First, here’s my #MomUpdate, “Our whole lives.” And on with Tuesday.
To my friends in other places in the world wondering what, on earth, is happening in the erstwhile “land of the free,” it does, in fact, look like the highest court in the US, the Supreme Court (Supreme Court of the United States or SCOTUS as it gets called on social media) is set to overrule the landmark case that made abortion safe and legal in the US.
The important thing is that abortion is not all that case covers. The right to abortion is based in the right to privacy. Right to privacy from the government is the reasoning for a whole lot of other things: access to birth control, for example.
The draft opinion also makes clear these “Justices” will try to overturn same-sex marriage. Essentially they want to create a theocracy based in a single religion despite the Constitution prohibiting that.
The problem is that the Court has the full authority to say what the Constitution MEANS. It says what the Court says it says.
We are, to put it technically, screwed.
There are some possible remedies. Congress can pass a law saying abortion is legal. The problem is the Court can overrule it and say it’s not constitutional.
Unless one of these conservatives leaves–unlikely–or goes to prison–who knows in the case of Clarence Thomas whose wife may have helped plan the insurrection–our best option is to expand the Court.
Right now, there are 13 federal circuits. There should be 13 Justices. The number should remain tied to the size of the federal bench.
Of course none of this is easy. And Democrats would have to expand our bare majority in the Senate in the elections coming up in November.
The former guy may be former, but his damage lives on.
Anyway, have a great Tuesday in spite of it all. We’re doing our best over here, but the fascists are pernicious.
A Bit to Read 