Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote

 

The current administration finds itself in a dilemma.  They have no real accomplishments to run on.  They are underwater in the polls on almost every issue that Americans care about such as the economy, border security, inflation and crime.  Thus, they are grasping at straws for any issue that might help them in November, and along came Roe v Wade.  And now the far left is on a campaign of fearmongering, hatred, violence and even misinformation to excite their base.  Too bad the newly proposed Ministry of Truth isn’t up and running with its proposed leader Nina “Mary Poppins” Jankowicz.

So maybe the first thing we should clear up is – what did Justice Blackmun say in his majority opinion on Roe v Wade.  First, Blackmun defendeded the rights of states to limit abortions.  He, in fact, wrote, “a State may properly assert important interests in safeguarding health, in maintaining medical standards, and in protecting potential life.”  He also did NOT support abortion on demand with no limits, as is the Democrat Party position.  His actual words were, “the right (to an abortion), nonetheless, is not absolute and is subject to some limitations; and that at some point the state interests as to protection of health, medical standards, and prenatal life, become dominant.”

Next, we should clear up what Justice Alito said in his draft.  Many people, maybe most, believe that an overturn of Roe v Wade will make abortion illegal across the country.  Alito, however, made it very clear that the decision on abortion will simply be transferred to the states, where most constitutional scholars, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, believe it should rest.  Currently, abortion is not illegal in ANY state in the union.  Half of the states limit abortions to what has been defined as “viability”.  18 more states limit it to 20 weeks, which is very close to the viability definition (today), but the remaining seven have no limit.  So, the Alito draft does not make abortion illegal.  Far from it.  Maybe Mary Poppins should be singing about that little piece of misinformation.

The leak of Justice Alito’s draft opinion, which has been argued to be criminal, has unleashed other illegal activity by the alt-left.  Certainly, we can all understand that vandalism and destruction of property is criminal, but there are also laws that protect the Supreme Court Justices and churches from harassment and intimidation, and those laws are being violated as I write this article.  I believe this administration will lose ground with all but their most rabid base if they do not vociferously condemn these actions.  A single tweet by Jen Psaki will not cut it.  

Now, what does the Alito draft opinion actually say.  First, it suggests that Roe v Wade was bad law from the beginning and in that respect compares it to Plessy v Ferguson, which codified the “separate but equal” concept.  Plessy was passed by a 7-1 vote back in 1896 and stood as a precedent until it was overturned almost 60 years later in 1954 through the Brown v The Board of Education unanimous opinion.

Alito also suggests that Roe was passed in 1973 by ignoring precedents set in the states.  He suggested that to create a Constitutional right controlled at the federal level, that right had to be “rooted in our Nation's history and tradition”.  In 1973, no state in the Union had recognized that right, and Blackmun simply failed to point that out in his opinion.  Since that time, however, every state has created that right with its own limitations in mind, and that is where that decision should lie.  Alito made it clear that abortion rights were not being eliminated, but simply given to the states.  

He also made it clear that this decision did NOT apply to any other rights currently claimed in this country. The fearmongering and misinformation about other rights that could be eliminated, like interracial marriage, birth control and same-sex marriage is patently absurd.  Alito’s actual words were, "Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion".  Ask Justice Thomas, who has been part of an interracial marriage since 1987, if he would vote to overturn the national right for interracial marriage.

One more challenge that should be made to bring some sanity to this discussion is the assertion by the pro-abortion community that it is “my body, my choice”.  The reality is that the baby in the mother’s womb is a completely different and unique DNA that has never existed before and will never exist again.  It is not the mother’s body, and she and the rest of society have a responsibility to protect it.  The yet to be born are the truly voiceless.

It is my opinion that all of this misinformation about the fate of abortion rights in America will not work for the Dems because the vast majority of the American people do not align with their position of abortion on demand up to the time of birth.  Almost 70% of the country believe in limiting abortion to the first trimester (12 - 13 weeks).  Remember the Mississippi law would prohibit abortion after 15 weeks with exceptions for the life of the mother.  Only 7% of the country believe in completely unrestricted tax payer funded abortions, which is the Democrat Party position.  When the truth gets out, which is the responsibility of Republicans, Democrats will find that their last hope for an issue they can rally their base around has alluded them.