If you tuned in to the mainstream media
outlets, most reporters would lead you to believe that the nomination of Brett
Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) means the legal loss of a woman’s
right to abortion as ruled in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. This is absolutely false – Fake News!
While 61% of the public agree with Roe, they don’t
really understand what Roe did.
For instance, Roe prohibited states from passing
abortion laws aimed at protecting unborn babies before 24-weeks. A recent Quinnipiac
poll shows about 50-60% of the country would support a state or federal law barring
abortion after 20-weeks.
On the constitutional matter, voters seem to
reject Roe as well. Roe, again, took the
matter of abortion totally out of the democratic process. [There are some matters where our Constitution
does that … such as states not permitted to institute slavery.] But only through absurd linguistic, philosophical,
and legal contortions was the Roe court able to detect – emanating from the
penumbras of the Bill of Rights – a right to abortion.
Most legal scholars who have spoken up on Roe
contend it is horrific legal thinking. “As a matter of constitutional interpretation,”
wrote Harry Blackmun’s clerk, Edward Lazarus, “even most liberal juris prudes —
if you administer truth serum — will tell you it is basically indefensible.”
And the public thinks state legislatures, not
9-justices, should set abortion policy.
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List polled
voters in 5-states with competitive Senate races — Florida, Indiana, Missouri,
North Dakota, and West Virginia — and asked them who should make the law. Voters in Florida, for instance, were asked,
“Do you think that the U.S. Supreme Court should decide abortion policy for
Florida, or do you think abortion policy should be decided by the people of
Florida through their elected officials?”
In all states, including the swing state of Florida, voters preferred letting
their own legislatures handle the issue. In North Dakota, the ratio was two to one. Voters, then, seem to reject Roe’s expansive
view of abortion rights and Roe’s removal of abortion from the democratic
process. In short, most voters don’t support
what Roe does in any regard.
If the Senate confirms Kavanaugh, and then if
the conservative majority of the SCOTUS overturns Roe, it will in fact be
arranging abortion policy — legally and constitutionally — as most people seem
to prefer.
For these reasons, the Democrats are treading
lightly in the opposition to Kavanaugh regarding overturning Roe v. Wade for
fear the public might find out what Roe actually did.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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