Supreme Court Justices Just Overturned Roe: Be Ready for the "Night of Rage"

Roe is dead. Things are about to get spicy.

The Supreme Court justices actually overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling enshrining abortion as a constitutional right, which has triggered a number of previously illegal anti-abortion laws around the country.

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1

13 states have trigger laws that go into effect now — or will go into effect very quickly — that will ban abortion: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Attorney General Ken Paxton @KenPaxtonTX

SCOTUS just overruled Roe & Casey, ending one of the most morally & legally corrupt eras in US history. Praise the Lord. Abortion is now illegal in Texas. And today I’m closing my office—and making it an annual holiday—as a memorial to the 70 million lives lost bc of abortion.

This has a lot of long-term consequences, but in the here and now: people are pissed, and there is a high likelihood of riots and violence. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism advisory anticipating the ruling:

In the coming months, DHS expects the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets. These targets could include public gatherings, faith-based institutions, schools, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents.

Yeah, it’s going to get serious.

Manu Raju @mkraju

On way to the court

Since Roe, most abortion-related violence has come from the right-wing in the form of abortion clinic bombings and murders of doctors. But with Roe now being dead, the script may flip.

The group to watch is Jane’s Revenge, which Wikipedia describes as a “American far-left extremist group, which has perpetrated and threatened violent attacks in the name of defending abortion rights.” Jane’s Revenge is thought to be behind many firebombings of crisis pregnancy centers.

Jane’s Revenge hasn’t issued an official communique since June 15th, but they said then:

Your thirty days expired yesterday. We offered an honourable way out. You could have walked away. Now the leash is off. And we will make it as hard as possible for your campaign of oppression to continue. We have demonstrated in the past month how easy and fun it is to attack. We are versatile, we are mercurial, and we answer to no one but ourselves. We promised to take increasingly drastic measures against oppressive infrastructures. Rest assured that we will, and those measures may not come in the form of something so easily cleaned up as fire and graffiti. Sometimes you will see what we do, and you will know that it is us. Sometimes you will think you merely are unlucky, because you cannot see the ways which we interfere in your affairs. But your pointless attempts to control others, and make life more difficult, will not be met passively. Eventually your insurance companies, and your financial backers will realize you are a bad investment.

There are also apparently flyers posted around DC promising a “night of revenge,” but again we can’t be sure if Jane’s Revenge has been posting them or they’re a right-wing hoax. Literally anyone could print flyers like these, and we don’t even know who is behind Jane’s Revenge. For all we know it could be an elaborate disinformation campaign.

In any case, anticipate general, unorganized chaos like riots and mass shootings. There may also be additional attacks on abortion providers in areas where it’s still legal, with right-wing extremists bolstered by the ruling.

Here is my advice to you for the immediate present:

• Avoid cities. If you can bug out for a few days, do it now.

• If you’re stuck in the city, stay off the streets. Stay home.

• When traveling through a city, try to stay on the outskirts and away from central areas.

• Even outside of cities, try to stay away from stores and dense areas until we have a better picture of the reaction.

• If you have to go out, carry pepper spray.

• If you carry a firearm — which may not be the worst idea — keep it concealed unless your life is on the line. In fact, that’s probably all the more reason to stay out of the thick of it.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, “Screw you, I’m no coward, I’m going to go out and [protect property | protest injustice | knock skulls together | be gay do crimes]” or whatnot. That’s your choice, but understand that there could be consequences. Do you want to be the next Kyle Rittenhouse? Sure, he was acquitted, but at what cost?

Regardless of how you feel about today’s ruling, our goal here at Unprepared is keeping you safe.

If you do venture out to protest, go home before dark. If there will be riots and violence, that’s when you can most likely expect it.

If you attend a church, especially one in a major urban area, you need to put the word out. Churches are going to be targeted by Jane’s Revenge and other angry people, especially Catholic churches since the Supreme Court decision was largely a Catholic one.

Of course, every church is different. Some have security details, some have elder councils that make decisions, some are ruled by a single pastor. Whoever is the authority there, you need to discuss an action plan with them and make sure there is one. Even a small amount of deterrence, like motion lights or a rotation of guards, could make a big difference.