Legal experts are responding to the bombshell news from Politico, which reports the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to fully overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that found a right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution. The Court has not released its opinion.
Politico has published what it reports is the first draft of the opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito. A leak from the Supreme Court of this magnitude is unprecedented.
“This opinion says states can criminalize abortion, with no rape or incest exception,” writes Neal Katyal, law professor, Supreme Court lawyer, and a former US Acting Solicitor General. It is exactly the hardline position I’ve been saying the Court is going to impose for the last 3 years. It will set women back in profound ways. Congress must act ASAP.”
Law professor Yuvraj Joshi almost mocks Justice Alito, pointing out that in the draft opinion he says other rights like same-sex marriage and even same-sex sex should not be affected by this ruling killing abortion, while mentioning those specific rulings:
“Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” writes Alito J., while listing Obergefell v. Hodges, Lawrence v. Texas, and Griswold v. Connecticut in close proximity.
This Court will *not* stop with the right to abortion. https://t.co/mmHJxmsFrL
— Yuvraj Joshi (@yuvrajjoshi) May 3, 2022
The Deputy National Political Director of the ACLU and the Director of its Justice Division makes clear the US now has a “human rights crisis.” He also states he expects the opinion will become the “foundation for overturning LGBT rights, the right to contraception, and more.”
Reading the leaked decision makes it clear that this is about so much more than overturning Roe, which in-and-of-itself is a human rights crisis. This decision is written in a way that will become the foundation for overturning LGBT rights, the right to contraception, and more. pic.twitter.com/R88J1bH7fB
— Udi Ofer (@UdiACLU) May 3, 2022
Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern appears to agree:
Alito’s draft opinion explicitly criticizes Lawrence v. Texas (legalizing sodomy) and Obergefell v. Hodges (legalizing same-sex marriage). He says that, like abortion, these decisions protect phony rights that are not “deeply rooted in history.” https://t.co/4690k0KG1F pic.twitter.com/urF7A02INU
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) May 3, 2022
Former Associate White House Counsel, now the founder and Executive Director of Protect Democracy remind that just this morning The Washinton Post reported the GOP is planning to pass a federal law making abortion illegal nationwide.
In light of tonight’s news, go back and read this morning’s.
As SCOTUS prepares to overturn Roe, they claim it’s so states can decide. But as @CAKitchener reported this am, the GOP is planning to not let that happen by imposing a national ban. Overturning Roe is just step one. https://t.co/GkfI9GTe7M
— Ian Bassin
(@ianbassin) May 3, 2022
The post ‘Human Rights Crisis’: Legal Experts Say Bombshell SCOTUS Abortion Opinion Will Be ‘Foundation for Overturning LGBT Rights’ appeared first on The New Civil Rights Movement.