By Sophie Cao
The Constitution begins with the phrase “We the people” and with it, the American government establishes our defining democratic process. On the outside, America truly appears to have one of the highest functioning democracies in the world. After all, there are checks and balances between the three branches of government, amendments protecting individual rights to free speech, no religious obligations, local governments, state governments, and federal governments–– all with policymakers elected by voters. Additionally, there is a multi-party political system in America, which gives voices to a wide range of political opinions.
However, the pillars of democracy in the United States are gradually crumbling apart as a result of two main gaps. One gap in the democratic process is that the judges in the Supreme Court aren’t as impartial as they’re supposed to be. They have the exact same stance as either the Democrats or Republicans which, since they aren’t even voted in, undermines the triangle of power. The Supreme Court has become a minion of the various political parties that govern the United States. Currently, the composition is 6-3 (Republican to Democratic).
One classic example is the Roe v. Wade case. Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court Case, protecting a woman’s ability to control her body; it protects her right to choose whether she wants to deliver her baby. Access to abortion protects her liberty, her human rights and her control over her body. Currently, in the U.S., some states allow abortion while others don’t. Roe v. Wade touches on religion, human right’s and there are often clear partisan divides. For example, a survey conducted by Pew Research said 80 percent of Democrat participants said abortion should be legal whereas 35 percent of Republican participants said abortion should be legal (Pew, 2021).
Abortion is currently legal in some states while banned in other states. The abortion difference is not a good bipartisan compromise. This is because it presents barriers for low-income citizens to access abortion when they are the ones who need it the most. For example: If a low-income woman living in Texas wants to get an abortion, she would have to pay hefty fees to fly to a hospital, pay for the abortion fee, pay for the hotel or hospital fee and pay for the flight back. This is not a small sum of money. But, if she is unable to have an abortion, then, she will face psychological pains after giving birth to a child isn’t ready to have, medically, physically, or emotionally
The pain doesn’t end once she returns home. Governments, her family, co-workers, and others will poke at her personal privacy, and she will experience the countless implications of raising a child she is not ready to have. The word “liberty” in the 14th Amendment is an overarching term that includes privacy in it. With all that said, banning abortion takes away a woman’s control of her body, her liberty, and her human rights.
The fact that six men can determine whether this right exists or not, is unfathomably undemocratic. 70 percent of the American population supports Roe or allowing a woman to have a choice (Pew, 2021). This non-unanimous agreement on abortion is one gap in America’s pillars of democracy.
The second gap is that many of the laws passed do not give a voice to the minorities and low-income communities that will be most directly impacted by laws and legislation.
Despite young people, progressives, and BIPOC mobilizing to elect Joe Biden as President of the United States he has not fulfilled his promises of immediate climate action. As wealthy countries and successful businesses pour carbon dioxide into the air and warm our shared atmosphere, low-income communities and countries bear the brunt of it. The act of dumping carbon dioxide in the air warms our earth. Low-income communities are struggling to meet their needs such as food, water, electricity, and clothing— there is no part in their budget that can pay for climate change, including increased air conditioning bills. As a result, many low-income communities suffer from heat-related issues such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, hyperthermia, increased infant mortality rates, and much more.
The heat crisis does not affect all equally. Instead, it targets African American communities. Columbia University’s Climate School states “African Americans are three times more likely than whites to live in old, crowded or inferior housing; residents of homes with poor insulation and no air conditioning are particularly susceptible to the effects of increased heat.” (Columbia Climate School, 2020) Despite all the reformations and attempts to make Black communities more “equal” to predominantly white ones, it falls short. None of these low-income communities has full control over the supposed shared land, instead what was the “shared” land has become the land of the top of the pyramid; the very few wealthy individuals that control most of Earth’s lands. It is like taking away your property right just because of your race, wealth or socioeconomic factor.
The clear correlation between race and wealth to privileges and power is continuously making an impact on the pillars of America’s democracy. Human and Constitutional rights are being taken away right before our eyes. The bans on abortion to “protect the infant” only ruins the mother’s life. The grief and guilt faced by the mother, when unable to care for a child only because she couldn’t get an abortion when necessary is also seen in the low-income Black communities regarding the climate crisis. Black Americans cannot control what land they live on because they do not have the voice, power, privilege, or wealth to speak out against harmful power plants built right before their eyes or the distant, corporate puppeteers of our political system. American governance promotes far too many Democracy gaps that will always hit the oppressed harder than anyone else. The gaps must be mended if we truly wish to become a nation with liberty and justice for all
References
Cho, R. (2020, September 22). Why Climate Change is an Environmental Justice Issue. Columbia Climate School. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/09/22/climate-change-environmental-justice/
Environment & Climate Justice. (n.d.). NAACP.org. https://naacp.org/know-issues/environmental-climate-justice
Galston, W., & Kamack, E. (2022, January 4). Is democracy failing and putting our economic system at risk? Brookings.edu. https://www.brookings.edu/research/is-democracy-failing-and-putting-our-economic-system-at-risk/
Hartig, H. (2021, May 6). About six-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Pew Research. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/
The Right of Privacy. (n.d.). Law2Umkc. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%2C%20however%2C%20beginning,procreation%2C%20marriage%2C%20and%20termination%20of
Roe v. Wade. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
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