A Looming Republican Fissure?

[Matty]

If Bush can replace O'Connor, Rehnquist, and Stevens (or maybe Bader-Ginsberg as well), that is almost assuredly enough to overturn Roe v Wade if the right people are appointed.

[ QUOTE ]
AP WASHINGTON (March 4) - As lawyers and court watchers have long suspected, the Supreme Court was ready to effectively overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion in 1992, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy got cold feet, and the vote went the other way.

[/ QUOTE ]

So, if he gets that opportunity in my eyes he has one of two choices:

1) Do it, and alienate the majority of his country (only 29% want it overturned), or

2) Take one for the team, nominate a pro-choice judge or two, and save his Party the embarassment.

I think he's going to go with number 2. This is not an issue where public approval can be discounted. Abortion is one of the few major issues that really will affect people's votes.

[lehighguy]

He should focus more on appointing smart judges. Ones that appeal to conservatives on a wide variety of issues like Clarence Thomas or Scalia. Make sure thier fundamentals are good, not any one issue.

[Matty]

I agree with your first and last sentence, but many Republicans demand more than that.

[lehighguy]

The WHY of how a judge arrives at a decision far outways the decision itself. Bush should focus on the WHY.

[Matty]

Here's a "why": Why are you repeating yourself?

[Broken Glass Can]

You seem to overlook the fact that overturning Roe v Wade only returns the abortion lawmaking decisions back to the states. People in the poll you cited probably think that the court will now start making up laws outlawing abortions instead. This is not the case, they will simply return things where they belong, in the hands of the legislatures.

The liberal states will see no changes because they will continue to authorize wiping out babies at the mother's whim.

Conservative states already have all the restrictions currently allowed (parental notifications etc.) If some outlaw abortion, travel to another state will return to the equation.

Political decisions should be made by political branches of government (legislatures). We need not be afraid of politicaql decision making. It is better than a few judges making up rights that never existed by fiat. Do not fear democracy.

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
You seem to overlook the fact that overturning Roe v Wade only returns the abortion lawmaking decisions back to the states.

[/ QUOTE ]You have no evidence on which to base this claim.[ QUOTE ]
People in the poll you cited probably think that the court will now start making up laws outlawing abortions instead.

[/ QUOTE ]You can see into people's minds now? The poll question specifically said "If one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices retired, would you want the new Supreme Court justice to be someone who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade -- the decision that legalized abortion -- or vote to uphold it?"

There is nothing in there about making abortion illegal, and other polls get much more detailed with their questions. You can see it all in the link below.

http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

Example:

[ QUOTE ]
"In 1973 the Roe versus Wade decision established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, at least in the first three months of pregnancy. Would you like to see the Supreme Court completely overturn its Roe versus Wade decision, or not?"

Yes 30%
No 63%

[/ QUOTE ]

[Broken Glass Can]

The poll question you quoted: "If one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices retired, would you want the new Supreme Court justice to be someone who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade -- the decision that legalized abortion -- or vote to uphold it?" states that the court legalized abortion. It didn't, abortion was already legal in many places.

People who were not adults before 1973 might think that it was the court that "gave" us abortion. People are responding based on what they think of abortion, many not understanding that reversing Roe v Wade does not "outlaw" abortion. Do you deny that many people do not really understand what the situation was in 1973?

Bottom line, this is a terrible and worthless poll question that will provide no useful answer. They should ask: "Should the courts or the legislatures decide what the abortion laws should be?". That is what Roe v Wade decided - who the authority on abortion is to be.

[lehighguy]

As he said. Most people think that overturning Roe v Wade would make abortion illegal. There are in fact many decisions that the court could have reached in Roe v Wade with a variety of different consequences.

Most people don't really understand what Roe v Wade was. Until last week I thought the court had ruled there was nothing in teh constitution prohibiting abortion, therefore it was allowed. This decision I had no problem with. However, it seems the court found that you had a constitutional right to an abortion. Therefore, even if politicians passed laws prohibiting abortion they would be overturned by the supreme court. This is a vast overextension of supreme court power overturning the legislator.

[JackWhite]

[ QUOTE ]
You seem to overlook the fact that overturning Roe v Wade only returns the abortion lawmaking decisions back to the states. People in the poll you cited probably think that the court will now start making up laws outlawing abortions instead. This is not the case, they will simply return things where they belong, in the hands of the legislatures.

The liberal states will see no changes because they will continue to authorize wiping out babies at the mother's whim.

Conservative states already have all the restrictions currently allowed (parental notifications etc.) If some outlaw abortion, travel to another state will return to the equation.

Political decisions should be made by political branches of government (legislatures). We need not be afraid of politicaql decision making. It is better than a few judges making up rights that never existed by fiat. Do not fear democracy.


[/ QUOTE ]

THANK YOU. I am amazed at how ignorant people are on this. Almost everyone I talk to on this subject believes that overturning Roe would make abortion illegal. They are so clueless it is sad. As you said, the question should be: Who should make abortion policy, The Supreme Court or elected representatives. Everybody says we should be more like Europe. Do they realize that in Europe polictians set policy in this field.