Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Can We Talk About Abortion?

Make no mistake, my friends, the fate of Roe v Wade will be decided in this election. If Obama wins, Justices Stevens (88 years old), Ginsburg (70 something with a history of colon cancer) and Souter (inexplicably wants to retire and go back to New Hampshire), all pro-Roe, and possibly the other two pro-Roe Justices, Kennedy and Breyer, will retire and be replaced by younger justices who will defend Roe for the next 20 years. If McCain wins, one of Stevens/Ginsburg/Souter will die/retire, allowing McCain to appoint a pro-life justice who will, as soon as a case can get to the Court, tip the balance against Roe. While he would have to get the nominee past a Democratic Senate, if McCain picks a moderate nominee who happens to be anti-Roe, particularly if the nominee is already known, the Democrats won't be able to stop it.

This is a big freakin' deal. Without getting into which side is right, I think we can all agree that this is a big freakin' deal. And yet, we're discussing Bill Ayers and who "looks more presidential" during the debates.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It's not just abortion at issue. A heavily conservative Supreme Court could threaten any number of issues, abortion, gay rights, right to privacy, due process, etc. I'm not so worried about who McCain might appoint, but if Palin becomes president, I can see her really going for the right wing nuts.