Aziz Huq Writes on the Supreme Court's Treatment of Precedent
The Supreme Court Likes Precedent — When It Backs Conservatives
The most consequential question in American constitutional law today is whether the Supreme Court will abide by its 50-year-old abortion precedents in Roe and Casey. So it’s striking to come to an abortion-related decision in which Justice Neil Gorsuch takes aim at his liberal colleagues for their “novel plan to overthrow this Court’s precedent.”
This should not instill any hope in pro-choice hearts. Along with allowing Texas’ restrictive abortion law to stay on the books, Gorsuch’s opinion Friday in Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson shows how the post-John Roberts Court quickly emerging will manage the feat of promoting the rights conservatives favor, while suppressing those that liberals stand behind.
The Texas law has gotten a great deal of attention because of its novel mechanism of enforcement. By rewarding private citizens with cash if they sue those who helped a woman secure an abortion after just six weeks of pregnancy, the law evades the federal protections of Roe that ensure a right to an abortion through to viability, at around 24 weeks.
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