Roe v. Wade One of America’s Most Polarizing Decisions

One of, if not the most, polarizing cases in American history was overturned on June 22, 2022. Since then the battle lines have been drawn, as you might expect, between the Democrats and Republicans. The topic of abortion has been and is expected to be prominent in all political races right up to, if not beyond, the presidential race in 2024.

Regardless of your moral beliefs, Roe v. Wade has always been an issue about abortion and freedom of choice in equal parts. These issues make it one of the most intricate and difficult decisions that elected officials have ever had to face and will continue to face for years to come.

Roe v. Wade 1973 Decision

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant individual’s liberty to have an abortion. The decision struck down many of the country’s abortion laws and began the ongoing debate about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality, and what moral and religious views should be included in the decision.

Norma McCorvey, using the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe” who, in 1969, became pregnant with her third child brought the case. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother’s life.

The suit was filed in U.S. federal court against the local district attorney, Henry Wade alleging that Texas abortion laws were unconstitutional. A special three-judge court ruled in her favor, prompting the parties to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. In January 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision in McCorvey’s favor stating that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a “right to privacy” protecting a woman’s right to abortion.

Additionally, the Supreme Court addressed competing interests by announcing a pregnancy trimester timetable to govern all abortion regulations in the Country. The Supreme Court’s decision has been one of the most controversial in U.S. history.

The court reasoned that if abortions were outlawed, this would infringe on a woman’s right to privacy for several reasons: having unwanted children “may force upon the woman a distressful life and future”; it may bring imminent psychological harm; caring for the child may tax the mother’s physical and mental health; and because there may be “distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child”

Decades of Support

Some groups of our society supported Roe v. Wade, some opposed the decision, and some even thought the ruling didn’t go far enough. One thing for certain is that Roe radically changed the Republican and Democratic parties for decades after the ruling. While anti-abortion activists and politicians tried to overturn the ruling ever since it was handed down, polls showed that a majority of voters opposed overruling Roe.

Even into the late 2010s and early 2020s between 85 and 90 percent of Americans believed that abortion should be legal in some circumstances. Polls taken in 2018-2019 showed that 60 percent of Americans supported abortion in the first trimester and 69 percent said they did not want to see Roe overturned.

Roe v. Wade Overturned

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe because the right to abortion was not “deeply rooted in the Nation’s history or tradition”, and it was not considered a right when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868 and was unknown in U.S. law until Roe.

This opinion was disputed by some legal historians who claimed that several rights did not exist when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868. These rights contraception, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage yet they are constitutionally protected.

Reception

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion stating in part;

“Abortion presents a profound moral question,” Alito wrote. “The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

In dissent Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan wrote in part;

“With sorrow — for this court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection — we dissent.”

President Biden stated;

“Today the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right for the American people,” President Biden said from the White House. “They didn’t limit it, they simply took it away.”

After the ruling, many took to the streets, some to celebrate while others voiced their anger over one of the most significant, if not the most significant decisions to be overruled in the last fifty years.

“The Supreme Court has now officially given politicians permission to control what we do with our bodies, deciding that we can no longer be trusted to determine the course for our own lives,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood.

James Bopp Jr., general counsel to the National Right to Life Committee, called the ruling “a total victory for the pro-life movement and for America.”

“I’m thrilled that the carnage will be abated,” he said.

Which Rights Are Next?

It isn’t an exaggeration to ask yourself which Constitutional right will be next to be overturned. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas was crystal clear when he said the same rationale that the Supreme Court used to declare there was no right to abortion should be used to overturn cases establishing the rights to contraception, same-sex consensual relations, and same-sex marriage.

One Year Later

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has returned the legality of abortion to the states, and in several cases, the issue is already on its way back to court. Over the last year since the high court’s ruling to overturn Roe legislators have introduced several new restrictions and bans.

The legal questions over these new laws have sent them to state courts to be debated, during which time they are banned from taking effect until they are worked out. This has created an even more volatile situation because now access to abortion is restricted in some states until the new laws make their way through the courts.

In Conclusion

Regardless of which side of the debate you are on there are some observations that can not be ignored. All three of former President Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court were in the majority of the 6-3 ruling. Overturning Roe has been a decades-long campaign by the Republicans. And lastly, out of the 9 current Supreme Court Justices, 6 were appointed by Republican presidents and 3 were appointed by presidents that were Democrats.