As Roe v. Wade is overturned, is gay rights next?
With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 ruling that established abortion as a federal constitutional right in the US, there is now fear that gay rights will follow.
This is because the conservative justices on the Supreme Court that made the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade have also signalled their intent to address other momentous decisions.
Previously, there were hints that the high court decision would overturn the ruling.
Bans pile in with the fall of Roe v. Wade
From now on, abortion rights will be determined according to each state.
At least 11 states have effectively banned abortion as of Saturday night, and overall, 26 states have laws that may pave the way to bans or heavy restrictions on abortions.
The decision to overrule Roe began from the Dobbs v. Jackson case, which centered on the Mississippi Gestational Age Act, which bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The law was passed in 2018 but was blocked by two federal courts for violating the Roe’s parameter allowing abortions before fetal viability at around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy.
Mississippi appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-3 to uphold the ban and 5-4 to overturn Roe.
Among the justices that voted to overturn Roe are Samuel Alito, Brett Kvanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas.
Conservative justice to go after same-sex marriage?
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote on Friday, “The Supreme Court must revisit and overrule past landmark decisions that legalized the right to obtain contraception, the right to same-sex intimacy and the right to same-sex marriage.”
Thomas declared that he would do away with the doctrine of substantive due process, the constitutional law that allows courts to protect fundamental rights from government interference.
Going forward, he concluded all precedents that relied on the doctrine, such as Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, should be overturned.
He then explicitly called on support from the court to overrule the following: Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 ruling that established the right of married couples to obtain contraceptives; Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 ruling that established the right for consenting adults to engage in same-sex intimacy; and Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that established the right of same-sex couples to marriage.
Thomas also stated that after overruling the above decisions, substantive due process should be eliminated completely. However, this recommendation does not have force of legal precedent.
Roe v. Wade: The battle moving forward
With the high court ruling, several states and Democrat leaders are also working to protect abortion rights.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York raised $400,000 for abortion rights groups and suggested that President Joe Biden expand access to abortion.
Planned Parenthood has also filed a lawsuit against state leaders of Utah, which criminalized most abortions shortly after Friday’s ruling.
President Joe Biden has also expressed support for suspending the Senate filibuster rule in order to codify the constitutional right to abortion.
“I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade into law. And the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that.” Biden stated.
“If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, we provide an exception for this. We require an exception of the filibuster for this action.”