In 1983 Gloria Steinem published a book called Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. Her essay collection reflected troubling issues that called for action at the time. The title of the book rings in my ears now as I contemplate outrageous acts that require rebellion again. The troubling issues before us are varied and wide-ranging. They must be addressed as we look to the future, which grows ever more worrisome. Here are some of those issues.
Let’s start with abortion. What happened to Kate Cox in Texas is the canary in the coalmine when it comes to women’s lives, reproductive health, and personal autonomy. Cox, a young mother sought an emergency abortion when she learned that her much wanted third pregnancy would not conclude with a viable child because of a serious anomaly that would cause the baby’s death and would risk Cox’s health, fertility, and life. A Texas court granted Cox’s request for an emergency abortion. Days later the state Supreme Court held up the lower court’s decision, extending the anxiety that Cox and her husband were enduring. Incredibly, the Republican Court ruled that the prior decision “lacked merit” while the state’s Attorney General warned several hospitals they would face legal consequences if they allowed the abortion. Cox fled her home state for the procedure.
At the same time, an anonymous woman in Kentucky pleaded for an abortion when her fetus had no heartbeat at eight weeks. (KY has a six-week window for abortion care). She too was denied and had to seek care in another state. Stories like these abound since the end of Roe v. Wade. They literally condemn women to serious health risks and possible death – from a party that calls itself pro-life.
Other states have attempted to restrict use of the FDA’s long approved drug Mifepristone, proven safe and effective as an abortifacient. The case will be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, putting hundreds if not thousands of women in harm’s way for lack of necessary reproductive healthcare.
Meanwhile, the slaughter of civilians in Gaza continues, with continuing support from the U.S. as the death toll reaches 20,000, nearly half of them children. The humanitarian crisis is inconceivable, with starvation, disease, homelessness, and imprisonment now weapons of war. Over 100 Israeli hostages remain in custody, possibly in tunnels that could be bombed or flooded. How does it end when a likely new generation of Hamas fighters takes over because of failed or absent diplomacy to negotiate a viable, peaceful solution in which Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live side by side with dignity, purpose, security, and hope. How does the carnage end when politicians remain entrenched while the death and degradation of people and nations continue and antisemitism and Islamophobia flourish?
Along with all that, the world faces an immigration crisis such as we’ve never seen. Migration patterns and mass exodus to escape violence, crushing poverty, and now climate-driven hunger. can’t be stopped by walls, guns, indefinite detention or throwing small children back in the water. Nor can immigration end because families are torn apart and bused to already overflowing cities. Current policies and practices are not only inhumane; they are unstainable.
In the face of political crises and a climate crisis that continues to be ignored or minimized by political talking heads, the situation grows ever more dire. As the Secretary General of the United Nations has said, “Climate change is the defining crisis of our time, and it is happening even more quickly than we feared. But we are far from powerless in the face of this global threat.” According to a recent UN Report, “No corner of the globe is immune from the devastating consequences of climate change. Rising temperatures are fueling environmental degradation, natural disasters, weather extremes, food and water insecurity, economic disruption, conflict, and terrorism. … The Arctic is melting, coral reefs are dying, oceans are acidifying, and forests are burning. It’s clear that business as usual is not good enough. As the cost of climate change reaches irreversible highs, bold collective action is clearly called for.” The continuing failure to act adequately and urgently to save our planet cries out for rebellion.
These few issues are the tip of the iceberg. Add to that the real and imminent threat of encroaching autocracy. Everyday Donald Trump reveals his plans to be a full-blown dictator, and it won’t be for just a day. He relishes the idea of an autocracy run amok in which he is in complete control with the support of obedient henchmen. Free speech will be a thing of the past, and protesters will be hauled off to jail. Schools will abide by state sanctioned curricula and books will be banned if not burned. There will be detention camps, state run media, massive deportation, political arrests and imprisonment, forced childbearing, and more – the kind of things dictators love and never let go of. If that doesn’t call for rebellious acts, I don’t know what does.
We can hope voters embrace acts of rebellion at the polls in November, but we can’t bank on it, nor is it enough. Other political actions and policies, and the absence of good governance, (e.g., gun legislation, accessible housing, healthcare, voting rights) call for non-violent rebellion now through to election day. As Bette Davis said in All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelt. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” In our case, it’s going to be a bumpy – and frightening – year. We clearly need to “make good trouble.”