“A strict constructionist judge can come to either conclusion about Roe against Wade,” he said. “They can look at it and say, ‘Wrongly decided thirty years ago, whatever it is, we’ll over turn it.’ [Or] they can look at it and say, ‘It has been the law for this period of time, therefore we are going to respect the precedent.’ Conservatives can come to that conclusion as well. I would leave it up to them. I would not have a litmus test on that.”
That is true.
Chief Justice Roberts said essentially the same thing.
Roberts stated that Roe is “settled as a precedent of the Court.”
At the same time, he repeatedly stated that he would not address how principles of stare decisis apply to any particular case.