Depending upon your point of view today is a day of celebration or a day of infamy. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today issued an opinion nullifying the previous court rulings of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA v. Casey. Regardless of your feelings, opinions, and beliefs, today is as important a day in the history of the Court as it was in 1955 when SCOTUS ruled in Brown v. Board of Education overturning their earlier opinion in Plessey v. Ferguson. That earlier decision had allowed the states to continue to discriminate against the African-American minority by creating a “separate but equal” standard of services. In truth, there was never anything equal about those services, ranging from “whites only” fountains up to “whites only” schools.
The questions the earlier court failed to address in Roe and Casey was the grounds for those courts to decide on whose needs were protected by the Constitution, and whether or not abortion was, in fact, a constitutionally guaranteed right. Interestingly in Roe, the state of Texas argued the rights of the fetus was protected under the due process restrictions of the 14th Amendment. The court rejected this and refused to seriously consider the rights of the unborn. They set a standard that assumed a fetus in the first trimester was neither viable nor alive. They went so far as to point out some religions don’t believe life starts until birth. That has been the standard those who support abortion have lived with for the past 50-years.
Casey successfully sought to expand the length of pregnancy where a woman could request an abortion on demand, but without any real review of the correctness of Roe. This court has found the arguments in both Roe and Casey are not so convincing that the judgement of the courts should be the final determination of when, and for who abortions are performed. With Dobbs they return the right of determination back to the states -- where the people as a whole can decide through their elected representatives what they want to support.
The one thing that really frustrates me is the lack of self-awareness of people who’ve been in charge of the nation since Roe v. Wade. It’s as if they don’t understand how this government is supposed to work. In 1864, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation it was only for the 11-states of the Confederacy. There were four border states that still had slaves. Slavery didn’t officially end until we ratified the 13th Amendment on Dec 6, 1865. The people who support abortion had 50-years to take any decision out of the hands of the court by making a woman’s right absolute with an amendment. They didn’t.
Of course, for the easily outraged this is pure and simple fascism. Returning the ability to decide what is right for the people of a state to the elected politicians of the state? Totally unacceptable, who can trust those people to decide things? That’s why we have all those smart politicians in Washington who are routinely elected and reelected for life. We are slowly abandoning the ideal of Federalism, to be ruled by the Jacobin mob in DC. What is so funny is this is actually what fascism would look like, but whatever?
I’ve been told some of the people who know me are so upset by this ruling they are emotionally broken, but thankfully live in states who are good with abortion. Some are threatening to move to other countries, as if restrictions on abortion don’t exist there, and some will join in with the movement of the mobs to attack those who support the lives of the unborn. It is funny how people who think killing of children in a school is terrible, but limiting the killing of a potential life is worthy of violence.
There is a severe thunderstorm outside my window right now, and I am afraid one will grow throughout our nation as the Biden Administration and the Democrats in government condemn the actions of the court, argue for its abolishment, and look aside as domestic terrorists attack those who they disagree with.
