So, Roe is gone. It is official. Dobbs v. Jackson is law of the land. Net-net, this is a good thing for America. The Constitution does not mandate States permit abortion. The Supreme Court returned that question – as pre-1973 – to the States. People can decide to support, or not to support, abortion. People who disagree can freely travel or can move. This is as it should be. So, what comes next?
In sum, Dobbs corrected a longstanding legal or jurisprudential error. The Roe case, while precedent for 50 years, was gradually eroded, like a rockfall in a river, by the strong current of constitutional law.
In a series of cases, the reach of Roe – breadth of the imputed abortion right – was slowly narrowed. Cases included Webster (1989), Casey (1991), Steinberg (2000), Gonzales (2003), Box (2016), and Dobbs (2021). Dobbs just did what many thought should have occurred far earlier. It ended the legal fiction.
In America, justices of the Supreme Court are empowered only to interpret law. They are not empowered to import or invoke political or personal bias, indulge their imaginations, invent wished-for rights, or act on a secret desire to legislate. Those are all out. Still, sometimes, they do – and did in Roe.
Looking back, Roe represents the high point of Warren Court activism, a willingness to push limits, to assert questionable jurisdiction in accord with political winds of the time. The 1960’s and 1970’s did see some rock-solid, well-grounded opinions. Many have stood time’s test. But Roe was never destined be one of those – even if liberals hoped it would. Constitutional lawyers have long known it was weak.
Roe was written by Blackmun, who himself oscillated on where the nebulous new right was, stretching both the 4th and 14th Amendments. He was joined by liberals Brennan, Marshall, Douglas, Burger, Stewart, and Powell. Opposed were future Chief Justice Rehnquist, and Justice White.
Interestingly, Rehnquist’s thoughtful dissent foreshadowed Dobbs – even 50 years. The future Chief wrote: “The Court’s sweeping invalidation of any restrictions on abortion during the first trimester is impossible to justify under that [historical] standard,” and “the conscious weighing of competing factors that the Court’s opinion apparently substitutes for the established test is far more appropriate to a legislative judgment than to a judicial one.” In the end, Blackmun “eschews the history of the Fourteenth Amendment…”
While many political liberals are unhappy with the Dobbs case, which restores pre-existing State’s rights, correcting Blackmun’s faulty logic, Dobbs is on sound footing historically, and should stand time’s test.
So, what is the political violence about? Why are President Biden and Democrats in Congress suddenly losing their minds, apoplectic, determined to undermine, delegitimize, even pack the Supreme Court?
Why is the Attorney General – arguably an impeachable offense – refusing to enforce federal laws that protect the lives of justices, thus endangering five justices’ lives and the lives of their families?
The answer has little to do with law, much to do with the Democratic Party’s turn left, quiet embrace of violence. We first saw Democrats encouraging anti-police violence in 2020. Now, the strategy reappears.
First, a narrative is pushed by politicians. Abortion advocates and the industry argue the right cannot be questioned, thus any Court reviewing Roe is illegitimate. That, of course, is nonsense. All major decisions – from our nation’s beginning – are subject to judicial review, and periodic re-review.
Second, Democrats imply non-violent norms can be suspended if they disfavor the left. Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, Clinton, others have – in recent months – implied or seeded the idea (and never opposed it) that violence would be justified if Roe were reversed. Again, that is false, flies in the face of American State, Federal, and Constitutional law. Still, they pushed the notion that violence is okay.
Now, we come to this precarious moment. Roe has been replaced by Dobbs, and we see violence fanned by Democrats around the country. This is wrong, will boomerang, is destabilizing, utterly irresponsible.
Putting members of the independent judiciary – at any level – in fear is morally wrong and illegal, even if the AG does not enforce law. Second, Americans do not want more fear, violence, or instability – they had enough of that in 2020, compounded by defund police rhetoric and COVID restrictions. Third, violence begets violence, and that is not productive. Finally, the midterms are approaching.
Bottom line: Roe is history, Dobbs is law. States, not federal actors, will decide the future. Abortion and restrictions on abortion are matters decided by government closest to the people, the States. Democrats will push violence, try to pack the Court, continue to harangue.
Most Americans will abide rule of law, respect Dobbs, history, and order. New services spring up to help young mothers parent, and expectations about who we are will begin to change. Millions of children will be born who might not have been, and we will welcome them. Net-net, that is good for America.
Overall, a well written article by RBC once again…The sentence I wish to emphasize states, ” Bottom line: Roe is history, Dobbs is law. States, not federal actors, will decide the future.”
It took ( 49 ) years to finally come to this reality, thankfully most states kept their ” trigger laws ” in place for this momentous day…The unborn child, simply put, there is nothing more sacred than that.
Bill… :~)
Excellent article. Both well written and soundly explaining the Supreme Court decision. Arbortion was always a State’s Rights issue per the language of the Constitution. Roe was a prime example of legislating from the bench based on nothing more that the personal and political views of certain Supreme Court Justices at the time. There was no language in the Constitution to suport the Roe decision. A mistake that has now finally been remedied. Each state will now be free to decide how it handles the matter, based on the will of the voters and their state legislatures in those states.
The Democrat run and controlled states will either continue as under Roe or in the case of states like California, New York, New Jersey, etc., they are already expanding abortion rights up to the moment of birth. Never forget that Margaret Sanger and other early proponents of eugenics viewed arbortion as a way to eliminate what they saw as “undesirables” from the society they envisioned to create. All this talk of “women’s right to choose” over the last 50 years has simply been a smoke screen of talking points by the hardcore left, that has allowed them to mask their original and still current views from a malleable public.
In most of the Republican run states, arbortion in the first trimester will still be allowed. So the argument from the Democrats that we’re going back to backroom arbortions of the 40s and 50s is pure hyperbole and lies. I’m sure a lot of their voter base will eat it up, as most Democrats are motivated by emotion rather than logic and reason. Anyone living in one of the very few Republican states that might choose to completely outlaw abortions has only to drive or fly over state lines to an adjacent state where arbortions will be readily available. Over the weekend a number of “woke” companies have already stated that will be adding financial coverage for anyone who has to go out of state for an arbortion. So the financial argument by the Demcrats is already becoming a non-issue.
Excellent article by Robert Charles. The point that States, not federal courts, will rightly decide abortion law is well made and understood by pro-life Americans. The Left and its radical supporters
will continue to decry the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in overturning Roe v. Wade based upon the Dobbs case. But this was expected and hardly surprising. The armies of protestors demonstrating in Washington D.C., in other cities, and in front of the homes of Supreme Court
justices comes as no great surprise, either. That AG Merritt Garland failed to act to protect the safety of these justices from threats and intimidation is shocking to some, but not to those of us who understand how today’s Democratic Party operates. As writer Robert Charles noted, the use of violence or threats of violence, while not condemned directly but implicitly endorsed by the Left, is wrong and should never be tolerated. Every free society has laws and those laws must be honored or civil society begins to disintegrate as our institutions lose credibility. Every protestor who took part in staging demonstrations in front of the homes of Justices Alito, Kavanaugh, et. al. should have been arrested for violating 18 USC 1507 making it illegal to intimidate, protest, or threaten judges at their residences or at the courts on which they serve in order to affect a judicial decision. The fact that none were arrested except the deranged guy from California who threatened to kill Justice Kavanaugh is a black stain on the rule of law. The Biden White House declined to seek prosecution of any of those protestors because they were useful to the Democrats, and for the same reason there have been no congressional investigations into the 2020 summer riots that rocked Seattle, Portland, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. It’s telling that Kamala Harris spearheaded a campaign to raise bail money for rioters who were actually arrested and jailed. This fact should tell you everything you need to know about today’s Democratic Party; it condones violence, using the same tactics employed by Marxist regimes to achieve a desired outcome. This is the result of inviting despotism into our government by making wrong choices for political leadership. Elections have consequences, and the evidence couldn’t be more starkly alarming.
Let’s put the delath kneel to abortions. At puberty tlake ten eggs from every woman . Collect a viall of sperm from the boys . Cut the womens tubes. Give the boys vasectomys. Freeze the eggs and sperm till they are old enough to have kids. Mean while they can have all the sex they want and not produce unwanted children. That how we stop unwanted children
Democrats are crying over this because their abortion mill is selling baby parts from the remains to labs. It hit them in the bank account. I am sure the leading democrats have increased their wealth this way. About time this mess was overruled. Murder has never been a right!
I would sort of kind of support abortion up to 16 weeks, maybe 20, if tge democrats had not forced the covid death shots on people and if the women had been honest enough to say men should be able to opt out of financial responsibility for the baby during the same time frame the abortions are legal.
The democrats/ liberals / progressives lack of consistency and honesty make me feel like they are just reaping what they have sown.
The American Left( and I use the term American loosely) is intolerant and violent when they don’t get their way. The Marxist media gives these violent felons a pass as they destroy and loot businesses that have nothing to do with their lates complaint, set police buildings and vehicles on fire and assault police. No prosecution by comrade Soros backed prosecutors so anarchy rules the day. The Democrat Party has morphed into the United States Communist Party. That is plain to see.
The lie that abortion is a right has been revealed and the left cannot stand this! Those leftist who profited from abortion have lied to everyone since 1973 and its going to take time for these indoctrinated protestors to understand this SCOTUS ruling. Abortion is not illegal its just NOT a Constitutional right and NEVER was!!! I pray that everyone will start to converse on this issue and come to realize that there are TWO lives that need to be protected!!!
Now its Up to the states on issue as before Roe
Abortion is Murder PERIOD. We live in a World of ME ME . It’s ALL about ME. How many of the Pregnancy’s were conceived in LOVE ? Or was it LUST ? Whatever Feels good, Me Me. Oops now I’m pregnant, well I/ Me Me dose not want a baby so I’ll kill the baby because Me Me doesn’t want it! Pro-Choice , I / Me Me choose to Murder a baby. Selfish, Evil, with NO responsibility for one’s actions. The Me Me ;s are Both Male AND Female….. If a pregnancy is the result of the LOVE between a Man and a Woman the results are a beautiful creation from God , a Baby to Love !
the left’s original argument in the ’70s was,”based on science, it’s not a person.” that’s how they won roe v wade. science has proven they are wrong on the only pillar of their position. they should have made a more ambiguous argument, or just admitted they like to kill anything/everything.
ABORTION IS MURDER…it will be totally outlawed soon!
The insistence of the radical left is sickening. If any woman wants what they call “reproductive rights” when there are no such rights in US Constitution, she can exercise their reproductive responsibilities and obtain in many states. What SCOTUS did was absolutely right in returning authority to the States.
ABORTION IS MURDER!! NO ONE has the right to MURDER another being.
Contraception is a CHOICE. Celibacy is a CHOICE. Breaking a law is a CHOICE.
Be prepared to accept the consequences if you choose to break the LAW.
Any DemocRAT who supports those who violate the law and/or harasses any member or family member of the Justices should also be held accountable and treated as accomplices.
The next law to change SHOULD be establishing TERM LIMITS to help control our current climate crisis known as our ever-expanding government swamp!
Agreed.!!!
Can you imagine what the media and liberals would have said and done if the Supreme Court would have ruled against the gun owners in the concealed carry case from New York, and gun owners would have rioted and threatened to kill judges. They would have went totally nuts and want to throw every conservative in jail wether they protested or not. Democrats and the media are hypocrites!
It -would be nice if the media and the crazed liberals would take a breath and just examine the facts.
Fact: Roe was bad from the beginning and got worse over time…it needed to be eliminated.
Fact: Losing Roe does not end abortion…it only places the legal standard with the states, as is proper under the constitution.
Fact: Abortions will continue to happen….and that’s the sad part….while there may be fewer abortions, there will still be abortions….unborn children will continue to die….the burden of that sin rests on us all.
Fact: All the hoopla and protests and threats against pro life people and the court will continue and most likely diminish over time….until the liberals come up with more “tricks” to kill babies and satisfy the desire for death.
COMMON SENSE…you look for the core of a problem to solve it. It is the responsibility of the couple having sex to use contraception if they do not want a child. How many of these abortions have been necessary.ie: danger to mother’s life….rape..and how many due to lack of responsibility in accepting result from not using prevention methods. The abuse of children, homeless, lack of parental support is an indication of the lack of stepping up to their responsibility.
Decentralization of political, economic, social, and cultural power is as essential to freedom as centralization is to tyranny. This week’s SCOTUS decisions aren’t against democracy as the collectivist left falsely claims.
Roe, roe, roe your Roe boat legally down the toilet,
Lawfully, lawfully, lawfully, lawfully,
A relook by the SCOTUS was rightfully able to foil it,
Lawfully, lawfully, lawfully, lawfully
And many darling babies will have a life to dream!
Violence begets violence. The demon-communist-cRATS (Pelosi, Schumer, Waters, et. al.) had better watch their backs. Just saying.
Before Roe the demon-communist-cRATS were decrying the lack of availability of contraception. After Roe they flushed all their birth control pills down the toilet. Looks like they are now going to cry about contraception again.
I believe the offer of some woke-minded corporations to pay up to $4,000 for a woman to travel to a state that offers abortion on demand sounds like a great paid vacation offer to me. It would be interesting how many times annually a birthing person could take advantage of such an offer and what requirements need to be met before application of funding could be obtained.
Ler’s just hope that we don’t see an uptick in illegal abortions.
Abortion is always murder- giving the death penalty to the innocent, who happens to be a person. Why does a nurse have to remain behind after the butcher leaves the room to put the body parts together like a puzzle to make sure the baby parts are all there? Choice? It was made at the time of conception except in rare cases of pregnancy during rape, in which case I promote adoption over abortion. My body? The baby has its own DNA and doesn’t even get blood from the mother. Right to privacy? We are photographed everywhere by cameras, followed by our smart phones, tracked every time we turn a corner by GPS, etc. Abortion is promoted by two types of people- the selfish and the ignorant.
Why are there so many people so anxious to kill babies? I never seen nothing like it. Ok, maybe because of rape, incest or medical reasons maybe. But these people act like the Supreme Court banned them from having 2 or 3 abortions each. Did anyone ever hear of birth control? No babies=no abortions! Duh!
Oh, and why wasn’t it my body my choice when it came to the vaccine?