To protect abortion, U.S. Senate needs to take a rare step: listen to the majority of Americans | Editorial
It’s up to senators like Pennsylvania's Bob Casey to make sure we never see the full effects of a post-Roe America.
There are no more ifs or whens — the United States Supreme Court has voted to reverse Roe v. Wade, the half-century-old precedent that guarantees the right to an abortion. The nation is staring at a health-care disaster that will disproportionally affect women of color living in poverty. There is time to stop it before it goes into effect this summer, but that would require the U.S. Senate to do something it rarely does: reflect the will of the majority of Americans.
On Monday, Politico published a leaked draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel A. Alito that not only upholds the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of gestation but goes a step further to declare that “Roe was egregiously wrong” and “must be overturned.” Joined by at least four other justices — three of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump — the draft opinion holds that “the constitution does not confer a right to abortion.”
» READ MORE: Roe v. Wade: Protests and rallies happening in Philadelphia
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft Tuesday but noted that it does not reflect the court’s final position. Absent an abrupt about-face by the court, however, both Roe and the landmark decision in the 1992 case that upheld it, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, would be set aside.
On Jan. 24, 1973, two days after Roe was decided, The Inquirer Editorial Board wrote that the ruling means that “thousands of women will not feel obliged to go to back-alley butchers or attempt dangerous, do-it-yourself methods of abortion — or be compelled to bring unwanted children into the world, even the product of rape or incest. In Pennsylvania, it means that women may be attended by their own doctors, and their doctors may prescribe what they believe, in their own professional judgment, is best for their patients, not what a legislature orders in its political judgment.”
Nearly 50 years later, Alito and his colleagues are sending people back to the butchers. Shame on them.
The immediate victims of this anticipated ruling are the people who will lose access to an abortion in the 13 states that have ”trigger laws” that go into effect the moment the Supreme Court formally strikes down Roe — and the providers in those states who could find themselves classified as criminals overnight. Pennsylvania does not have such a law.
That could change if the next governor doesn’t follow Tom Wolf’s commitment of vetoing every antiabortion legislation that arrives at their desk.
The antiabortion constituency is loud, but it’s a minority. A Washington Post-ABC News poll from last week found that for every American who believes that Roe should be overturned, about two others believe the ruling should be upheld. In a democracy, that should be enough.
» READ MORE: Why Bob Casey is in the hottest of political seats over Roe v. Wade
There is a solution. Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Women’s Health Protection Act — a bill that would enshrine abortion into federal law. It’s time for every Democrat in the Senate, and the few Republicans who allegedly believe in the right to choose, to do whatever it takes (including suspending the filibuster) to send the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk.
That would require the vote of Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who is one of only two Democratic senators who didn’t cosponsor the bill. On Tuesday afternoon, Casey released a statement saying that he has “serious concerns” over what “overturning almost 50 years of legal precedent” would mean for women. Expressing concern is no longer enough. It’s up to senators like Casey to make sure we never see the full effects of a post-Roe America.
America is heading toward dark times. Overturning Roe is bad enough, but the reasoning expressed in Alito’s opinion can be extended to other rights — from contraception to gay marriage. Senators like Casey have a choice: express the will of the majority, or let a handful of justices, confirmed by senators representing a minority of Americans, rob us of one right after another. The clock is ticking.