Weekly Opinion Editorial
ABORTION DIVIDES
by Steve Fair
After the
U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned Roe vs. Wade, liberals claim the three justices
appointed by President Trump defrauded them.
Senators Susan Collins, (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin,
(R-West Virginia) all claim two of the justices in meetings during the confirmation
process told them they wouldn’t overturn Roe vs. Wade and would rule based on
legal precedent. The senators cried betrayal.
That seems to be standard protocol for the SCOTUS.
During the
past 62 years in American history, Republicans and Democrats have each had seven
presidents, but Republicans have named 12 of the 20 Supreme Court justices
appointed during the period. Five of
those GOP presidential nominees turned into left-leaning justices: Earl Warren (Eisenhower),
William Brennan (Eisenhower), Harry Blackmun (Nixon), John Paul Stevens (Ford),
and David Souter (GHW Bush). Each of the
five claimed during their confirmation they would rule based on the ‘original
intent’ of the Constitution, but they hoodwinked, double-crossed, and bamboozled
conservatives. Many of the liberal rulings from the court in the past fifty years
were accomplished with the aid of these five deceivers. In fact, Harry Blackmun, Nixon’s appointee,
wrote the majority opinion in the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. Three observations:
First, determining
how a SCOTUS justice is going to rule is next to impossible- at least for
Republican nominees. In addition to the
examples cited above, President Reagan appointed three justices to the court: Sandra
Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy. Of the three, only Scalia was a reliable
conservative vote. Kennedy and O’Connor
were as unpredictable as the Oklahoma weather.
President George H.W. Bush appointed Clarence Thomas and David
Souter. Souter, who retired in 2009, was
a disappointment and became a centrist.
Thomas has been one of the most conservative members of the SCOTUS. Justices appointed by Democrat presidents
have ruled consistently from the left- just as they said they would. It seems dupery is only on the right.
Second, Democrats
have missed opportunities on the SCOTUS.
In the last 50 years, only 6 of the most liberal justices have retired
when the president was a Democrat. On
the conservative side, 6 of the most conservative justices have resigned with a
Republican was president. Justice
Thurgood Marshall would not retire when President Carter was president and
Justice Ruth Ginsburg did the same thing when President Obama was POTUS. They were both replaced on the court by
Republican nominees.
Third, the
SCOTUS ruling did not make abortion illegal.
The ruling pushed the issue back to the states. In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito
wrote: “Roe vs. Wade was egregiously wrong from the start. It is time to heed the Constitution and
return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” Some elected representatives/legislatures
have already taken up the issue.
At least seven
states have ‘trigger laws.’ Arkansas,
Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin are among
those that will restrict or outright ban abortion.
The SCOTUS
ruling will force most- if not all- state legislatures across the country to
take up the issue of abortion in the near future. Their policy on life will further ideologically
divide the United States along lines that might not be reconcilable. Two can’t walk together except they be agreed. The view on the importance of unborn life is the
issue that could disjoin the union. Agreeing
to disagree may not be possible on this issue.
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