The time is always right to do what is right.

Martin Luther King Jr.

In response to the federal demise of Roe v. Wade, Democrats are stressing the utmost importance of voting in the midterms. In a recent speech, President Joe Biden stated, “This fall, Roe is on the ballot. Personal freedoms are on the ballot.” Speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi stressed that “A woman’s right to choose — reproductive freedom — is on the ballot in November,” and VP Kamala Harris reiterated “You have the power to elect leaders who will defend and protect your rights.”

The Democratic mantra for the next four months will be urging people to vote for Democratic candidates who support a women’s right to choose, as well as for those candidates who will support stricter gun control laws and reducing carbon emissions. However, Democrats are divided over such issues as expanding the court, forgiving student debt, expanding Medicare, and tax reform.

It is true that our Democracy is in danger, and that Democrats need to retain the majority in the House and gain at least two seats in the Senate in November to achieve a majority and pass any legislation that would codify abortion rights. 

In light of this grim reality, I am a bit annoyed by the Democratic party.

Since the disastrous Supreme Court decision, I have received tons of emails and texts from various Democratic groups and coalitions asking me to donate to various candidates running in the midterms. For example, one email I received this week read “End the filibuster. Codify Roe v. Wade with a national law protecting abortion rights. Expand the Supreme Court. Stop this horrifying injustice in its tracks.” Then the email contained a link to donate various amounts of money to that candidate or organization. 

As a longtime Democrat, I will of course cast my vote in November, but frankly, I am offended by the barrage of emails and texts urging me to cast my ballot and send candidates money. I have donated plenty of dollars to various candidates nationwide, but I’m fed up. I want to see action, solutions, and firm policies that range from protecting a woman’s right to choose to reducing greenhouse emissions. I want to see the ultra-rich pay their fair share in taxes, I want Medicare for all, an assault weapons ban, free college, the separation of church and state, and the government out of my bedroom and my marriage.

I want my Democratic representatives to put their money where their mouth is.

It is patronizing to tell me to get out and vote when I’ve been doing it since I was 18. Perhaps what is most annoying is that Roe v. Wade could have been codified under both the Clinton administration and during Obama’s first term when Democrats held a majority in both houses.

Why didn’t Democrats put a woman’s right to choose into law when they had the chance?

I understand that in the past traditionally Democrats have tried to “reach across the aisle” with compromising diplomacy, and in many cases, it worked. For example, in 2014 Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and John McCain (R-AZ) struck a deal on legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand veterans’ access to health care and make it easier to fire VA officials for misconduct. Other examples include the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare, Social Security, as well as the Endangered Species Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Let’s not forget January 6th committee members Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinsinger (R-IL) who have joined forces with Democrats to get to the bottom of the insurrection.

However, times have changed with an increasingly radicalized GOP and a Supreme Court dominated by right-wing Justices who believe that anything not mentioned in the original Constitution as it was written by aristocratic white men in tights cannot be legally upheld by the Court.

The White House and many old-timers in the House and Senate worry about the legal constraints of the ruling and are concerned that taking more aggressive actions such as expanding the court and codifying Roe v. Wade will create a political backlash with moderates and undecided voters.

If we are to deter the erosion of our Democracy by far-right extremists fueled by white supremacy, white evangelical racism, and autocratic oligarchs, the Democratic party (and the Republican party) needs to step up and fight for what the majority of American people want.

For example, 61% of Americans support the legalization of abortion, six in 10 Americans support a ban on automatic weapons, 55% of Americans support Medicare for All, and 63% of Americans support free public college. Also, 93% of American voters say clean energy is important to the country’s energy future, 67% of Americans support a Freedom to Vote Act, 63% support term or age limits for Supreme Court justices, and 80% of Americans want laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination.

The time is now to do what is right.