The Supreme Court building is barricaded!
Like Boss Tweed said of Thomas Nast’s devastating editorial cartoons: “Stop those damn pictures.”
Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” — Justice Samuel Alito in the leaked draft of the Dobbs v. Jackson abortion decision.
“The leak is the greatest crisis faced by Chief Justice John Roberts and the greatest security breach in the history of the Court. … If the culprit is a lawyer, disbarment would seem a virtual certainty.” — Jonathan Turley. “If the leaker is a justice, he or she should be impeached and convicted.” — David French.
The Dispatch reports: The destabilizing effect on the Court will be profound. Not only does the leak strike at the heart of the body’s legitimacy in the eyes of the public, it undoubtedly creates tension among the justices themselves.” Quoting Amy Howe, Supreme Court analyst at SCOTUSblog. “This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”
“Within hours of the story’s publication, hundreds of protesters—both pro-choice and pro-life—had assembled outside the Supreme Court to chant slogans, hold up signs, and shout at one another.”
A federalist abortion map
Thirteen states have a “trigger law” in place — an abortion ban that would kick in right away if the court completely overturns its precedents. Four states — Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia —have even amended their constitutions to prohibit any protections for abortion rights.
An analyst from the Guttmacher Institute says Wisconsin and Michigan’s pre-Roe abortion bans would not immediately take effect even if Roe disappears, as reported in this Axios summary.
“On abortion, the system is finally working as it should. Now the debate moves into the political realm, where it should have been all along. — David Harsanyi, National Review.
Pro-abortion? Not so much
In defense of Roe v. Wade, abortion supporters often cite polls showing that about seven in ten Americans say they don’t want Roe overturned. This is an odd rhetorical strategy from abortion supporters considering that, if most Americans really do support the Roe status quo, they presumably would elect lawmakers to enact their pro-abortion policy preferences via the democratic process rather than by judicial fiat. …
A Gallup poll from a few years back found that only 28 percent of Americans favor allowing abortion in the second trimester, and only 13 percent of Americans favor allowing it in the last three months of pregnancy. — Alexandra DeSantis, National Review
The politics
Political implications[?] Contrary to the conventional wisdom, there really won’t be many. We are in May. The election is in November. The people who care passionately about this issue are already on sides. Few are actually directly impacted by it. The economy, inflation, supply chain issues, crime, wokeness, etc. will be big issues people are regularly grappling with. College-educated women are already voting Democrat. They are the only group giving Joe Biden favorable ratings at the moment. They will already vote Democrat and will not be enough to change the direction of the election. — Erick-Woods Erickson.
‘The dishonesty of the abortion debate’
Caitlyn Flanagan in The Atlantic magazine in 2019:
“The argument for abortion requires many words. The argument against it doesn’t take even a single word. The argument against it is a picture.
“These sonograms are so richly detailed that many expectant mothers pay to have one made in a shopping-mall studio, much in the spirit in which they might bring the baby to a portrait studio. …They are proof that what grows within a pregnant woman’s body is a human being.”
Blaska’s Bottom Line: if not …
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Aspiring under-age tattoo recipients have protections.
“According to data through March 2015 compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 45 states have laws prohibiting minors from getting tattoos, with the majority of those states allowing it if there’s parental consent. For example, Florida law requires written, notarized consent of a minor’s parent or legal guardian in order to tattoo a minor.”
Aspiring underage abortion recipients, and the unborn? Not so much.
”According to Guttmacher Institute, a group that tracks abortion policy and statistics, a majority of states require consent and/or notification. In 37 states, minors need parental consent and/or notification, while 11 states and Washington D.C. require neither.
Nationwide it’s easier, or at least not as difficult, for minors to get an abortion than it is for them to get a tattoo.
The kicker?
To no one’s surprise, this makes perfect sense in LaLaLoopyLoonLeftyLand
The Gotch
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Sure, and let’s also give the right for Madison to have an election on the right to decide if David Blaska should be compelled to call a cross dresser “They”.
Knock penumbras to hell and back, Roe and a right to privacy still has a lot more inherent credence than Heller’s so called originalists blathering nonsense to make militias go poof.
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First amendment protects Blaska’s speech. Abortion not mentioned in Constitution and only inferred in the “penumbra” of the 14th Amendment. In any event, legislatures remain free to legalize abortion — and many states have. Chuck Schumer wants Congress to nationalize it. He can try. It’s just not guaranteed by the Constitution.
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“they presumably would elect lawmakers to enact their pro-abortion policy preferences via the democratic process…”
True IF they are single issue voters. Speaking for myself I’ll be taking a serious look at Alex Lasry if Roe is overturned.
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Agreed, One eye.
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It seems like the pro abortion people have had almost 30 years to get laws passed in states and in Washington and never did it. In Obama’s first 2 years the democrats controlled everything in Washington and never said a peep about abortion or immigration or voting rights and the list goes on. Instead of legislation the left wants to rule by court orders and executive orders but only the ones they like.
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Bob, I doubt there are few people who are “pro abortion.” Women are not gleefully running into the clinic without a thought about the decision they are making.
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I call it like this: Those fetuses, even in the early parts of pregnancy, sure do look like baby humans. If you doubt me, let the pregnancy come naturally to term, and see the beautiful, human result.
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This is not a change your vote issue, but rather a get out the vote issue…
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Was only a matter of time for The Progs to whip out something to upend the mid-terms; the leak is despicably brilliant. It’s like Al-Qaeda from the inside.
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You are positive that it was a Prog? Proof?
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Who else would it be, Dick?
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Who had the means, motive and opportunity?
Means – A justice who brings his work home with him.
Motive – Someone who wants Roe overturned. Someone who knows that Justice Roberts is trying to negotiate a deal in which Dodd is affirmed and Roe is not overturned.
Opportunity – A memory stick and an email address.
She is the main suspect but will never be caught.
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David, I dont follow your logic. IMO, leaking the memo adds pressure not to overturn RvW and hopes to gain momentum for the Democrats in the mid-terms.
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Yes, that’s the Left’s strategy.
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The spouse of the Justice is a well-known abortion zealot (she opposes abortion in cases involving rape and incest) and lobbyist. Based on oral arguments, she knows she has the five votes to overturn Roe. She finds out that Roberts is attempting a compromise (affirm Dodds but no overturn of Roe) and has approached two justices that have signed on to the overturn and asked them to consider a compromise. She needs to stop this.
She decides to preemptively declare victory and release the draft. She does not care about the midterms. As for pressure, the five overturn votes can only feel pressure from the right, not the left. And besides, the justices have a job for life.
There are other factors in play here. All the previous leaks from the court (in the 1970’s) went to the Washington Post and Newsweek. One would think a liberal clerk would contact the New York Times as well before they talked to Politico. In addition, as someone familiar with the law, she knows she is not running afoul of the law because there is no crime. Furthermore, the only way she can be caught is for some law enforcement agency to subpoena a Supreme Court Justice’s computer, something the Executive branch would be highly hesitant to do and wouldn’t get approval in this case.
By releasing the draft, she gets what she wants, and no one can prove anything.
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How does Mrs. Thomas get the draft? You think Clarence shares his work with the missus?
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While I don’t like abortion and feel that there should be restrictions around it (i.e don’t use it as birth control) I was largely fine with leaving the Roe decision as it was, even though abortion is clearly not a constitutional right.
That said, this news doesn’t change who I look to vote for. I care far more about stomping out violent lawlessness, restoring order to cities that progressive policies have destroyed, protecting free speech, driving woke sensibilities out of public policy, curbing inflation, keeping my job, retaining my self defense rights, and getting back to energy independence. I have no vested interest in abortion rights and perhaps others who don’t will remain unchanged as well.
I see abortion rights as a feminist issue more than anything, and until feminists start caring about men instead of slandering, villianizing, and hating them, I’m not prone to caring much about their issues either.
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I agree with everything you list except for having no vested interest. If abortion becomes unavailable to those who have no business having kids our welfare rolls will skyrocket, especially in the lower class black community as Bill points out below. It’s a luxury belief to think “every sperm is sacred” as Monty Python mocked. The lower class community are the ones that get really get screwed.
Reiterate that long acting reversible contraceptives are the real solution and the “my body my choice” stance is very frustrating when they choose to have children that they have no way to support.
I was so looking forward to the Dems getting slaughtered in the mid terms and now that may all change …. and I may be in on it.
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I am fine with giving subsidized contraception to anyone who wants it. Contraception prevents abortions. You can’t make the horse drink, but you can try making abortion alternatives even more readily available. And if this goes back to a local control issue like masks and vaccines largely did, abortion will still be available to those who would use it most. That said, watch the Wisconsin Democrats try to ram nullification of the dormant state law through in short order, if for no reason than to help them in the gubernatorial race.
I don’t think this is going to reverse the red tidal wave coming in the midterms, but I could be wrong. At the end of the day, people vote on issues closest to home for them, and rising costs of everything, rampant crime, and public schools in the toilet are a lot more tangible than abortion rights to most.
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Again, this is not a religious issue, it is an issue of protecting all classes of people as individuals that have sovereign rights given to them by Almighty God as was written by our founders in the Declaration of Independence.
As was written in part in that document: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of ……”
The question of the day is: What does the word unalienable mean? Here is the definition:
“The unalienable rights that are mentioned in the Declaration of Independence could just as well have been inalienable, which means the same thing. Inalienable or unalienable refers to that which cannot be given away or taken away.”
In short: Rights that cannot be given or taken away.
When we take the right to life away from a child in the womb of that child’s mother, we take away something that a right of that child that is unalienable.
Again, when we can do that to an unborn child that is not considered viable, something that is capable of existence and development as an independent unit, we can then do the same to those who are in nursing homes, the developmentally disabled, those who were in our military who were badly wounded and now require permanent care, or those who have the need for permanent government assistance.
Oh, and BTW, the abortion rate for black women is 4 times greater than for white women. So much for black lives matter!
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“the abortion rate for black women is 4 times greater than for white women.”
Let not your mind be troubled, Bill.
Margaret Human Weeds Sanger worshipping White PP employed abortionists will still be advising lower class minorities to terminate their pregnancies, and then cluck self-contentedly about their “service” over Pinot Noir later…
The Gotch
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You know Gotch, sometimes I just got to ask myself: Would I sell my soul for a brand new Lamborgini, a mansion up on a hill, a membership at the most exclusive country club in town, people to wait on my every needs, vacations at the most best resorts in the world all bought and paid for by taking away the unalienable rights away from a child to live?
The simple answer to that question is NO! The reason for saying that is because life is not forever, Hell is!
As for me, I’d rather dig ditches by hand for a living.
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“I’d rather dig ditches by hand for a living.”
Nothing wrong with digging ditches, The Gotch has dug many of ’em himself; still does…and will…provided the weather turns…
Anywho, you can tell exactly how much you got accomplished during the day, and we all recall Judge Smails’ timeless WISDOM.
The Gotch
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FYI … I had the revelation just yesterday that I am now the same age as Judge Smails!
Been a long time since my first viewing of Caddyshack … was 16 at a drive in theater in Slinger. I do believe it was a double feature with “The Long Riders”.
Glad I’ve seen CS an additional 236 times since then to really appreciate the genius Ted Knight.
And so it goes.
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The Gotch feels like a hundred bucks; Caddyshack is one of the few movies he’ll tune in no matter what part it’s in….thank you very little…
The Gotch
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Well I see by the news reports that there was anywhere between 200 to 2000 people, depending on the local news channel you looked at, protesting the possible court decision on abortion. I found it funny that the people, among other groups, who organized this protest were, according to channel 15, “the Young Democratic Socialist of America and the Madison Socialist Alternative.”
Definition of the word “socialism”: “a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.” https://www.google.com/search?q=socialism+definition&rlz=1CAPPDO_enUS1002&oq=socialism&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i271l2.6494j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
With the coming food shortages that are about to befall us, I predict that there will be a real push on the part of these socialist movements to get rid of the “useless eaters” among us. Those who are aborted are just the first step to making that a reality. After all, when people are not seen as sovereign individuals and just seen as just like property, means of production, distribution and could and should be owned by the community, I guess the new reality will be that all of us will have to fear is to be labeled as a “useless eater”.
Wouldn’t be the first time in history. The Nazis in Germany and the Communists in both Russia and China all did the same.
For a good read on this topic: https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2017/06/19/operation-starvation-expanded-version-2/
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How does Mrs. Thomas get the draft? You think Clarence shares his work with the missus?
Thomas was hospitalized the week of March 20. Clarence has stated he does not share his work with the missus.
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