It’s official: SCOTUS has overturned ‘Roe’ — UPDATED

CHECK THIS POST FOR UPDATES AS WE ADD STATEMENTS RELATED TO THIS DECISION

LISA KEEN  |  Keen News Service

UPDATE:

Underscoring that concern, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion that urges the court to “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.” Lawrence struck down state bans against same-sex sexual relations; Obergefell struck state bans against marriage for same-sex couples; and Griswold struck bans against couples using contraceptive.

In language that is overtly dismissive of concern for how the decision will impact other rights, including the right of same-sex couples to marry, the right to have same-sex relations, and the right to obtain contraception, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that these considerations are “too much” and lack “any serious discussion.”

“These attempts to justify abortion through appeals to a broader right to autonomy and to define one’s ‘concept of existence’ prove too much,” wrote Alito, who was joined on the majority opinion by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Chief Justice John Roberts did not sign onto Alito’s decision but issued his own opinion, concurring in the judgment.

Alito offers thin reassurance that the decision will not impact these other rights.

He said the majority has “stated unequivocally that “[n]othing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” saying abortion involves taking a “potential life,” while the decisions in the other cases do not. Then he adds this:

“Each precedent is subject to its own stare decisis analysis, and the factors that our doctrine instructs us to consider like reliance and workability are different for these cases than for our abortion jurisprudence,” said Alito. Given that the Dobbs decision analysis of stare decisis (respect for precedent) overturns the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision, this reassurance falls empty. Obergefell v. Hodges, striking state bans on same-sex marriage, was issued only seven years ago. Lawrence v. Texas, striking state bans on consensual sex between same-sex adults, was issued only 19 years ago.

Adding to that concern, Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion (see page 3), urges the court to “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. He said the court has “a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents….”

ORIGINAL

In a ruling that is expected to have significant repercussions for LGBT people, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today (Friday, June 24) that states may ban abortion.

The 6-3 decision came in Dobbs v. Jackson, a case in which an abortion clinic challenged a new law in Mississippi that banned abortion at any time after 15 weeks, unless there is a medical emergency or severe fetal abnormality.

In an unprecedented development, a draft of a majority opinion was leaked to the press in early May, indicating that the court was poised to overturn its long-standing decisions protecting the right to abortion. LGBTQ legal activists were alarmed at the language of that draft decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, saying it lay the groundwork to overturn landmark decisions in support of rights for LGBTQ people.

Roe v. Wade, in 1973, said the constitution implies that citizens have a right to privacy and liberty and that those rights cover the right to choose an abortion. Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in 1992, said states could regulate abortion once a fetus becomes viable as long as the regulations did not create an undue burden to women who seek an abortion.

During oral argument last Dec. 1, the Supreme Court justices discussed the implications for the Dobbs decision on two major LGBT decisions: Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges. Lawrence ruled that states could not ban sexual relations between same-sex couples; Obergefell ruled that states could not ban same-sex couples from marrying.

Watch DallasVoice.com for further analysis of how this ruling could impact LGBTQ decisions.

©2022 Keen News Service

GLADD responds to Thomas

After responding earlier this morning to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, GLAAD is now responding directly to the concurrence penned by Justice Clarence Thomas that calls for the court’s Obergefell and Lawrence rulings to be reconsidered. On the first day of Pride weekend in many major cities, and on the eve of Sunday’s 7-year anniversary of the Obergefell ruling, Thomas has made it clear that LGBTQ rights are the Supreme Court’s next target.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president & CEO of GLAAD: “Thomas’ concurrence is a blaring red alert for the LGBTQ community and for all Americans. We will never go back to the dark days of being shut out of hospital rooms, left off of death certificates, refused spousal benefits or any of the other humiliations that took place in the years before Obergefell. And we definitely will not go back to the pre-Lawrence days of being criminalized just because we are LGBTQ. But that’s exactly what Thomas is threatening to do to the country, even as support for marriage equality is at an all-time high of 71 percent and more Americans are coming out as LGBTQ with each generation. Between this threat and today’s reversal of abortion rights, we can no longer trust that the Supreme Court is operating in the interests of the majority of Americans.”

Statement from The Afiya Center, only reproductive justice organization in North Texas founded and directed by Black womxn:

“Today, The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional guarantee to access legal abortion. We have known since the leaked draft that the Supreme Court was heading towards this decision. We in Texas feel as if we have already been living in a post-Roe country and have seen the effects this has had on people, especially people of color in our state who already deal with systems of oppression that have been in place for years.

Afiya Center Executive Director Marsha Jones said:

“We all knew this was coming. The overturning of Roe v. Wade and bans like Texas Senate Bill 8 are part of the intertwined systems of oppression that deny Black, indigenous and other people of color access to their rights and are rooted in anti-Black racism, white supremacy and other forms of discrimination. The overturning of Roe will increase the unjust surveillance of people accessing contraceptives, IUDs and Plan B. As a result, Black womxn will be criminalized at a higher rate than any other ethnic group, which will further perpetuate generational poverty, diminish access to resources such as affordable and safe housing, interfere in family planning and put us at risk of losing our children to a system that is already designed to send our children in to institutional slavery.

“With Roe being overturned, human rights are being snatched away from the most vulnerable. We know that birth justice is a Human Right. This decision will continue to further a mortality crisis that we are seeing in Black womxn across the country. Abortion access is a critical necessity to birth justice. We want Texans to know that The Afiya Center and Southern Roots Doula Collective will continue to hold space and advocate for Black birthing folx most desired and optimal reproductive health choices. We truly trust Black womxn.”

Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), today released the following statement after the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overruled Roe.

“This is a radical, dangerous, and deeply unpopular decision by a radical, activist, and out of touch Court. In choosing to rip away 50 years of rights for women, this Court has also laid the groundwork to rip away many other rights.

“The United States now joins a vanishingly small list of countries where the right to an abortion is not protected, a list that also coincides with dramatic democratic backsliding.

“Just like when abortion was illegal before, abortion won’t end, it will just become dangerous and cost women their lives. This ruling joins the list of the worst decisions in the Court’s long history. The real world impacts will be devastating and will take us back decades.”

“The burden to protect women’s rights now falls to the Congress and our state legislatures. We can and should do that, but we must also recognize that we will need to organize and activate the millions of Americans who don’t want to see us go backwards any further.

“My hope is that today is remembered in future history books not for this disgraceful ruling, but for the brave folks who stood up in its wake to fight for a more perfect union and the change they brought about. I will be fighting alongside them.”

Statement from CenterLink:

We should all be able to make the personal health care decisions that impact our lives, health, and futures. But today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a shattering blow to the right to access abortion in the U.S., leaving even more people struggling to access the essential health care they need. Never before has this Court rolled back a right the American people have relied on for half a century.

The Court’s opinion is impactful in the worst way possible. The repercussions will be deadly. Pregnant people will be forced to carry pregnancies against their will, risking their health and their lives. Nearly half of the women of reproductive age in the United States, and more people who can become pregnant, live in the 26 states that will likely move to ban abortion, meaning more than 36 million people will feel the effects of this decision.

The effects will also be disproportionate, felt most acutely by Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, immigrants, people living with low incomes, and people in rural areas — communities that historically already face barriers to abortion access due to systemic racism and discrimination.

Reproductive rights are LGBTQ+ rights. This decision will have devastating consequences for LGBTQ+ people – including queer people, non-binary people, and transgender men, who all need safe access to reproductive care.

Abortion access is just one of several fundamental rights currently under attack, including our right to privacy and body autonomy guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, intertwined with our right to liberty in which Roe v. Wade was grounded. It raises concerns about the Court’s ability to dismantle other rights related to LGBTQ+ families, because this is also the Amendment upon which the rights gained by LGBTQ+ people rest, including the right to marry.

“The court’s opinion is appalling and unprecedented and is a dangerous assault to not only the right to terminate a pregnancy, but also to other constitutional rights involving privacy, liberty, and autonomy, ” said CenterLink CEO Denise Spivak. “At a time when there are hundreds of pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation that have been introduced, or in some cases passed, in states across the country, we need to ensure that every person has access to the care they need, and the power to control their own body and life. We as a nation, and as human beings, deserve judges and elected officials – at all levels of government – who believe that as well.”

Decades of attacks have left abortion rights in the U.S hanging by a thread.  Today that thread was cut, but we are not defeated. We will keep working until every person, no matter where they live, how much money they make, or what they look like, has the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives and futures.

Modern Military Association of America statement

“The tremendous amount of legal chaos and fear this court just inflicted on countless military families who often have no choice where they are stationed is truly unprecedented and despicable,” said Jennifer Dane, MMAA CEO and Executive Director. “We are incredibly concerned about what the Supreme Court’s decision means for service members stationed in states that have stripped away their rights and criminalized their reproductive decisions. We are also deeply alarmed by Justice Thomas’ radical pledge to revisit and overturn the marriages of thousands of our military families.”

Statement from Sen. Royce West:

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a setback for women’s rights and the right to privacy in our country. For years, I have championed a woman’s right to make her own health choices, inclusive of her reproductive rights. In the coming Legislative Session, I will do everything possible to fight for Texas women and their reproductive rights. I will continue to analyze today’s decision to determine the best legislative path forward to help
Texas women. Those who believe in a woman’s right to choose will need to become more actively involved by voting to send others to Austin to help me in this fight. An attack on women’s rights today, will result in attacks on the rights of others tomorrow.”