Weekend Quotables: Another handmaid's tale
Weekend Quotables: Another handmaid's tale
SCOTUS leaves a "stench" as it prepares to overturn Roe v. Wade
When Trump appointed his three right-wing Supreme Court justices, he promised that they would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The way things are looking now, that’s exactly what’s happening. Democrats, who more than a year into Biden’s term, have done nothing to change the makeup of the court, now appear powerless to stem the anti-democratic tide.
The court’s conservative majority signaled it would uphold the Mississippi law and may overturn a nationwide right to abortion that has existed for nearly 50 years under the court’s Roe v. Wade decision.
If the court decides to reverse or weaken Roe, it will usher in a new retrograde era for women’s rights. Abortion may remain legal in more than half of states, but not in a wide swath of the Midwest and the South.
Historically, the only thing that comes close to this reactionary move by the SCOTUS majority was the Dred Scott decision in 1854 which infuriated abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement, and ultimately led to the Civil War.
Now, more than a century and a half later, the court’s decision will once again focus on the question of “state’s rights” in the former slave states of the south and most notably on Mississippi.
A decision is not expected until June next year. That’s time enough to mobilize the kind of nationwide protests necessary to stem the right-wing tide.
WEEKEND QUOTABLES
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked earlier this week…
“Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?” — Washington Post
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
If the Supreme Court is perceived to be made up of politicians rather than judges, “that’s what kills us as an American institution.” — New York Times
Jill Filipovic is the author of ‘OK Boomer, Let’s Talk’
A radical minority is accumulating ever more power, and they’re threatening to undermine equal rights under the law, basic human freedoms, and democracy itself. — Guardian
Ruth Marcus, WaPo editorial page editor
On the current court, each conservative justice enjoys the prospect of being able to corral four colleagues, if not all five, in support of his or her beliefs, point of view,h or pet projects, whether that is outlawing affirmative action, ending constitutional protection for abortion, exalting religious liberty over all other rights or restraining the power of government agencies. — The Rule of Six
Robert Reich
There is no doubt anymore that the US supreme court is run by partisan hacks. — Guardian
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"Out of 9 justices, 3 were appointed by a man who tried to overthrow the US government (& elected via minority). Those 3 will decide whether the US will legalize forcing people to give birth against their will. Legitimacy requires the consent of the governed. They are dismantling it." — Forbes
Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves
…confirmed that if the landmark ruling was overturned entirely, Mississippi would enforce a ban on almost all abortions in the state under a so-called “trigger law”. — US News
Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett, a former ‘handmaid’ in the Christian group People of Praise…
…tried to make the case that it’s okay for the government to force women to carry pregnancies to term since they can always put the child up for adoption. — Boston Globe
