" />

The Moderate Voice

An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right


You are here: Home / Featured / SUPREME COURT DRAFT OPINION TO AXE ROE V WADE SPARKS FIRESTORM (ROUNDUP)

SUPREME COURT DRAFT OPINION TO AXE ROE V WADE SPARKS FIRESTORM (ROUNDUP)

by Leave a Comment

When Politico broke the news that a draft Supreme Court opinion says the court will completely axe Roe v Wade, it sparked a firestorm that is still spreading–and accentuating 21st century America’s already ugly polarization.

The bulk of outrage was from leftists and centrists outraged by the court poised to shove the U.S. back into the 20th century on women’s rights and by Trump-appointed justices telling members of Congress and testifying that they considered Roe v Wade the law of the land. The bulk of outrage on the right was from the fact that Samuel Alito’s draft opinion was leaked by someone to Politico — and the leak was an extraordinary breach.

According to The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer if the draft opinion is accepted by the full court it’d roll back key advances of the 20th century. Indeed, the slogan might be “Party like it’s the 20th century.” The New York Times’ conservative columnist Brett Stephen’s said overturning Roe v Wade is a “radical” not conservative move.

All this comes as a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last week found overwhelming support for leaving Roe v Wade alone. “With the Supreme Court poised to overturn the right to abortion, the survey finds that 54 percent of Americans think the 1973 Roe decision should be upheld while 28 percent believe it should be overturned — a roughly 2-to-1 margin,” the Washington Post reports.

The controversy is akin to a vacuum bomb sucking up oxygen: news reports and social media are crammed with reaction to and stories about the likely Supreme Court decision. Even the Russia-Ukranian War is getting less coverage. Some notable tidbits:

  • Much of the anger about the opinion stems from Alito’s tone which does at times suggest he’s a huge fan of Fox News’ evening talk show schedule.
  • There are reports that President Joe Biden intends to hang the decision around Republicans’ necks for the mid-term elections. And if the GOP has had problemls with women in elections before, the ruling is unlikely to increase its support among women.
  • The ruling will set up an interesting test. Republicans have been far more fired up about the November elections than Democrats. Will this issue fire up Democrats, women and young voters? Or will many Democrats — as they have often done — stay home or not vote to teach their party a lesson for not giving them what they wanted on their key issues?
  • Some Demcorats are now talking about expanding the court. If so, it’s likely to be as effective in winning votes as was the campaign to defund the police in 2020. That is widely believed to have given the Democrats such thin margins in Congress.
  • Pro-life Americans and pro-life states are rejoycing. After all: the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision will be a victory of the playing the long game. Republicans (particularly Senate Minority Lead Mitch McConnell) have been laser focused for years on getting a court that would deep-six Roe v Wade. Democrats often kept their eye off the prize (the Supreme Court) when it came to voting and long-term strategy.

    • A roundup of some reaction:

    Pat Byrnes, PoliticalCartoons.com

    Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) came under intense social media ridicule and fire after having insisted two Republican Supreme Court nominees she talked to would honor the Roe v Wade precedent. She issued a statement:

    Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Tuesday that a leaked Supreme Court draft ruling was “completely inconsistent” with what Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch told her during their private conversations as Supreme Court nominees.

    “If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office,” Collins said in a statement.

    “Obviously, we won’t know each Justice’s decision and reasoning until the Supreme Court officially announces its opinion in this case,” she added.

    Massachusetts Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren was enraged:

    by Guy Parsons, PoliticalCartoons.com

    CNN’s Chris Cillizza believes the ruling is one that could change the mid-terms:

    The Supreme Court’s looming decision on Roe v. Wade is one of those external factors that does have the ability to fundamentally alter how the parties — and their bases — see the coming election.

    Sensing that, Democrats immediately began to cast the 2022 midterms as a straight referendum on the decision.

    “If the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday. “And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November.”

    “Republicans just gutted Roe v Wade, the Constitution’s guarantee of reproductive freedom, and will ban abortion in all 50 states, if they take over Congress,” tweeted New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who runs the Democrats’ House campaign arm. “Only Democrats will protect our freedoms. That is now the central choice in the 2022 election.”

    “Women are going to go to vote in numbers we have never seen before,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on CBS. “If they want to protect their fundamental rights to reproductive choice or their fundamental rights to anything, they had better go vote in the fall.”

    And Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested the draft ruling required Congress to act immediately. “Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW,” he tweeted. “And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes.”

    Polling suggests that the issue could absolutely be a galvanizing one — for Democrats and even independents.
    In a January CNN poll, almost 7 in 10 Americans (69%) said they opposed the Supreme Court overturning Roe. That includes 86% of Democrats and 72% of independents.

    More than 1 in 3 said they would be “angry” if the court overturned the decision, while another quarter said the decision would leave them “dissatisfied.” Just 14% said the decision would make them “happy.” Among Democrats, a majority — 51% — said the decision would make them “angry” while 29% of Republicans said it would make them “happy.”

    Simply put: There are very few issues that can make a claim to upend or fundamentally alter the trajectory of an election. But overturning Roe may well be one of them.


    by Bob Englehart, PoliticalCartoons.com

    Photo 156874393 / Firestorm © Petropavlovsk | Dreamstime.com