Breaking: claims that the American Supreme Court will strike down Roe v. Wade

[PurgatoryOfPotholes]

extract from article tonight

Headline:

The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Deliberations on controversial cases have in the past been fluid. Justices can and sometimes do change their votes as draft opinions circulate and major decisions can be subject to multiple drafts and vote-trading, sometimes until just days before a decision is unveiled. The court’s holding will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months.

Continues: Article on leaked draft opinion

Scary if it's true.

This is terrifying.

I so hope the rumour is wrong.

Twitter is awash with it. Utterly shocking.

twitter.com/politico/status/1521288272021901312?s=21

The direction of travel in the US is alarming and sad in equal measure.

Here is a thread from Nancy Pelosi

twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/1521331795442163714?s=21

And of course there is a flurry of talk of "birthing bodies"

How is a woman having an early abortion a birthing body?

In the Times

US Supreme Court ‘votes to overturn Roe v Wade’

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9ea3e05a-ca92-11ec-a118-514c2c06bc05?shareToken=cd12a4d34bd86907767d5b0ace8313fd

Just awful. In the draft, ‘no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional protection.’

So no life, liberty or pursuit of happiness for women, then?

I don’t think it’s just a rumour. Hillary Clinton (and loads of others) have commented on it.

‘Birthing bodies have a right to freedom’ - it’s hardly William Wallace, is it?

It's a draft so not a rumour. But because it's a draft it might still be changed. Unlikely, given that the Republicans now have a super-majority in the court, but not impossible. There are rumours that John Roberts hasn't completely fixed his views yet.

Though I have been expecting this for a while. The effect will be different in different states. Roughly 26 are likely to ban abortion in almost all cases, however.

It would be hilarious if it wasn't so dehumanising and if there wasn't something very odd about one percent or less of all people affecting language in ways which insults and makes fun of women and girls (roughly half of the country). I mean that what is odd is the power of that tiny minority.

Dehumanising women is how US got to this point.

Honestly when I saw the headline this morning I felt like I had been punched.

US Supreme Court ‘votes to overturn Roe v Wade’

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9ea3e05a-ca92-11ec-a118-514c2c06bc05?shareToken=e28d4293cf886a53de0b28edf2722ea6

I’ve never posted a share token before but hope this works.

Just having a look at the Twitter storm now. Guess who the chattering heads want to blame? There we go, it’s ‘white cis women’ again. I see two white women on the court and one of them was nominated by the Democrats. This decision (if it goes through) will be overwhelmingly unpopular and (obviously) particularly so with women, and that includes white women.

Feminism needs to get its act together. If people want to blame white women I America for everything, women are going to lose out, because that means about 100m people are scapegoats for decisions that have no more to do with them than they have to do with everyone else. This is divide and rule, and it’s working against women.

It’s horrific, I never imagined that this would be even an issue in my lifetime.

Thank you so much for expressing how I feel.

I worry this (even or espy as draft) will be used by TRAs here to threaten women. It's important to remember our law was won through public campaigning and changing hearts and minds. It wasn't done as per the states and we've always had a free vote with differences of views - majority in the women's right to choose camp - on both sides of the House, whichever government rules the day, and across all parties.

@WorkingItOutAsIGo thanks for sharing - just read it and chilling in its implications

I always thought the US Supreme Court is such an undemocratic way of making law. The American people have no way to influence the composition of the Court. It's all in the hands of whoever happens to be President at the time an existing judge pops his/her clogs.

I have a lot if respect for the late RBG, in fact I thought she was wonderful. But her delaying her departure from the Court until Trump was President has contributed to the imbalance of judges right now. She knew she was gravely ill and should have resigned midway through the Obama presidency to ensure a Democrat replacement.

I think a large part of the US have watched The Handmaid’s Tale and thought it was an instructional video. What the hell is happening to ‘the land of the free’?!

We’ve Dehumanised women. The ‘liberals’ have been so keen to push identity politics it’s driven moderate people towards the right and given power those that want these extremes.

Were stuck between a massive rock and a very hard place.

Hopefully at the next election this will galvanise at least 50% of the population to vote for democrats. 🤷‍♀️

@FlowerArranger
I always thought the US Supreme Court is such an undemocratic way of making law. The American people have no way to influence the composition of the Court. It's all in the hands of whoever happens to be President at the time an existing judge pops his/her clogs.

I think the US supreme court would agree with you on this. Roe v Wade was the right decision (abortion rights for women) for the wrong reasons (someone thinks there is a constitutional implication - a legal rather than a political process). It shows the failure of politics in US over the past half a century.