On June 24, the Supreme Court announced its long-awaited Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, overturning Roe v. Wade by a 6–3 vote, ending fifty years of federally guaranteed abortion rights in the United States. Up to twenty-two states will soon have total or partial abortion bans, stripping the rights of millions of people and making the essential medical procedure far more dangerous and deadly for the poor. The same day the decision was released, tens of thousands of protesters mobilized across the country to defend free and safe abortion on demand without apology.

Chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, the Supreme Court has got to go” and “Fuck SCOTUS” broke out across protests in New York, rightly identifying the Supreme Court as an antidemocratic institution with the power to create and eliminate rights and laws outside the purview of popular democracy. The 6–3 far-right majority seems to have no qualms with wielding the court as a right-wing legislative body, and Justice Clarence Thomas has even argued that the court should roll back gay rights and access to contraception next. The idea that we’re effectively living in an oligarchical Christian theocracy is in many respects not far off. It is an obvious stretch to claim we live in a functioning democracy.

Just weeks ago, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez articulated that same sentiment, arguing: “It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to defend the stance that we live in a democracy, in a true one. . . .  We’re living in oligarchy that has its democratic moments.” She went on to outline the myriad ways the US political system enshrines corporate minoritarian rule and argued that certain structural factors block progressive change. She’s right.