Article by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Critics Warn Alito Draft Threatens Much, Much More Than Abortion Rights
The draft opinion leaked from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday night portends future attacks not just on Americans’ right to obtain abortion care, said critics on Tuesday, but also on anyone whose rights the court’s right-wing majority does not view as “deeply rooted” in U.S. history.
In the opinion, Justice Samuel Alito cited a number of reasons for the majority’s objection to legal abortion—including a discredited theory that abortion care is a racist tool of eugenics and Alito’s incorrect belief that “the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy and childbirth are covered by insurance”—but central to his argument is the claim that Roe v. Wade protects a right that is “not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.”
The phrase encapsulates “the most terrifying argument in that draft,” tweeted Oindrila Mukherjee, a professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
Judging from the draft opinion—which, Politico reported, was also supported by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett when the court apparently voted to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year—”everything is on the table,” said writer Rebecca Traister, naming other Supreme Court decisions which affirmed rights for Americans.
In the opinion, Alito “disavows the entire line of jurisprudence upon which Roe rests: the existence of ‘unenumerated rights’ that safeguard individual autonomy from state invasion,” wrote Mark Joseph Stern at Slate.
“The Supreme Court has identified plenty of ‘unenumerated rights’ that lack deep roots in American history,” he added. “Most recently, the court established the right of same-sex couples to be intimate (2003’s Lawrence v. Texas) and get married (2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges). Alito dismissed both decisions in harsh terms.”
Other legal experts also raised alarm that the court’s conservative majority appears to be “a half step away from letting states criminalize same-sex sexual intimacy.”
Stern wrote that Alito appeared to include language in the draft opinion which suggested the overturning of Roe would not weaken the protections that were affirmed by Loving v. Virginia, which affirmed the right to interracial marriage; Griswold v. Connecticut, which protected the right to obtain contraceptives; Skinner v. Oklahoma, which held that compulsory sterilization of people convicted of crimes was unconstitutional; and Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which struck down a law requiring parents to send their children to public schools.
“But Alito actually makes it extremely clear that he is not including Lawrence or Obergefell in his category of safe precedents!” Stern said. “Instead, he appears to include them as an example of illegitimate rights like abortion, which he is overruling in this very opinion!”
“As written, the draft is quite blithe and unflinching in its disdain for the constitutional basis of gay rights,” he added.
Despite Alito’s claim in the draft that previous decisions pertaining to Americans’ right to privacy will not be overturned, journalist Emma Vigeland said, lower courts are likely to “chip away at birth control legality, appealing it all the way up to this extremist SCOTUS.”
At The Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson wrote that with abortion rights found by the court to be not “deeply rooted” in U.S. history and therefore not protected under the Constitution, marriage equality could be overturned “within a year or two.”
“Unless another justice leaves the court, the constitutional right to marriage for all is going to be overturned,” Michaelson wrote. “The only question is whether Republicans will have a veto-proof majority (or the presidency in 2024) to ban both abortion and gay marriage anywhere in the nation.”
As Common Dreams reported Monday, with evidence emerging that the court is preparing to overturn Roe—likely making abortion illegal in more than two dozen states—Republican senators are currently developing a strategy to pass a nationwide ban on abortion care after six weeks of pregnancy, and anti-choice groups have lobbied potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates to run on passing the legislation.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Fuck you and fuck the Holy Spirit too, Reviled Dumpster Fire.
The only thing that would excuse your comments would be if you are mentally ill. But that would insult all the mentally ill people I know who would never act the way you do. So I’m going to use a phrase you will understand: YOU ARE EVIL. Wrong, bad, horrible, cruel…take your pick.
Revival Fire:
First of all-what a dumb pseudonym. Second of all-There is no “Satan” or whatever positive counterpart to evil you choose to name. No one invited you here-you came of your own accord and are CLEARLY NOT WELCOME, APPRECIATED OR BELIEVED! No one wants to hear your fairy tales or stories of an eternal damnation that doesn’t exist. Go back to your peanut gallery and preach to them. I know this may come as a shock to you, but not all humans are as gullible as you and your tribe tend to be, who believe some made up nonsense to control the masses. No one wants to hear your bullshit so go back under the rock whence you came… adios, MF.
Damn, I Love 🍆🍆, you sure spend a lot of time on this site. Shouldn’t you be busy reading the King James Bible and praying? Instead, you spend your time leaving masturbatory comments on this site. WWJD?
I have asked you this before, I’ll ask you again, please justify your behavior with the Bible. I suspect I know the Bible better than you do, and based on what I know, your vile behavior reveals you are not a Christian. No true follower of Jesus would behave as you do. If you had been a member of one of the churches I pastored and your behavior became known to the congregation, we would have excommunicated you. I see nothing in your behavior that remotely suggests you are a follower of Jesus.
Satan’s trap, legalised sodomy, Christ’s tool… this is one exciting world you inhabit, Damp Squib.
I had to laugh at your silly response. I’m so glad you are showing your ass, like many of your kind do…You’d prefer to legitimize yourselves by “condemning” the rest of us to your eternal damnation-so you can feel superior.
I want you to know, it’s people like you-the judgmental, holier-than-thou nut jobs that made me question my “faith” to begin with…along with the fact that it all sounded nonsensical. Pat yourself on the back, Mr or Ms. Christian do-gooder. What would your Jesus say when you get up to the pearly gates? “Revival fire-why didn’t you show love and compassion instead of pride and ego, just like I taught you”?
While it’s all bullshit and hell doesn’t really exist, Jesus was a mortal man, at best and YOU, SIR, are an arrogant, self righteous jerk-
Before I “lost my faith”, I would listen to sermons on the radio when I traveled. One pastor I listened to warned his congregation not to “bully” sinners to the pulpit. Truer words hadn’t been spoken, concerning winning souls for Jesus and YOU are failing miserably.
One more thing-how would you know what hell was like? Have you been there? Are you giving an eyewitness statement? The bible doesn’t count because it was written by man.
You may be scared of hell, Reviled Dumpster Fire. I’m not.
cracks knuckles Bring it.
Death by fire or whatever name you gave yourself:
By the way, asshole, I’ve never “killed a baby” and I am 100% certain no one else on this site has either.
Can someone explain the metaphor of the eggplant emoji? Does “dick fires” have a secretive Freudian fetish with eggplant or is he perhaps jealous of its size and shape? Anyone?
I added that to his post, as I do sometimes. Eggplant 🍆 = dick. Peach🍑 = vagina. I’m am of the opinion that Revival Fires is a deeply closeted Christian gay man who loathes himself. Instead of owning who he is, he rails against atheists, women, and LGBTQ people. Preachers who scream the loudest about certain sins tend to commit those sins in secret.
If Satan and God really existed and I were Satan seeking to turn people from God, then I can think of no better mouthpiece than this Revival Fires moron.
Ah! That’s hilarious!
I agree…those who scream loudest are actually projecting their own self-loathing.
Oh Revival Fire. If you had done any form of research, you’d know that where abortion is legal, it actually takes place less often. Safe abortions – combined with education, contraception and a society that values more than forced birth – save lives. Your ideals… they destroy women.
I have been telling my gay friends for several years, after Trump sullied the Presidency, that right wingers were coming for their marriage rights and there very freedom as gay people. Many dismissed me, thinking the Supreme Court ruling was the final word. Hopefully people now will wake up to the reality that stands in front of us.
These hate filled, Christian led bigots have chipped away at abortion rights, trying every method they can find to force the issue, and appear to be successful. Next on their hit parade are trans and gay rights. We cannot forget that the vast majority of Christians vehemently hate trans and gay people, and have already began using the same process to attack those rights. You only need look at anti trans laws, or book banning in schools, to see the effort in full display. The old bigoted stereotypes of perversion, pedophelia, and grooming are being loudly used once again. Some preachers even call for the imprisonment, or even death, of LGBTQIA people. They stoke the fires of fear, and gleefully use children as their weapon of choice. Parental freedom is championed as more important than the rights of certain groups to exist or be acknowledged. Human rights are thrown on the bonfire of Christian morals. The only valid person is one who accepts and enacts the life as approved by power hungry, self serving, control freak Christian. Put on your lemming costume and get in the herd where you belong.
There are many states that still have laws that make gay marriage illegal. The last time I checked, the Arizona state constitution still defines marriage as between one man and one woman. How long before this is enforced in an effort to overturn gay marriage? I am sure other states have similar laws or amendments. Reportedly 16 states (I am sure you can guess the names of these states) still have anti-sodomy laws. Anti-trans laws proliferate and grow, targeting children, but it is only a matter of time before they target adults and return to policing bathrooms and trans people in general.
Let’s not forget the abusive pressure these god fearing families place on their LGBTQ family members. This god inspired hatefest, posing as Christian love for family members, leads many people into a life long struggle against their own self. Pressured to deny their own existence, they experience a lifetime of doubt, self hate, mental health issues, and in far too many cases, suicide. But loving Christians could care less, as long as the number of LGBTQ people is lowered and the abomination is eliminated, and children are protected from the perverts.
Christian hate is now prevalent and in the open. Churches now proudly wear the cloak of bigotry and demand their followers do the same. Dissent is turning against god. Denominations align themselves with political power, and wrap themselves in the corruption that drives politics. All is acceptable as long as god is praised and Christian values are championed. Any morality that Christianity had is now dead, trampled under the feet of men seeking full control. The teaching of Jesus died with him, and all that is left now is a white washed tomb, pretty on the outside, but full of death on the inside.
We are at a point in history where people will either stand up and defend the human rights of the “others” or support the growing theocracy that will rule as a Christian taliban. We will either let hate win and drive us back into the past, or we will stop this god loving hate and grow this country into a better place for all people.
It’s time to take a stand.
Sage and Obstaclechic-Very well stated and I couldn’t agree more. It is appalling to know this level of bigotry, hatred, racism and misogyny still exist and have been allowed to run rampant for all the world to see. I whole-heartedly blame religion and it’s death grip on humanity, with it’s fabricated stories and lies-for the destruction of peace for all.
By golly, its hot in this grocery store! Here I am with a dozen eggplants and a baker’s dozen peaches and at the cash register I have to show I.D.! What the? I’m just trying buy food here! What kind of shop is this, Gerencser?
Oh, and ‘I’m wit you fellars!’
This “Revival Fires” person shows all of us by their words that they are a bigoted, hateful, misogynistic, legalistic, mean person who delights in seeing their cultural enemies suffer. I assume that this person is a white man by the things that they say, but I cannot be sure. They may be a BIPOC woman who is trying to identify with their oppressors in order to gain status among the oppressive class – not unlike all the conservative white women like the late Phyllis Schlafly or Amy Coney Barrett who follow right-wing white male patriarchy in order to enjoy the privilege of white womanhood at the expense of people of color. They would rather rule the 2nd tier than to have to “compete” on a level playing field. They are not unlike the wives of enslavers of the antebellum era, or the white women who enjoyed their 2nd tier status in the Jim Crow era South – while they weren’t at the top of the pile, at least they were “above” people of color.
Or maybe this “Revival Fires” person is actually a closeted LGBTQ individual who doth protest too much.
Or maybe they really are just a simple religious zealot a$$hole.
I’m laughing at Mitch McConnell who has worked and gamed the SCOTUS nomination system for decades for this moment so he could crap in the middle of the living room floor, and now doesn’t want to own the stink. The real problem with the Roe vs. Wade decision is that it has taken it out of normal political discourse so Republicans could pander to their pro-life base, but also get votes from small government fiscal conservative votes. (I still remember an SNL sketch where they rapped, “I’m liberated, I belong to NOW but I voted for Reagan any-how!”) Let’s face it, Roe vs. Wade got us Ronald Reagan less than a decade later, which led to Dubya and Trump. I’m confident when the dust settles, abortion rights will be almost as universal as they are now but Democrats will actually have an issue they can run on and defend. The 40 year effort to stack the supreme court has had some terrible side effects for secularists. The tentacles of the Vatican and the religious right now control the Supreme court, and the religious right has been given way too much Rumspringa.
“ I would tell you that Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed,”—Neil Gorsuch, during his 2017 confirmation hearing.
“He said that he agreed with what Justice Roberts said at his nomination hearing, at which he said that it (Roe v Wade) was settled law.”—Susan Collins, recounting her meeting with Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 confirmation.
Defining a “super-precedent “ as a “case that is universally accepted and virtually no one advocates for overturning,” Amy Coney Barrett said that while Roe v Wade didn’t fit the category ,” it doesn’t mean that it should be overturned “
Some people say that Trump’s three appointees lies during their confirmation hearings. Actually, they were being good (almost too good) lawyers. They merely said that Roe v Wade is the law. But one can say that, for example, that laws against marijuana use or sales are on the books while believing that such laws should be repealed.
Unfortunately, it was too easy to see this coming. The irony is that one of the world’s most inveterate liars—the former President who shall not be named—was more forthright in his pledge to appoint justices who opposed Roe v Wade.
I can only begin to enumerate the ways in which the draft—if it portends the end of Roe v Wade—is the worst nightmare of anyone who isn’t part of the wealthy white Christian male power structure and, as Obstacle pointed out, the women, LGBTQ people and members of racial and ethnic minorities who ally themselves with them. (Two such folks—Barrett and Clarence Thomas—are SCOTUS justices.)
MJ, that’s an astute observation. They were being good lawyers (or liars?) Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. I’m not sure why they were cagey about overturning 50 years of precedent, everyone on the right KNEW that’s what they were there for : to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Democrats weren’t going to vote for them even if they were forthright and told the whole truth.
I know one thing, the pro-choice genie isn’t going back into the bottle, though unfortunately the reverberations as the political system digests the religious right tail wagging the secular dog will be extremely painful and a lot of women will suffer.
Revival fires: Your most recent comment sounds like a night with friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. Both are mythical. Seems you’ve crossed the line of reality.
Gee RF, are you saying sodomy equals gay sex? Because if you did any reading or checking on statistics. many, many heterosexuals enjoy sodomy. And guess what? The only way to know what people actually do in their bedrooms is to monitor people and take away their privacy. I guess that is what you are for, since you are against abortion and “sodomy.” Hope you enjoy having your privacy taken away. What? Didn’t think it could happen to you? Well, unless you’re rich and powerful it could. I’m sure this won’t cause you to reconsider anything, as you are obviously in thrall to a cult.
Grins evilly
Revy baby. You talk so beautifully when your screen protects you. I think the phrase to describe you is a knuckle dragging, blowhard, cunt.
You see, I live the danger daily. I see people like you all the time, who talk loudly but shrivel up then standing face to face. Like most others who scream about love, salvation, and hell, you look at your feet and scurry off with your tail between your legs when confronted with a person like Sage, the non binary person who lives openly, proudly, and without apology.
It’s easy to pontificate when hiding in your room, or hanging out at the country club church you attend that has sooo much talk but no real action. Even though you scurry off when confrontation happens, you will tell you god friends how you stood up up for god. Which, once again, is all talk.
I know, I know.Salvation is free, and you only need believe, and it’s not about works. So no need tor you to improve your local community. You don’t need to help homeless, or hungry people, or the jobless, or the poor, or children without parents, or children suffering abuse. I get it, action is hard, you actually have to take a stand AND do something about it and actually, truly care about others outside of your little cult like circle.
Nah, it’s much better, and easier, to chase people on the internet, and accost them with words and threats of eternal damnation. Maybe there is someone you can bully…errr.. I mean threaten….err..judge..wait what is that word? Oh…save…maybe you can save someone and brainwash them into your particular self hating religion. If you can only find that one vulnerable person, maybe you can break…er… save them.
How odd you cannot coexist with others . Even your alleged savior coexisted with people he knew would kill him. Somehow, according to the stories, he cared for everyone, even non-Jews when he had too encounter them. The stories tell us that his only confrontations were with overly religious, power mongering, god followers who demanded everyone live by their rules. And I am sure that goes tight over your head.
Seriously, I am more Christlike than you when I help people in need, try to improve the lives of others, offer them support, and confront religious based, god inspired, hate loving bigotry spewed by pharisaical, chest thumping Christians like you, then put on my highest heels and shortest skirt to attend the local drag show.
If I am wrong and we both end up standing before god in the end, I think I am in a good place. At least I have done the work your savior expects. I expect I will get a key, and have god direct me to the glitter covered mansion with the name Sage across, the front in big, rainbow 🌈 neon lights.
You can save yourself a lot of time if you just go live your life and leave others to live ours.
All you have to do is pray this simple prayer. God, please help me to mind my business and learn to accept everyone and love them as you do. Help me find opportunities to serve and care for others. Show me ways I can give my surplus to those in need. And above all help me identity and overcome my biases, so I can care for all people. Amen
Sage-I LOVE IT!! I smiled all the way through your comment. Unfortunately, this dipshit called, “RF” probably won’t comprehend most of what you said and misinterpret the prose and style with which you wrote. People like RF are so brainwashed and deluded that nothing but the pastor or their bible makes any sense. People gullible enough to continue to believe in the talking snake and people lived to be more than 700 years old before modern medicine can’t possibly think critically and view the world at face value. The rest of us get it, though, and enjoy your polite and well-written statements.
Lacy, BJW and Sage–Your takedowns of “RF” are epic!
To paraphrase Voltaire: Plus que je connais les gens comme RF, plus que je prefere mon chat.
Moi, je préfère des chats aussi. =^.^=
Revival, why do I get the impression that you struggle to construct comprehensible sentences? Your grammar is appalling, notwithstanding the dreadful nature of your sentiments. You need to get a life…and an education.
D’accord. Les chats sont magnifiques! 🐯❤️🐈