Worth noting here for posterity another milestone for America slipping back into the Dark Ages.
The US Supreme Court decided a couple of days ago to overturn a 50-year old precedent, Roe v Wade, which established the constitutional right of a woman to obtain an abortion and which prevented states from outlawing abortion or from punishing women who chose to have an abortion.
It is estimated that about half of America's 50 states will now move to ban abortion, thus endangering the lives of many women. Some states already had "trigger laws" which came into effect as soon as the Supreme Court handed down its decision, immediately making abortion illegal in those states.
In overturning this precedent, it looks like the Supreme Court has also overturned the important legal principle of stare decisis in the United States. In principle, this means that no previous Supreme Court decision can be considered safe from activist partisan judges on that Court.
To be fair, this was a 5-4 majority decision of the Court. Were it not for the machinations of people like Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, this probably wouldn't have happened. It might have been expected when the Court was stacked with "conservative" judges by the Trump administration, and the appointment of a liberal judge was blocked hypocritically by the McConnell-led Senate (only to ignore its own precedent in appointing Amy Coney Barrett). It should also be noted that in their confirmation hearings, both Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh undertook that they would not overturn Roe v Wade. But here we are.
The big losers from this unfortunate decision are not the Democratic Party or its supporters. This is not, fundamentally, a partisan talking point. American women, whether they vote Democrat or Republican, will suffer equally as a result of this.
Make no mistake. This is all about exerting control over women and their bodies. Whether driven by twisted political ideology, misogyny, religion or some combination of those, this marks a sad day for American women.
One wonders whether America, which used to be a light on the hill in terms of human rights, will continue its backwards slide, or whether better angels will prevail in the longer term. Let's hope it's the latter. In the meantime, every decent person should be protesting this outrageous removal of women's right to choose what happens to their own bodies.
The US Supreme Court decided a couple of days ago to overturn a 50-year old precedent, Roe v Wade, which established the constitutional right of a woman to obtain an abortion and which prevented states from outlawing abortion or from punishing women who chose to have an abortion.
It is estimated that about half of America's 50 states will now move to ban abortion, thus endangering the lives of many women. Some states already had "trigger laws" which came into effect as soon as the Supreme Court handed down its decision, immediately making abortion illegal in those states.
In overturning this precedent, it looks like the Supreme Court has also overturned the important legal principle of stare decisis in the United States. In principle, this means that no previous Supreme Court decision can be considered safe from activist partisan judges on that Court.
To be fair, this was a 5-4 majority decision of the Court. Were it not for the machinations of people like Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, this probably wouldn't have happened. It might have been expected when the Court was stacked with "conservative" judges by the Trump administration, and the appointment of a liberal judge was blocked hypocritically by the McConnell-led Senate (only to ignore its own precedent in appointing Amy Coney Barrett). It should also be noted that in their confirmation hearings, both Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh undertook that they would not overturn Roe v Wade. But here we are.
The big losers from this unfortunate decision are not the Democratic Party or its supporters. This is not, fundamentally, a partisan talking point. American women, whether they vote Democrat or Republican, will suffer equally as a result of this.
Make no mistake. This is all about exerting control over women and their bodies. Whether driven by twisted political ideology, misogyny, religion or some combination of those, this marks a sad day for American women.
One wonders whether America, which used to be a light on the hill in terms of human rights, will continue its backwards slide, or whether better angels will prevail in the longer term. Let's hope it's the latter. In the meantime, every decent person should be protesting this outrageous removal of women's right to choose what happens to their own bodies.
