Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Is Roe v. Wade About to Be Overturned? If So, What Are the Implications?
Townhall.com ^ | May 3, 2022 | Michael Brown

Posted on 05/03/2022 3:51:13 AM PDT by Kaslin

According to an exclusive story on Politico, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade when ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson in June.

An alleged draft of the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito and leaked to Politico, states that, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” because of which, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”

Indeed, the opinion continues, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

According to Politico, which linked the full text of the opinion in its article, “A person familiar with the court’s deliberations said that four of the other Republican-appointed justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – had voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices after hearing oral arguments in December, and that line-up remains unchanged as of this week.

“The three Democratic-appointed justices – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – are working on one or more dissents, according to the person. How Chief Justice John Roberts will ultimately vote, and whether he will join an already written opinion or draft his own, is unclear.”

The 98-page opinion, described as a first draft and which appears to be genuine, was reportedly circulated on February 10 among the other justices. This means that, if the reporting in Politico is accurate, the majority has remained solid for nearly three months, if not longer, which is a very positive sign.

On the other hand, now that this has been leaked in what Politico describes as “a rare breach of Supreme Court secrecy and tradition around its deliberations,” the obvious question is, who leaked this document, and why?

Would a pro-life conservative leak this opinion to the public? That is highly unlikely, since releasing it in advance only gives the opposition more time to pressure one or more of the justices to change his or her views. And would a pro-life conservative leak this to Politico, which is more left-leaning than right-leaning? That is questionable as well.

In any case, the opinion is now out, along with a list of the justices who allegedly supported it. (Note that three of them were appointed by President Trump.)

That means that much prayer is needed for each of them, since they are about to experience the most intense battle of their lives, with an all-out assault the likes of which we can hardly imagine.

There will be the private appeals from colleagues, the attack of the media, the threats to their families, the spiritual bombardment, the pressure of DC, and more.

And let’s remember that, back in 1992, when Roe should have been overturned in the Casey ruling, a preliminary vote showed Justice Kennedy ready to vote against Roe.

But, as reported already in 1992 by the Washington Post, “The Supreme Court on June 29 affirmed, instead of overturning, the Roe v. Wade abortion standard because Justice Anthony Kennedy changed his vote -- a flip attributed in court circles to liberal constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe's pulling strings backstage.

“Two months later, it is clear Kennedy flipped not only his long-held abortion position but also his vote in the secret conference on the Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey decision last fall. That extraordinary switch by a conservative justice stunned antiabortion forces and soured the internal atmosphere among the brethren as the court's new term begins.

“This shows how exotic politics inside the Supreme Court can override the designs of presidents. Despite more than 25 years without a justice being nominated by a Democratic president, the court has been pulled leftward by a brilliant law professor utilizing persuasion, flattery and law clerks.”

Did Trible really have that much of a role in flipping Kennedy? That is a matter of debate.

But what is certain is that Justice Antonin Scalia had spent an hour with Kennedy discussing the case with him after he became concerned about where Kennedy stood. After their talk, Scalia felt confident that Kennedy was solidly with the anti-Roe majority, only for him to flip shortly thereafter.

In short, just as people can be fickle, Supreme Court justices can be fickle, because Supreme Court justices are people too.

And what happens if Roe is overturned? Then we will walk straight into an impassioned, even frenzied and potentially violent, ideological civil war, one that could quickly divide America into pro-life states vs. pro-abortion states. (For the record, if there will be violence as a result of this hoped-for overturning of Roe, I expect it to come from the left.)

But that kind of separation, not one that physically divides America but that one that spiritually and ideologically separates us, might not be a bad thing at all.

In fact, we already see that happening with some states passing pro-life legislation that the Supreme Court has not yet overturned and other states passing their most extreme pro-abortion laws.

We also see this with states dividing over transgender issues. The separation is getting clearer by the day.

Perhaps God Himself will weigh in on the matter, bringing evident blessing to those states which honor life (and I don’t just mean material blessing) and withholding that blessing from those states which exalt the “right” to abortion. (Or should we say the “rite” of abortion? For my recent article on “The Religion of the Left,” see here.)

For the moment, though, we are getting ahead of ourselves with this discussion. What is needed right now is prayer for the Supreme Court to do what is right and overturn Roe. May God give the justices deep conviction, righteous judgment, and backbones of steel.

And may we all who are pro-life keep bringing a persuasive argument to change hearts and minds. Overturning Roe is only part of the battle. The battle in the court of public opinion must be won as well.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: abortion; roevswade; supremecourt
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 last
To: Kaslin

Whatever was leaked, it was done by a pro-abortionist to generate some heat against the Supreme Court in an effort to make them back down.


41 posted on 05/03/2022 5:26:38 AM PDT by odawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kjam22

They need to strike down all restrictions on the 2nd Amendment as a response.


42 posted on 05/03/2022 5:28:30 AM PDT by jospehm20
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: DoodleDawg

Nothing in the decision. However, there are not enough congresscritters with the backbone to pass a law like that. And POTATUS would never have it put in front of him to sign.


43 posted on 05/03/2022 5:32:09 AM PDT by kosciusko51
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: period end of story

“Waiting for the ...it’s
worse
than watergate.”

Not to mention crying about how “The Supreme Court is a threat to OUR DEMOCRACY”.


44 posted on 05/03/2022 5:50:09 AM PDT by Brooklyn Attitude (I went to bed on November 3rd 2020 and woke up in 1984.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I like nothing more than to see demented feminazis carrying signs and pink hats screaming at the sky for the right to kill their babies.


45 posted on 05/03/2022 6:03:03 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Government, when allowed to expand, always ends up using its power, and our $, to protect its power.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Key statement: “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Not only from a constitutional and legal point of view but from a moral point of view.

It’s not fair that the blood of the abortion holocaust be upon a handful of men. It must rightly fall upon elected representatives and those who elect them.


46 posted on 05/03/2022 6:21:16 AM PDT by TheDon (Resist the usurpers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Roe is already dead.


47 posted on 05/03/2022 9:44:51 AM PDT by cowboyusa (America Cowboy up! S Matter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

.


48 posted on 05/03/2022 2:22:10 PM PDT by sauropod ("We put all our politicians in prison as soon as they are elected. Don’t you?" Why? "It saves time.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kjam22

That actually a brilliant idea. As it takes away any verbal intimidation. If you don’t know, do any Freepers possibly know if there is a specific date the Supreme Court has to follow to announce the verdict, or can they release it any time? Also is there any precedence of something like this happening to the court?


49 posted on 05/03/2022 6:59:09 PM PDT by deek69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson