The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is ushering in a new era of judicial activism. But if it overturns the 1973 abortion-rights precedent Roe v. Wade, as it seems poised to do, the same majority is walking into a conceptual trap.
The case against Roe rests on nearly 50 years of conservative argument that the landmark decision was the culmination of a liberal generational failure to exercise judicial restraint, of creating constitutional rights unsupported by constitutional principles. Hence the contradiction: Today’s conservative majority appears ready to issue an epoch-making decision endorsing restraint as it enters a period of aggressive activism.
Five justices can do whatever they think is right. Yet the history of Supreme Court activism indicates that today’s conservative majority will have to labor mightily to explain away the contradiction and ward off the taint of being unprincipled and outcome-oriented... continues here
!This discussion is not a matter of your opinion of abortion! It is to focus on opposing political party's backing. Republicans and the right have appealed to pro-life individuals and argue they are protecting the right of the fetus/embryo. Democrats and the left have adopted the pro-choice approach and argue they are honoring the right of the woman to choose. How much of an influence does this controversial topic have on voters? Would Libertarians (who hold freedom above all) side in protecting the freedom of a woman to choose, or protecting an embryo/fetus right to life? why?
Conservatives used to be conservators of established and stable practice. No more, evidently.
ReplyDeleteThe arguments about abortion have become so twisted, tangled, and disengaged from the facts that it is difficult to have a civil conversation on the topic anymore. The antis focus on late term abortions which are unconscionable to most anyone and virtually never performed. The pros focus the situation of the woman as if a man or other family members let alone a potential life are not also effected. And what's the deal with trying to deny sex education to young people, birth control, and women's health services in the meantime as if they are not preferable to an unplanned pregnancy? Meliorism is the only sensible way to approach this topic. Common sense and learning from experience could get us a lot closer to problem solved than the current polarization on the issue will ever get us.
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