The Supreme Court continued to hear oral arguments Wednesday in the most consequential abortion case in decades, and noted beer lover, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, suggested landmark LGBTQ rights cases could support overturning federal abortion rights. Yes, it’s come to this.
Conservative justices, Kavanaugh among them, appear willing to uphold the Mississippi law before the court that would ban abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and possibly overturn Roe v. Wade.
The liberal justices expressed serious concern that reversing the 1973 Roe ruling would be too political for the court. Kavanaugh countered by using recent LGBTQ rights developments and it was as cringey as it sounds.
Referring to 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down state laws criminalizing so-called “sodomy,” and 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which federally legalized same-sex marriage, Kavanaugh argued that overruling longstanding precedent was business as usual for the court.
“If you think about some of the most important cases, the most consequential cases in this court’s history, there’s a string of them where the cases overruled precedent,” he said. “If we think that the prior precedents are seriously wrong, if that, why then doesn’t the history of this court’s practice with respect to those cases tell us that the right answer is actually a return to the position of neutrality and — and not stick with those precedents in the same way that all those other cases didn’t?”
Attorney Mary Bonauto, who argued on behalf of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, called Kavanaugh’s comparison a “pretty thin interpretation of a reversal.”
“The reversals that Justice Kavanaugh is citing were about righting wrongs,” she told NBC News. “They were centered on the rights of individuals and expanding constitutional protections to more individuals, not about taking rights away.”
Sharon McGowan, legal director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal, agreed.
“To that we say, NOT IN OUR NAME,” she said in a statement Wednesday. “Those landmark LGBTQ decisions EXPANDED individual liberty, not the opposite.”
Some, like Katherine Franke, the director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School, worry Kavanaugh’s approach is intentionally opening a door for the court to walk back those hard-won equal rights victories.
“You can be sure that the Alliance Defending Freedom has the lawsuit ready to file the day after the Supreme Court issues an opinion broadly overruling Roe,” she said. “They will file the next day challenging Obergefell and even Lawrence. I have every confidence that that is what they’re to do.”
A ruling on the Mississippi law is expected next summer.
Max
“If we think that the prior precedents are seriously wrong, if that, why then doesn’t…”
it just sounds like he’s already on the beer bender and trying his pals he’s right.
miller2900
…..if we thought last year’s attack on our Capital was horrifying, wait until the disgusting Trump appointed members of the Supreme Court start their shit show and then aim for gay rights. The United States as we knew it is over. For those that don’t “get it” you’re gonna get run over by the sick and twisted right wing monsters….otherwise known as the GOP.
skeldare
Last year? The attack was this year.
But otherwise agree.
MyrnaOne
Can you smell it? The stench has begun. And you can bet a queer two-dollar bill that NO ONE will have liberty unless you are White and evangelical.
Kangol2
True though many right-wing and far-right White Roman Catholics were in key positions of power under Don the Con and they dominate the current court. Alito, Kavanaugh, Coney Barrett, and Roberts are all Roman Catholic, and both Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch were raised Catholic. Also, on the left side of things, Sonia Sotomayor also is Catholic, though she frequently opposes the far-right 6 person majority.
jayceecook
@Kangol2 I get the point you’re trying to make. However, Evangelical Catholics are a thing. They have been for a very long time. Mike Pence is an Evangelical Catholic. Mel Gibson is a Sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic. While it’s not an exact equivalent to Evangelicalism it’s a seriously conservative, “one true religion” branch of Catholicism that shares a lot of the same beliefs. So, yeah.
paulmodibe
IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE AND DO NOT. THIS AND OTHER POSSIBLE ACTIONS ARE ON YOU. GET OFF YOU ASS AND VOTE.
David
So we have a alcoholic, straight, Catholic white boy determining our future along with the other papists on the bench, Barrett is definitely in the pocket of republicans along with Roberts, and every damned conservative court judge ready to put us in the closet and send women back to the alleys for their health care.
ShiningSex
The right wingers are evil. They want to say they believe in equality but it’s only for those who believe as they do. We see it, but what are WE going to do about it?
We need to stop it. It seems protests have diminished and not because of COVID but some just “give up” or “don’t care as much”. This is sad.
The right wing idiots are winning and we are sitting by and letting it happen. Just watch when midterms happen, they will take control once again and NOTHING will get done. We’re doomed if we do nothing.
Kevan1
F_ck Kavanaugh an his ilk.
cuteguy
If they don’t pack the court, we are all in trouble. Unless you’re an old WASP
whatsaywhat
Not WASPs. Catholics.
Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh and Barrett are all hard core Catholic Ideologues.
Rob
All the people that chose not to vote? All the people that sit home and let someone else decide who gets elected? This is on them. Once they do something that actually affects you it’s TOO LATE. We need to go out and vote every time, every election, every special election, because the worst people in the country are doing that. They are voting every time, and these are the people they are voting for. Wake up. If it’s not already too late, it’s getting close.
GayVeteranOfcr
In the case of marriage equality, Justice Kennedy’s written decision summarized the Supreme Court’s ruling. Singling out a group of persons and then treating them unequally violates the Constitution 14th Amendment. The federal DOMA law was invalidated in part because it was passed with animus toward a group of persons and treated them unequally.
The Supreme Court can be overruled itself.
The 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments all worked to stamp out the onerous Supreme Court ruling in the Dredd Scott case in which the court ruled that blacks could not even be citizens.
Fname Optional Lname
I am beginning to think we will never recover from the damage the mighty orange one has done to this nation. They are so far up his a$$ they cannot see that this is exactly how people justified and rationalized standing behind Hitler. They absorbed all the propaganda that told them this is the end of our country as we know it if we don’t act now! Meanwhile the only real threat to our society is them.
[email protected]
It’s about time to consider seeking military intervention. I would be much safer under military rule and have Congress and the courts disbanded. This would also prevent that lunatic orange colored imbecile from running for president again.
Den
No it is not/ No, we would not.
Stupidest comment of the year…thinking that a military coup would be good for anybody, let alone LGBT people.
Ronbo
I agree with Den.
All that it takes to stop the orange menace from becoming president again is a simple felony. Felons can’t be president. It’s easily obtained thru his tax records – which will show that he falsely inflated his property values to obtain bank loans and he falsely deflated the same property values to reduce his tax burden.
The problem, of course, is that tRump has been a huge boon to campaign fund-raising for BOTH sides. A good share of “moderate” and “centrist” politicians are thinking only of themselves and with judge-shopping so easy, we may not see justice enacted.
andy0529
I worked for the DOD for almost 40 years….be care careful what you wish for. Way too anti-immigrant, anti-vaxxer, anti gay marriage and anti- inter racial marriage.
CNY1983
Agreed. The United States as we knew it is a thing of the past. Welcome to the kushner trump states of america.
DuMaurier
Well, obviously I agree reversing Bowers v Hardwick was a good idea, and reversing Roe would be awful. But Kavanaugh was just making the point that significant reversals aren’t unusual for the Supreme Court, which doesn’t have anything to do with the details of the cases at issue.
Hank31
Exactly. It’s a basic point. SCOTUS does sometimes depart from stare decisis and reverse its own precedents. The response by Mary Bonauto is basically: “It was OK to overturn those precedents because we like the outcome, but it wouldn’t be OK here b/c we wouldn’t!” Bonauto is a very smart advocate and if that’s all she could come up with, it means she had no meaningful response on this point.
fredk3
how did such an incompetent person make it to the Supreme Court? the answer: the only reason he’s there is tRump expected his handpicked incompetent choices to overturn the election for him as payback.
[email protected]
The term Papist is very offensive and has no place in an LGBTQ forum it exposes the WASP identity of the user and this person is no friend of our community,in fact,this has been used by conservative gays, this is why I refuse to support a national movement that allows discrinitory language for those who did not know Roman Catholics have born the brunt of discrimination in America,having their Colony,Maryland,STOLEN BY THE ANGLICAN PLANTERS OF VIRGINIA, and then,no churches or priests allowed,the vote was not allowed nor was office holding,while Carroll of Carrollton,the wealthiest gentleman in America,could not vote,yet they asked him to lend his entire fortune to support the revolution.Carroll gladly did this,not seeking repayment,and bearing smears from the Protestants for his being amoung them.The south would have collapsed earlier except for her large and wealthy Catholic members and soldiers.the 1850′ through1900’s saw no Irish need apply signs,and the true nature of the Klan was anti Catholic. As catholics grew in power the fear of ignorant protestants left,the fear of wealthy protestants would not be overcome until 1960,and JFK,we had to swear allegiance to america,Kennedy did and said so,and not to the Pope,My age and Biden’s are sworn to uphold national law,not the Pope,while protestants pay lip to abortion,they refuse to provide food,shelter,medical,schools,good neighborhoods and good jobs,this is much more of a sin and Jesus Spoke of it In The Beatitudes ,Protestants are stingy,skinflints,sons o of Satan they care only for power and money,they crush the heads of the non white,poor,and those who cost them capital,Satan delights in them and the conservative catholics who have been seduced by their lies and lost their souls,they all bear the 666 of the beast, look at the ranting of Cruz and his bunch BOEBERT,AND HER satanic DEMONS,this is not a Christian to be had,pray the Jesus Prayer,and shake the dust from your feet their is no religious leader to stand for the poor against the evil Trump,servant of Satan,he seeks the ruin of souls.evangelicals are false prophets,Roman Catholics who follow them will be destroyed by God from the Mercy Seat in the blinking of his eye,isreal treats the Palestinians like the nazis did them the Warzaw Ghetto has Arisen,GOD will make isreal pay for her wickedness and greed
Den
You probably need the care of a mental health professional!
Catholics have overwhelmingly NOT been the allies of LGBT people, as it was out of state Catholic money (as well as Mormon money) that propped up the Briggs initiative in 1978 and Proposition 8 in 2008. It is the Catholic Church that has been quite active in attempts to overturn Roe, as well as to reduce the availability of contraceptives. And yet the protection the church has offered to priests who molest and rape children is well documented, enabling these clerical monsters to prey serially on parish after parish’s youth.
The Catholic Church in many instances supported the Third Reich in WWII, so stuff that anti-Semitic bull about Israel and the Palestinians. There is much blood still on the hands of the Catholic Church and her past unleashed a river of it. Certainly there are good and ethical Catholics (I suspect you are not one), but the Vatican is evil to the core, just as the leaders of the evangelical movement are. And those who serve them are indeed to be considered Papists
HenryCameron
Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, wrote the opinion that extended Title VII job protections to LGBT people. Trump supported making that change over 20 years ago. Kavanaugh agreed that the protections should be extended but said Congress should do it, not the court.
Den
It is important to remember that these challenges to Roe v Wade are the first volley in a war that includes the overturning of marriage equality and the recriminalization of homosexuality. These are not separate issues in the minds of evangelical christians be they protestant or catholic. And for some even the overturning of Loving v Virginia is a goal!
Even if you are one of those very rare LGBT people who oppose reproductive choice, you must understand that these are not independent issues and the same folks behind the current push to reduce reproductive choice will be coming for you as soon as they are able.
MynameisSid
Remember the ending of 11/03/63?
Here we go….