"Curtails Women's Status As Free & Equal Citizens" : SCOTUS Liberal Judges Dissent "With Sorrow" From Majority Decision Nullifying Abortion Rights

The Supreme Court of United States on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade wiping out the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years. The Court in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.The controversial ruling which had been expected since May after new portal Politico published a leak of the opinion, will have intensely personal ramifications throughout the country as several States in the United States move to restrict or completely outlaw abortion. The majority opinion was endorsed by Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by the first President Bush, and the three Trump appointees — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Chief Justice Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush issued a concurring opinion.Whereas, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in a scathing dissent slammed the "draconian" opinion as a decision that will undeniably curtail women's rights and turn back "their status as free and equal citizens." "Whatever the exact stop of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain- the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens", the dissenting opinion written by Justice Sotomayor stated.It averred further, "Taking away the right to abortion, as the majority does, destroys all those individual plans and expectations. In so doing, it diminishes women's opportunities to participate fully and equally in the Nation's political, social and economic life". The liberal judges also accused the Court of discarding the "balance" the Court struck for half a century as it found a middle ground between "respecting a woman as an autonomous being" and protecting the life of a fetus.Highlighting the majority's disregard for the precedent established in Roe and reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the justices argued that the legal framework established by these two cases "proved workable in courts across the country," and that there was no requirement for interference with the precedents.Negating the possibility that this ruling could be a product of political maneuvering and decades of ideological strategy, the dissenters state bluntly that Roe has been overruled only because the composition of this Court has changed."Casey is a precedent about precedent. It reviewed the same arguments made here in support of overruling Roe, and it found that doing so was not warranted. The Court reverses course today for one reason and one reason only: because the composition of this Court has changed," the dissent stated. Opining further that the majority has refused to consider the life-altering consequences of reversing Roe and Casey, the dissent underscores, "After today, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had. The majority accomplishes that result without so much as considering how women have relied on the right to choose or what it means to take that right away. The majority's refusal even to consider the life-altering consequences of reversing Roe and Casey is a stunning indictment of its decision."Pertinently, the justices also echoed the concerns of many human rights activists that the ruling would have a severe impact on all rights that seek to protect autonomous decision-making over the most personal of life decisions. They warned that the majority's reasoning threatens other rights that, until recently, appeared settled, including same-sex marriage and intimacy, and the right to purchase contraception.In order to allay fears, the justices in the majority averred that their ruling does not cast "doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion". However, rejecting such assurances, the dissent emphasised, "No one should be confident that this majority is done with its work. The right Roe and Casey recognized does not stand alone. To the contrary, the Court has linked it for decades to other settled freedoms involving bodily integrity, familial relationships, and procreation. Most obviously, the right to terminate a pregnancy arose straight out of the right to purchase and use contraception. In turn, those rights led, more recently, to rights of same-sex intimacy and marriage. They are all part of the same constitutional fabric, protecting autonomous decision-making over the most personal of life decisions."Disapproving the Court's reversal of reproductive rights and the status of women as free and equal citizens in the United States, the dissent indicated at the possibility that a State can now transform what, when freely undertaken, is a wonder into what, when forced, may be a nightmare.The liberal bloc also condemned the recent spate of laws passed by various conservative-majority states and further argued that the ruling gives states free rein to curtail abortion at any stage whether it be after "ten weeks, or five or three or one-or again, from the moment of ...

"Curtails Women's Status As Free & Equal Citizens" : SCOTUS Liberal Judges Dissent "With Sorrow" From Majority Decision Nullifying Abortion Rights

Aaratrika Bhaumik

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