Danger All Around In Roe v Wade Leak
– By Ed Kociela –
The august body known as the United States Supreme Court, which is supposed to apply neutral influence in interpreting our laws, eschew politics as they pertain to our judicial system, and ensure equality and personal freedoms, is in complete disarray as a stunned nation studies a draft ruling that would overturn the historic Roe v Wade decision of 1973.
The 98-page draft opinion, written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito in February, has been authenticated by Chief Justice John Roberts who quickly noted that the opinion is only a draft and does not represent the court’s final decision. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that the radical conservative wing, which took a dangerous 6-3 majority when Donald Trump brought Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett into the fold, will prevail, especially with the three new ideologues who are pulling SCOTUS oars against a public tide that shows about 60 percent of Americans favoring abortion in “all or most cases,” and 70 percent saying the decision should be made between a woman and her doctor.
This entire debate is the kind of thing that can push the usually tepid mid-term elections into a frenzy with copious amounts of teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing.
Of course, there is a lot of that already, and on so many levels.
First, there’s the fact that dire predictions of the direction the Trump puppet court would lean have come true as even the extremists view the DC-9 suspiciously at this point.
Then there’s the fact that even the staunchest conservatives have to admit, deep within their hollow little souls, that this would further deny women their rights and begs the question, “Who is next to have their rights and freedoms diminished?”
Most importantly, the brazen politicization of the Court has been exposed. Oh, for generations, we knew politics was a part of the SCOTUS fabric. But, not to such an extent. The leak of this draft is clearly politicizing one the most crucial decisions SCOTUS will ever make, or at least until it tackles the exegesis of the 2nd Amendment and the rednecks who claim you can only take their guns from their “cold, dead hands.”
The effect of overturning Roe v Wade would mean more than half of the states in the U.S. could quickly move to outlaw abortion at any level, leaving women little alternative.
That effect slams hardest against women of meager means who would not be able to travel out of state for the procedure. You would think conservatives would realize the impact on the economy, which they also seem to care a great deal about.
A five-year study by the University of California, San Francisco that followed 1,000 women seeking abortions found that those denied suffered significant financial hardship that resulted in an extended period of poverty. Their debt soared and their credit scores plummeted. They were, according to the study, less likely to have enough money for such basic needs as food, housing, and transportation.
Overturning Roe v Wade would also mean that abortion would become a state’s rights issue and, as we have seen, that can be a two-edged sword, particularly in states like Utah, Mississippi, and others — Bible Belt or otherwise — where the Legislatures are merely an arm of the predominant church. That represents neither equality nor the spirit of the Constitution, which is intended to not only protect an individual’s religious beliefs, but to protect them from religious beliefs that do not represent them.
I am not a strong proponent of state’s rights. I see no reason why there should be such inequities between federal, state, and local law. We are, after all, supposedly the United States of America, which should mean there is some uniformity in our rules and regulations. But, that just isn’t the case, whether it is access to medical care, legislation regarding worker’s rights, educational goals, or even the dark-age laws regarding cannabis and alcohol.
Then, there is the issue of hypocrisy.
The right-wing zealots who turned purple screaming “My body, my choice!” when it came to opposing masks and vaccines to combat COVID-19, are deaf when it comes to a woman’s right to say the same when it comes to abortion.
Finally, being opposed to abortion is not, I repeat NOT a pro-life decision. It is a pro-BIRTH decision. If it was pro-life then these radicals would be equal to the task of ensuring that children are well fed, housed, educated, and protected. Without that protection, they would simply be another mouth to feed on an empty wallet.
Like most everybody else, I was shocked when the draft opinion was leaked. That is something that just doesn’t happen with SCOTUS where the curtain is almost never pulled back to show us what is really going on. Roberts was quick to show his ire at the leak, directing the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into its source and calling it “an egregious breach of trust.”
I’m not quite sure what, if anything, can be done to the person who leaked the document. No laws were broken, so about all that could occur is censure of some sort. Congressional leaders are, of course, aghast and calling for a lynching. But, they are always aghast and calling for a lynching when something they don’t want to be revealed ends up in the public discussion, so I discount their outrage. As you could imagine, the level of outrage is tied to party affiliation.
The Democrats could, however, be spurred to action to enact legislation that would codify abortion rights before the court issues an opinion. It would be a tight schedule to get it all done before it recesses in June, but it certainly is doable because, let’s face it, this chasm runs deep.
In fact, on Wednesday, President Joe Biden expressed his outrage, saying, “This is about a lot more than abortion. What are the next things that are going to be attacked?” he told reporters at the White House. “Because this MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history.”
If ever there was a time when the Democrats needed to get up off their plump backsides and do something to head off the red storm, this is it.
It is uncomfortable to suggest Congress go head-to-head with SCOTUS to disarm it before it makes a ruling, but this court has gone completely off the rails.
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