Setting Up the Dominoes
The recently leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion piece composed by Justice Samuel Alito has had tremendous repercussions, on both sides of the aisle. Five of the nine Justices have signed on to this draft ruling that is due to be voted on by the end of this judicial session, June 30. Whoever leaked this draft is of grave concern to Chief Justice Roberts and many political commentators.
The opinion piece authorizes the revocation of the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade. One would be excused for thinking a Supreme Court ruling that has been in place for almost 50 years would be safe from review and reversal. In the political climate where we find ourselves today, that would turn out to be a false assumption.
According to Noah Feldman, writing for the Bloomberg View, “…it indicates that in the justices’ private conference, at least five members of the court voted to reverse the 1973 abortion precedent. They aren’t bound by that vote, which they can change up to the day the final opinion is released. Almost all first drafts undergo significant revision based on discussion and debate among the justices. So the second point to make is that Roe isn’t yet overturned, though it very likely will be.... Abortion rights are poised to fall. That’s a constitutional tragedy.”
It is devastating enough to imagine a post-Roe v. Wade world. Different governors and states are already passing legislation not only outlawing the abortion procedure itself, but criminalizing other parties involved. These could include doctors, nurses, counselors, and other support staff. Proposed legislation is taking it even further, so that residents of certain states are subject to felony charges if they travel to other states to receive an abortion.
This rush to reverse the 1973 Roe decision cannot be seen truly as a rush. People from many corners of the political—and religious—field have been plotting this move for decades. The political climate in 2022 has made it the “right” time to push it through. Riding the wave of four years of a presidency where one institutional standard after another has been dismantled or destroyed, the momentum for ultraconservative court rulings has gained speed.
One of the problems with undoing a 49-year-long Supreme Court ruling is not just that a legal precedent is being reversed, it is that it will be establishing a new precedent. And that precedent will be setting up dominoes to fall across the American landscape. Politicians are already talking about pushing the abortion restrictions further, by criminalizing the use of contraceptives. In addition, legislators have even proposed that life begins at conception. The ramifications of these legal ventures are not only disheartening, but also destructive.
Once Roe v. Wade is reversed, any safeguards to more recent rulings could disappear. There will be nothing to stand in the way of courts, and their activist judges, stripping away other protections that we have taken for granted.
Voting rights are being threatened. Gerrymandering seems to continue unabated. Redrawn voting district maps come out of the corners of backroom strategizing to limit or lessen the representation of minority groups. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was severely altered by the Supreme Court in 2013. Shelby County v. Holder removed the federal oversight of different states’ voting regulations. These states had historically been found to be discriminatory in their application of voting laws. This case allowed them to continue to pass new voting restrictions without consequence.
The next domino in line to fall may well be Obergefell v. Hodges. We are just a few weeks away from the seventh anniversary of this Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage. If Roe v. Wade is no longer an established precedent, how can anyone expect this 2015 ruling to stand?
It is difficult to imagine going back in time to pre-Obergefell life. Those who identify as LGBTQ+ are once again on the chopping block of right-wing oppressive legislation. Already several states have enacted laws that criminalize proper medical care of trans youth. Others have set up “trigger” legislation that will become the law of the land the day Roe is overturned.
Nothing is sacred anymore, especially rights of American citizens who have become complacent and unaccustomed to serious threats to those rights. Without being an alarmist, it is time to be alarmed! This is no slippery slope to losing our privacy rights. It is instead a toboggan run downhill to the demise of basic rights which we have come to expect in our “civil” society.
The dominoes are being set up, one after another. How many dominoes fall and how that will affect the lives and livelihood of our friends and families remains to be seen. ▼
David Garrett, a CAMP Rehoboth Board member, is a straight advocate for equality and inclusion. He is also the proud father of an adult trans daughter. Email David Garrett at davidg@camprehoboth.com.