Liberal firebrand 32-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-.N.Y.) warned today, after last night’s leak of Associate Justice Samuel Alito draft opinion ending Roe v. Wade, that the Supreme Court was coming after “Gay Marriage and civil rights.” No one knows yet whether the leaked opinion reflects the conservative majority on the Court or will actually overturn Roe v. Wade. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, 67, expressed his outrage over the leak, either coming from a law clerk or one of the Court’s long-term employees. Roberts vowed to get to the bottom of the leak, ordering the Court’s Marshall to investigate. Whatever the investigation finds, pro-choice citizens aren’t happy with the prospects of losing the right to abortions. But more importantly, end Roe v. Wade would end a women’s right to choose what to do with her own body with the privacy of her doctor.
AOC raises the issue of Obergefell v. Hodges, where the Supreme Court ruled June 26, 2015 that same-sex marriage is the law of the land. Raising same-sex marriage or other civil rights issues, AOC casts aspersions on the current conservative court, something she wouldn’t do if progressive controlled the High Court. “As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion—they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on which included gay marriage + civil rights,” AOC tweeted, knowing that there’s no connection between 1973 Roe v. Wade and 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges. Today’s conservatives have no vested interest in overturning Obergefell v. Hodges. Since 1973, pro-life groups have taken up legalized abortion, when, as AOC points out, it’s really about medical privacy. Most doctors and health care workers don’t pass judgment on anyone seeking an abortion.
Whatever the draft opinion attributed to Alito, Roberts pointed out its not the final ruling, only one man’s opinion that may or may not reflect the votes of other justices. Chances are that other conservative justices could easily follow suit, claiming that Roe v. Wade, as Alito says, was wrongly ruled from the beginning. Alito’s claim that Roe v. Wade or 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey have no grounding the Constitutional law. All justices know that the Constitution has to be tested by its provisions and amendments, certainly applying in Roe v. Wade with respect to medical privacy and decision-making. Conservatives argue that abortion, regardless of the time of pregnancy, kills an unborn child’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Of course no framer of the Constitution considered an unborn child as holding the same Constitutional rights as someone already born.
AOC and other Democrats have already started using the expected reversal of Roe v. Wade to galvanize the base for the Midterm elections. Democrats looked down and out with inflation hurting the economy, consumers reeling and the nation at war in Ukraine. President Joe Biden’s abysmal approval ratings reflect that more than Republicans don’t like his management of the country. Ending Roe v. Wade could be the lightening rod Democrats need to mount a comeback in the Midterm elections. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) ranted today about being deceived when she interviewed former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all told her that Roe v. Wade was settle law. Collins voted for their nominations knowing that the High Court would revisit Roe v. Wade at some point in the near future.
Collins has no one to blame but herself for approving Trump’s appointees, knowing that they all leaned conservative. Senate approval hearings have turned into a dog-and-pony show with nominees refusing, under the Ginzberg Rule, to discuss future court rulings. So when Collins complains she was duped she should have known better that reconsidering Roe v. Wase was a real possibility. But the problems justices have in deciding Roe v. Wade is whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in cases involving medical decision-making under the First or any other Amendment. “Alito’s draft opinion explicitly criticizes Lawernce v. Texas [legalizing sodomy] or Obergefill v. Hodges [legalizing same-sex marriage],” said reporter Mark Joseph Stern. “He [Alito] says that, like abortion, these decisions protect phony rights that are not ‘deeply rooted in history,’” said Stern.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on the Senate to end the filibuster to pass legislation with a simple majority [50 + 1] to codify Roe v. Wade in federal legislation. Bernie and AOC know that they have detractors in Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Krysten Sinema (D-Az.) who strongly oppose changing filibuster rules. But whatever the obstacles, Biden urged Congress to work on national legislation to guarantee as woman’s right to choose abortion. Democrats have their cause celebre for the fall campaign if, in fact, the High Court rules to reverse Roe v. Wade. Whatever happens in the future to same-sex marriage or any other hot topic has nothing to do with the Supreme Court’s ruling to continue or reverse Roe v. Wade. Important as Roe v. Wade is, it pales in comparison to world peace. Biden’s policy on the Ukraine War has pushed the world to the brink of WW III.
