Will the Real Insurrectionists Please Stand Up
The leak of draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade gives up the ghost
Just as termites threaten a house’s foundation, it is now clear that our American house is gravely threatened given tonight’s leak in Politico of what is alleged to be a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito overturning Roe v. Wade.
If true, it is a moment in time not unlike the Kennedy assassination that brings home the threat to our nation as no other act could.
As Abraham Lincoln famously said on June 16, 1858, as America was living through a similarly perilous time on the eve of the Civil War, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
All indicators are the draft is real. Notably, the Supreme Court did not deny the leak, only saying it had “no comment.” (5/3/22 Update: Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the draft is “authentic.”)
Quite simply, our nation cannot survive such an arrogant and grave act undermining the sacrosanct deliberations of the Supreme Court — if it is allowed to stand without equally grave repercussions.
This alleged leak, the first such leak of a pending Supreme Court case in modern history, has, of course, shaken Washington to its core.
In so doing, it may, in fact, have the exact opposite effect of what was evidently intended. For it has exposed in stark, glaring relief the spoiled, immature activists currently holding Washington positions of power hell-bent on getting their way — the nation be damned — thereby undermining the very foundations of our Republic and the safeguarding of domestic tranquility enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
Those with respect for our traditions and laws and the maturity to ensure they are upheld, have found their moment.
Now is the time to push back and say, “Enough!”
I believe the moment will be seized. That Chief Justice John Roberts will demand the leaker be revealed and that he will take the necessary action to punish the wrongdoer(s), and perhaps issue the final version of the opinion ex post haste rather than allow the obvious intent of this leak to metastasize. (5/3/22 Update: The Chief Justice, in a statement announcing an investigation, said, “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed.” )
Justice Alito evidently wrote the draft opinion, improperly obtained and leaked by Politico, which repudiates both the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision which upheld Roe.
The effect of this opinion would be to send the decision regarding abortion back to the states. The suggestion that abortion would thereby be outlawed at the state level is, of course, preposterous. What will happen, however, is states will have the discretion to outlaw abortion-on-demand, which Roe v. Wade made possible, putting America on a par with only six other nations including China.1
In the opinion, Alito writes, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and therefore “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled…” And four other justices apparently agree.
The Supreme Court was due to issue its ruling on the underlying Mississippi case in June or July — before the end of its term.
This leak has, no doubt, sped up that timetable.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Now is the time to say “Enough” to the leaking insurrectionists threatening the American house.
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Mary Claire Kendall is author of Oasis: Conversion Stories of Hollywood Legends, published in Madrid under the title También Dios pasa por Hollywood. She recently finished Oasis II as well as a biography featuring the covert pre-satellite surveillance of the Soviets out of Midway Island.
Earlier version of this article incorrectly stated nine other countries allowed abortion-on-demand, repeating incorrect reporting. In fact, it is a smaller universe of countries including China, North Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Canada, and the Netherlands (Holland) that allow abortion-on-demand, i.e., after 20 weeks of gestation.