SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ROE v. WADE

 

The Supreme Court of the United States has overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, ending a 49-year-long interpretation that abortion is a constitutional right. Now individual states have the power to allow, limit, or ban the practice altogether.

“We end this opinion where we began,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the 6-3 opinion (PDF). “Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

The case decided today was Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which focused on a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The state asked the Supreme Court to strike down a lower court ruling that stopped the legislation from taking effect.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Alito’s opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts agreed with the result but filed a separate opinion. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan filed a joint dissent.

In addition to ending Roe (1973), today’s decision also overturned Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), which re-affirmed abortion as a constitutional right.

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  1. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    W Bob (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    W Bob (View Comment):

    The pro-aborts should stop the tantrums and look on the bright side. There will be a lot more minority babies who will eventually vote for Democrats.

    OTOH a lot of minorities live in blue states that will be unaffected by this decision. If there’s an increase in population it will mostly come from the red states, giving them more representatives and more electoral votes down the road.

    This is a good point.

    On the surface it seems that both sides of this debate seem to be in favor of a position which actually hurts them electorally. Abortion gets rid of minority babies disproportionally. And yet Republicans, who get fewer minority votes, want to stop abortion and Democrats, who get more minority votes, promote it as a sacred right. A visitor from Mars would expect the opposite. Are we really to believe that each side is being morally idealistic even to the point of jeopardizing their own interests?

    Let the great sorting commence.

    • #121
  2. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    W Bob (View Comment):
    Abortion gets rid of minority babies disproportionally. And yet Republicans, who get fewer minority votes, want to stop abortion and Democrats, who get more minority votes, promote it as a sacred right.

    That assumes Blacks and Hispanics will remain perpetual wards of the Democrat Party. There has been significant slippage by both groups. In South Texas the Hispanics seem to be beginning the same type of political shift from Democrat to Republican that I witnessed in then sapphire-blue East Texas in the 1990s.  If so, the Republicans benefit from banning abortion.

    • #122
  3. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

    I never want to be too optimistic, but it seems that the last two decision, Roe and the New York gun issue, have joined in with the election of Youngkin and other notable refutations of the out of control Left to say, Enough is enough! and begin the long overdue reset in this country. We can only hope that this is not a notorious “dead cat bounce” as the nation slips into irrelevance, having gone too far for redemption.

    You are assuming the left will pay attention. My bet is they double down on stupid and try to charge full speed ahead. With luck they will be Wiley Coyote running off the cliff and not realizing there’s nothing below them.

    They will ramrod a bill through the House before November and the Senate will nuke the filibuster to pass it. The puppet master will make sure Biden signs it. Then what?

    • #123
  4. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Manny (View Comment):

    Tyrion Lannister (View Comment):

    Donald Trump deserves massive praise for sticking with Kavanaugh. He deserves credit for the 3 justices that joined Alito and Thomas. Credit to the Justices for the decision. Credit to McConnell for holding the seat.

    If nothing else came of the Trump presidency, this was worth it. It was worth all the drama, mean tweets, silly statements, hand wringing, all of it. I’d pay 10x that to have this outcome. Trump’s presidency was overall great policy-wise, but this will be the central pillar of his legacy.

    This is the biggest pro life win since Roe. Now the battleground shifts to 51 smaller battles. Keep up the good fight.

    Absolutely! This will be Donald Trump’s greatest achievement. No wishy-washy RINO appointments to the SCOTUS. He is such an imperfect man but I believe that God worked through him to get us here. May God bless Donald Trump for this.

    I believe that, too. In the Bible, God often chose imperfect people.

    • #124
  5. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    thelonious (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!

    If only. Many of the States will disappoint us, including my own Commonwealth.

    Colorado is already a late term abortion hub. Hardly needed that new law allowing abortion up to the point of crowning.

    I fear more states using this decision as a catalyst and liberalize their abortion laws to include late term abortions. I’m unfortunately doubtful this decision will decrease the amount of abortions. I sure hope I’m wrong.

    And I will refer to them as the evil states among us.

    • #125
  6. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    W Bob (View Comment):

    The pro-aborts should stop the tantrums and look on the bright side. There will be a lot more minority babies who will eventually vote for Democrats.

    I am amazed that pro-lifers almost never used one of their strongest arguments, that Roe v. Wade was designed and has functioned to reduce the growth of the black population.

    For sociocultural reasons nobody understands, black women have abortions two or three times as often as white women.

    Because pro-lifers don’t believe in exploiting people for their cause, unlike pro-regressives.

    I have occasionally heard black pro-lifers point out what Roe v. Wade was actually doing.

    Killing black babies is not what Roe v. Wade was actually doing.

    What it was doing was allowing women to kill their own babies. Lots of women want to do this, given the choice. I think that they are horrible for doing so.

    A greater proportion of black women seem to be horrible in this way, compared to white women. It is terrible that there are so many horrible women of both races.

    On the race differential in abortion rates, this does not show that black women are victims. It shows that they are much more likely to be perpetrators of infanticide.

    This is sad, but not surprising, as the prevalence of virtually every sort of dysfunctional behavior is higher among American blacks than among American whites.

    Wasn’t always that way, and whites are following the same path.

    • #126
  7. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    W Bob (View Comment):
    Abortion gets rid of minority babies disproportionally. And yet Republicans, who get fewer minority votes, want to stop abortion and Democrats, who get more minority votes, promote it as a sacred right.

    That assumes Blacks and Hispanics will remain perpetual wards of the Democrat Party. There has been significant slippage by both groups. In South Texas the Hispanics seem to be beginning the same type of political shift from Democrat to Republican that I witnessed in then sapphire-blue East Texas in the 1990s. If so, the Republicans benefit from banning abortion.

    I’ve said on a number of occasions this is a center left country and has been at least since 2000.  However, if the Hispanics can come over to the right (say 40% Republican), then I think this country can be a center right country again.  I’m not willing to compromise my principles, that wouldn’t be a center-right country, but we need to focus on them to persuade them to come over.

    • #127
  8. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    • #128
  9. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Columbo (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    I wonder if there will be fewer abortions from now on.

    Wasn’t that always the ‘promise’ … safe, legal and rare.

    Not always. Just when necessary to fool the anti-abortionists.  

    • #129
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Douglas Pratt (View Comment):

    Roberts agreed. Looks like the leak had the opposite of the intended effect. He has a spine after all.

    He at least knew how to get in touch with the Rent-a-Spine people. Which is something. 

    • #130
  11. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Taras (View Comment):
    For sociocultural reasons nobody understands, black women have abortions two or three times as often as white women.

    Do they control for things like income when they compare?

    From the NYT:

    The Typical Patient …
    Is Already a Mother.
    Is in Her Late 20s.
    Attended Some College.
    Has a Low Income.
    Is Unmarried.
    Is in Her First 6 Weeks of Pregnancy.
    Is Having Her First Abortion.
    Lives in a Blue State.

    • #131
  12. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    W Bob (View Comment):

    The pro-aborts should stop the tantrums and look on the bright side. There will be a lot more minority babies who will eventually vote for Democrats.

    I am amazed that pro-lifers almost never used one of their strongest arguments, that Roe v. Wade was designed and has functioned to reduce the growth of the black population.

    For sociocultural reasons nobody understands, black women have abortions two or three times as often as white women.

    On your first point, I don’t find it to be a strong argument at all. It is the sort of discriminatory impact argument that is at the basis of Critical Race Theory, a doctrine that I find erroneous.

    On your second point, the reasons aren’t necessarily sociocultural, and I think that there is some understanding of the issue. But let’s not sidetrack this post.

    To be precise, a strong argument in terms of appealing to people on the Left. The fact that girl babies are more often aborted than boy babies, in most countries, is another useful argument that way.

    Do you have any evidence that this argument appeals to the Left? I don’t think so.

    To the extent that it does — on the black-white issue first — it would do so by playing to their anti-white racist views.

    Ditto for the argument about abortion of girl and boy babies.

    These are just appalling arguments. Sorry to be tough on you, Taras, we do see this sort of thing all of the time. We’re steeped in anti-white racism and anti-male sexism.

    Abortion is awful whether the baby is black, white, or something else. Abortion is awful whether the baby is a boy or a girl. I recommend that you stop pandering to the type of person who thinks that black babies are more important than white babies, or that girl babies are more important than boy babies. They’re all precious.

    I think you have this backwards.

    Legalized abortion serves the purposes of those who believe that black babies are more disposable than white babies, and that girl babies are more disposable than boy babies.

    This is an example of what the Left condemns as “disparate impact”.

    • #132
  13. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    W Bob (View Comment):

    The pro-aborts should stop the tantrums and look on the bright side. There will be a lot more minority babies who will eventually vote for Democrats.

    I am amazed that pro-lifers almost never used one of their strongest arguments, that Roe v. Wade was designed and has functioned to reduce the growth of the black population.

    For sociocultural reasons nobody understands, black women have abortions two or three times as often as white women.

    Because pro-lifers don’t believe in exploiting people for their cause, unlike pro-regressives.

    I have occasionally heard black pro-lifers point out what Roe v. Wade was actually doing.

    Killing black babies is not what Roe v. Wade was actually doing.

    What it was doing was allowing women to kill their own babies. Lots of women want to do this, given the choice. I think that they are horrible for doing so.

    A greater proportion of black women seem to be horrible in this way, compared to white women. It is terrible that there are so many horrible women of both races.

    On the race differential in abortion rates, this does not show that black women are victims. It shows that they are much more likely to be perpetrators of infanticide.

    This is sad, but not surprising, as the prevalence of virtually every sort of dysfunctional behavior is higher among American blacks than among American whites.

    Many women who seek abortions do so under pressure from the males in their lives.

    How many?

    And who cares? I’ll stipulate that the men who go along with the abortions are horrible, too.

    But the women make the decision. Men have absolutely zero legal authority over the question of whether or not their unborn child is to be killed.

    Edited to add: I may be getting a bit worked up about this. I am so, so very sick of men being blamed for women behaving badly, and whites being blamed for blacks behaving badly. This doesn’t mean that men and whites never behave badly. But I’m tired of people making excuses for the groups who are exhibiting the very worst behavior.

    Dave may be on to something.

    Given the high level of violence in the inner city — high level of male violence, that is — women will often not have the realistic option of saying no to sex, or even insisting on a condom.  They’re just glad to get away without serious injury, and “take care” of the unwanted pregnancy later.

    Furthermore, as Edward Banfield wrote many years ago in The Unheavenly City, the inner city is plagued by lack of foresight; so we can expect a higher level of failure to use contraception, or use it properly.

    • #133
  14. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):
    For sociocultural reasons nobody understands, black women have abortions two or three times as often as white women.

    Do they control for things like income when they compare?

    From the NYT:

    The Typical Patient …
    Is Already a Mother.
    Is in Her Late 20s.
    Attended Some College.
    Has a Low Income.
    Is Unmarried.
    Is in Her First 6 Weeks of Pregnancy.
    Is Having Her First Abortion.
    Lives in a Blue State.

    Good point.  The statistics I’ve seen did not control for things like income.

    • #134
  15. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    A winning coalition would more likely be the reverse: socially conservative with tons of government spending. 

    • #135
  16. Marjorie Reynolds Coolidge
    Marjorie Reynolds
    @MarjorieReynolds

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    fldore (View Comment):
    An even higher % of Americans believe an abortion should always be allowed if the life of the mother is in danger.

    I think it needs to be explained that “abortion” is always and everywhere about killing the baby, not saving the mother. Catholic hospitals perform surgeries to “save the mother” even if it entails the death of the baby, but that’s not what they set out to do, unlike abortionists. If mother and baby can be saved — i.e., the baby is viable — Catholic doctors will do their best to save both. I think few people who support “abortion to save the mother” understand the difference of intent. Abortionists intend to kill.

    That was the biggest lie told in the run up to the repeal of the 8th amendment in Ireland. Even though the wording explicitly stated this, the pro abortions persistently pushed this lie that a woman would be denied life saving treatment if she was pregnant. So many people fell for it, ones you’d never expect 

    • #136
  17. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    No. But a good question. Requires some thought and lengthy answer. 

    • #137
  18. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Marjorie Reynolds (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    fldore (View Comment):
    An even higher % of Americans believe an abortion should always be allowed if the life of the mother is in danger.

    I think it needs to be explained that “abortion” is always and everywhere about killing the baby, not saving the mother. Catholic hospitals perform surgeries to “save the mother” even if it entails the death of the baby, but that’s not what they set out to do, unlike abortionists. If mother and baby can be saved — i.e., the baby is viable — Catholic doctors will do their best to save both. I think few people who support “abortion to save the mother” understand the difference of intent. Abortionists intend to kill.

    That was the biggest lie told in the run up to the repeal of the 8th amendment in Ireland. Even though the wording explicitly stated this, the pro abortions persistently pushed this lie that a woman would be denied life saving treatment if she was pregnant. So many people fell for it, ones you’d never expect

    People need a moral cover to implement and legalize sin. Then in time the sin “becomes” normal. That’s when they get outraged that a  “right” will be taken away if ever challenged. 

    • #138
  19. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

     

     

     

    • #139
  20. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Manny (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    No. But a good question. Requires some thought and lengthy answer.

    Yeah, I thought it might make a good feedpost. Is Ricochet still calling itself “center-right”? And how does that differ from the plain ol’ “right”? What marks it as “center”? And is “center” really where we want to be? I don’t think I do. Every time I see “center-right” I hear “squishy, malleable principles.”

    • #140
  21. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Squishy or malleable? 

     

    • #141
  22. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Squishy or malleable?

    Like Play-Doh.

    • #142
  23. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    No. But a good question. Requires some thought and lengthy answer.

    Yeah, I thought it might make a good feedpost. Is Ricochet still calling itself “center-right”? And how does that differ from the plain ol’ “right”? What marks it as “center”? And is “center” really where we want to be? I don’t think I do. Every time I see “center-right” I hear “squishy, malleable principles.”

    Center-right of the country just means the over all average of the country would lean to the right.  No I want full tilt to the right, but there are those that would offset my tilt.  

    • #143
  24. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

    I have never understood why she gets the coverage she does.  What she just said there is outright dumb.  Returning it to the states is to leave it to the voters.  Mandating it from the Supreme Court is taking it out of the hands of the voters.  What a dope.

    • #144
  25. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Manny (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    I have never understood why she gets the coverage she does. What she just said there is outright dumb. Returning it to the states is to leave it to the voters. Mandating it from the Supreme Court is taking it out of the hands of the voters. What a dope.

    Right. When does a baby get to “choose” what to do with its body? When it reaches puberty and is able to reproduce? 

    • #145
  26. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Manny (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    What does “center-right” look like? Is that the ol’ “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” thing again? Because I don’t want any of that mush.

    No. But a good question. Requires some thought and lengthy answer.

    Yeah, I thought it might make a good feedpost. Is Ricochet still calling itself “center-right”? And how does that differ from the plain ol’ “right”? What marks it as “center”? And is “center” really where we want to be? I don’t think I do. Every time I see “center-right” I hear “squishy, malleable principles.”

    Center-right of the country just means the over all average of the country would lean to the right.

    It’s got to mean more than that when people and institutions and media outlets describe themselves as “center-right.” A person by himself is a datapoint not an average.

    “I say it’s squishy and I say to hell with it.”

     

    • #146
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

     

     

     

     

    • #147
  28. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    “To me the biggest heartbreak is having a Supreme Court that we can no longer trust,” @SecBecerra on SCOTUS #RoeVWade decision. “They’ve said to states you can regulate a woman’s body, but not so much guns & assault weapons & not so much religion in schools.” 

    Oh for heaven’s sake. 🙄🙄🙄 

    Aren’t these people ever embarrassed to talk like this?

    • #148
  29. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    “To me the biggest heartbreak is having a Supreme Court that we can no longer trust,” @ SecBecerra on SCOTUS #RoeVWade decision. “They’ve said to states you can regulate a woman’s body, but not so much guns & assault weapons & not so much religion in schools.”

    Oh for heaven’s sake. 🙄🙄🙄

    Aren’t these people ever embarrassed to talk like this?

    Pride goeth before destruction. [link]

    • #149
  30. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    “To me the biggest heartbreak is having a Supreme Court that we can no longer trust,” @ SecBecerra on SCOTUS #RoeVWade decision. “They’ve said to states you can regulate a woman’s body, but not so much guns & assault weapons & not so much religion in schools.”

    Oh for heaven’s sake. 🙄🙄🙄

    Aren’t these people ever embarrassed to talk like this?

    So they Secretary of Health and Human Services has never read the Constitution. Why is this not a surprise?

    • #150
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