Living in a Post-Roe World
Overruling Roe v. Wade is a monumental mistake. In his concurrence, Chief Justice Roberts asked why this Supreme Court would act so aggressively and recklessly in the Dobbs decision. Justice Thomas’ concurrence doubled down on that recklessness, explaining that the Court did not merely overrule Roe, but that it opened the door to challenges to birth control, the morning after pill, in vitro fertilization, marriage equality, and more. And, to top it off, he added that the Court should reevaluate settled law over these protections too.
The overruling of Roe has shaken me like no other Supreme Court decision. The news–even though expected–left me feeling how I felt when RBG died: deeply saddened and concerned for our democratic republic. The Supreme Court as an institution acts most appropriately when it recognizes its role in our constitutional order and considers carefully the impact of its actions. Last week, it acted inappropriately and recklessly, threatening that order by doing something it had not done before–rolling back a fundamental freedom Americans had for two generations.
On Friday, I posted a thread to Twitter analyzing the decision. As I wrote, this elimination of a protected right repeatedly reaffirmed by the Supreme Court was seriously ill considered. This Supreme Court did not properly consider, as it has done previously, the practical impact of its decision–women will die because of it–and it declined to heed the legal principle of stare decisis (respect for and deference to prior decisions). As Justice Breyer called out in his dissent: “a plurality of Justices [in the previous Casey decision] declined to overrule Roe,” concluding that doing so would cause “lasting injury to this Court and to the system of law which it is our abiding mission to serve" . . . and impose a “terrible price.” They were right. Most unfortunately, that is what has happened.
The question so many are asking is what happens next. In short, we need to show what democracy looks like. We do that by, above all, voting. When two thirds or more of Americans support reproductive rights and over 71% of Americans support marriage equality, we have the obligation to organize and to vote. That is the strongest mechanism by which we can prevent future rollbacks of our rights–and protect reproductive rights.
At this difficult moment, I think back to advice from both RBG and former Governor Roy Romer. As RBG put it, “fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” In a prior blog post about RBG, I reflected on her inspiring example for advancing equal rights for all. Those thoughts continue to hold true.
When Amendment 2 passed in Colorado in 1992, limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ Coloradans, Governor Romer called on us to get to know our neighbors. He asked us to learn together and appreciate our diversity as a people. With time, many of us did, throughout our nation and gratifying results followed–support for marriage equality increased from 27% in 1996 to 71% today.
Thank you all for doing your part to advance freedom and opportunity for all.