Legal Precedent

Supreme Court Has Waged An Extremist Right Wing Attack On Women!

Ronald 5 Comments

In 1973, Roe V Wade, giving women the right of abortion, was decided by a 7-2 vote, including five Republican Supreme Court Justices: Harry Blackmun, Chief Justice Warren Burger, William Brennan, Potter Stewart, Lewis Powell.

In 1992, Planned Parenthood V Casey, was decided by a 5-4 all Republican vote, including Republican Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Harry Blackmun.

The draft opinion on abortion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, and said to have a 5-4 vote, was leaked last night, and it is an extremist right wing attack on women, taking away completely the right of abortion, including even having no exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother!

If this draft opinion is not changed by the end of the Supreme Court term, it has declared war on a woman’s ability to control her own body, and will lead to increased deaths by botched abortions, as was the case before 1973!

This bombshell report of what is likely to happen flies in the face of more than 70 percent of public opinion being in favor of abortion rights being retained after nearly 50 years of that right being affirmed!

Also, the fact that four of the five Supreme Court Justices in the majority of this opinion were chosen by Presidents who LOST the popular vote–George W. Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016–is very disturbing!

Also, the Republican denial of the appointment of Merrick Garland in 2016, while allowing the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, both election years, but a double standard on appointment, is outrageous!

The concept of established law, “Stare Decisis”, and “precedent” as part of Supreme Court history may be going by the wayside with this extremist Court!

And poor women, and particularly minority women, will be the ultimate victims, and poverty and abuse will become the norm more than ever!

Only about 25 nations ban abortion, and most of the Western world will look at the United States as a pariah on women’s rights, if this Court decision goes through, as there are already plans for the Republicans to try to promote a nationwide ban on abortion if they control both houses of Congress and the Presidency in the future!

The need for the vast majority of women, and men who understand the importance of preserving the rights of women to control their own destiny, to become engaged in the midterm elections six months from now, is urgent!

The Supreme Court Reputation Has Been Seriously Tarnished, No Longer Seen As Representing Moderation!

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The John Roberts Supreme Court reputation has been seriously tarnished, no longer seen as representing moderation!

By deciding to go along with an extremist Texas abortion law, in a one paragraph middle of the night statement, which includes no exceptions for rape or incest, and allowing private citizens to sue anyone engaged in promoting abortion, the Court has done one of the worst ever actions, which will be compared to such other issues as Dred Scott V Sandford (1857) and Plessy V Ferguson (1896), and a small group of other reprehensible decisions!

Chief Justice Roberts himself recognized how terrible this 5-4 decision was, so despite earlier personal expressions of being anti abortion, he joined the three liberals on the Court in opposition.

Roberts knows his own historical reputation has been permanently damaged, as the Court has become dangerously radical right wing extremist, with the three reprehensible appointments by Donald Trump showing their true colors!

The fact that the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett switched the Court balance from what it was under the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg right before the Presidential Election of 2020 is reprehensible!

But also, the fact that Brett Kavanaugh was the second Court Justice to face accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct, along with Clarence Thomas three decades ago, and now they decided the private lives of women, is totally infuriating!

And the fact that Neil Gorsuch gained an appointment after a full year of no replacement of Antonin Scalia, and that Merrick Garland was denied even a hearing as his replacement, makes all three of Donald Trump’s Court appointments questionable and wanting!

It is further proof that the Supreme Court has lost whatever aura it had, as a fair, reasonable body!

To reverse a decision of nearly 50 years, when the tradition of the Court is to uphold legal precedent normally, and that it has such a dramatic effect on more than half the population, is beyond the pale!

If Hillary Clinton had won the Presidential Election of 2016, which this author and blogger and tens of millions of Americans think is the truth, the Supreme Court today would not be in the crisis atmosphere it is in!

It requires an attempt to add members to the Court, because otherwise, the Court is on a tear to the promotion of Fascism clear and simple, and that cannot be allowed to move forward toward ultimate destruction of the Constitution and rule of law!

The idea that two Presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump,who lost the popular vote, could add two and three members to the Court respectively, which otherwise would have been appointees of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, is simply outrageous and unacceptable for the long haul!

It will permanently destroy the reputation of a very evil man, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who brought about this travesty!

When one thinks back to the mid and late 1970s, we actually had a 7-2 Republican Court by party affiliation, but it included moderate Republicans, which included statesmen, including William Brennan, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, and Chief Justice Warren Burger!

So action must be taken to expand the Court, as we are in a constitutional crisis that will only get worse if no action is taken!