May
8
A Primer on SCOTUS, Abortion, and the Leaked Opinion Draft
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” — Justice Samuel Alito (in the leaked opinion draft)
If you are like me, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by all of the articles from the last few days talking about SCOTUS, the leaked opinion draft, and the abortion debate in America. I finally buckled down and read several, and I thought it might be helpful to link my readers to the top 5 (or so) that I found most helpful. I will also provide a summary or snippet(s) from each (by the respective author unless otherwise noted).
But first, allow me to point you to this post I wrote earlier this year, which explains the case currently before the Supreme Court, along with possible rulings and implications.
“Who Leaked?” (by Allahpundit at Hot Air)
This article evaluates the two main positions — either a) the leaked opinion draft came from a liberal/progressive “to pressure the court to change its decision” OR b) the leaked draft came from a conservative “to lock the court in to the arguments in the draft decision.” Allahpundit asks some good questions (e.g., Why now? What about the timing?) and makes good points. Personally, I don’t take a stance either way, though I agree that it was probably done by an ideologically-motivated Court clerk.
“5 Things Conservatives Should Know About SCOTUS Draft to Overturn Roe v. Wade” (by Warner Todd Huston at The Western Journal)
“Many Christians turned up their nose at Donald Trump. They felt he was too flawed as a man to support. But now these same anti-Trump Christians have Donald Trump to thank for torpedoing this abortion ruling that Christians have wanted to be ended for 50 years.”
“The left has spent 50 years trying to fool America into thinking that every woman wants abortion protected and that abolition of abortion is somehow an act of subjugation of women. Yet they have spent the same amount of time refusing to let the people vote on the issue. They have wanted the courts to force abortion on America and have wanted to avoid the voting booth at all costs.”
“Fact-Checking 6 Outrageous Claims About Leaked Supreme Court Draft Overturning Roe v. Wade” (by Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal)
“The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution does not create or protect any right to abortion, nor can that right be found elsewhere in the Constitution. In reality, enforcement of the Ninth Amendment would not protect abortion as the president has argued but would instead reduce the federal government to its constitutional limits — something a big-government president might not like.” — Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation
“[T]o ensure that our decision is not misunderstood or mischaracterized, we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right. Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.” — Justice Samuel Alito (in the leaked opinion draft)
“In February, Democrats brought up a procedural vote on the bill to codify Roe, called the Women’s Health Protection Act, which died after garnering just 48 votes, well short of 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., voted with Republicans to defeat a motion to begin debate. Six other senators didn’t vote on the motion…. Moreover, two pro-choice Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have been ardent supporters of protecting the Senate filibuster.”
“As Roe Hangs In The Balance, An Ugly Class Blindspot Distorts Abortion Discourse” (by Emily Jashinsky at The Federalist)
“The left is correct that wealthy women in a post-Roe world will be able to get abortions with greater ease than women in lower income brackets: they can afford travel, childcare, and time away from work more easily. But as a demographic, they’re also more supportive of abortion, so the argument that overturning Roe is an attack on the working class is not sound.”
“The End of the Road for Roe?” (by Ben Shapiro at AFA)
“For the Left, abortion represents the power to deny the objective value of human life; it represents willingness to engage in the highest form of self-serving moral relativism. Absence of abortion presents the possibility that actions have moral consequence, that the value of life is not an arbitrary and subjective one, that women and men have duties to their children – all of which challenges their basic worldview. To have that logic subjected to the voters is an indignity the Left cannot bear … and they will use every tool in their arsenal to prevent that possibility.”
It isn’t comprehensive, of course, but I hope that helps. If you are interested, I have a few more pro-life articles linked here.
