OPINION:
When judges substitute their own policy preferences for those of citizens, 330 million people can await the decision of five people.
But by overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, reaffirmed that this was improper.
It said the court had usurped the people’s authority to decide a controversial moral and political issue that should reside in the free exchange of ideas followed by directions to state legislative bodies. The ruling emphasized the 10th Amendment, which reserves these powers for the states and the people.
For Roe and Casey, the court relied upon dubious reasoning that made no attempt to be constitutional law. The justices created a right to privacy and applied an embellished meaning of due process. They failed to establish a right to abortion that was deeply rooted in the country’s history and traditions.
They ignored the fact that abortion was considered criminal from the earliest days of common law until 1973. A definition of personhood and a mechanism to measure the relative importance of fetus and mother is not expressed or implied by our Constitution.
The Supreme Court retains its credibility when it follows precedents that accord to constitutional economic and social judgments of legislative bodies.
In summary, Justice Samuel Alito said: “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.”
NOLAN NELSON
Redmond, Oregon
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