Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled that the states can make abortion illegal, there are some dark days ahead on the legal front according to a legal analyst who appeared on CNN Friday afternoon.
The 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization strips away a right women across the United States have had for five decades, and that, according to Steve Vladek, has repercussions that have not yet been considered or felt, noting that the right to contraception and same-sex marriage are also at risk, as Justice Clarence Thomas made clear when he wrote in the Dobbs opinion:
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous’ … we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents … After overruling these demonstrably erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated.”
CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates agreed with Vladek, adding:
“You’re going to have interstate battles about how you’re going to enforce these laws.
“…I can’t help but wonder, how do you intend for these laws to be enforced? Is there no doctor-patient confidentiality provision any longer? … Are you going to be able to have access to medical records or interrogate people in the office of the receptionist or the doctor about someone’s menstruation? The womb is actually the site of the so-called crime, so whatever law would be enforced would have to be intrusive and invasive in trying to figure out what has happened there.”
The only good thing about the Dobbs ruling: It may well be what assures a blue wave in November that will allow Democrats to enshrine a woman’s right to choose into federal law.
Featured Image: NBC News
