obamacare. The former head of the Michigan Republicans, in a candid moment that he later walked back, wondered out loud if this decision meant it was time for an "armed insurrection" Mitt Romney has raised nearly $5 million since the decision came down, and, as we speak, groups are forming all over the country to raise money to fight Obamacare. Democrats - wake up! This is going to be massive.

And, just like with abortion, the Republicans will never make a real and serious effort to do away with Obamacare because they know it will horrify most Americans. But year after year they'll be waving the bloody shirt of their opposition to Obamacare, and, just like with abortion, this will flip elections from city councils to Congress and the White House. Get ready - the storm has just begun.

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