Today marks the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a landmark Supreme Court decision in which the high court elected to deem abortion legal under the Fourteenth Amendment. The 1973 decision was the first of its kind and set the stage for abortion to become a critical voting issue.
The Court’s decision in Roe receives criticism because of the unprecedented overturn of nearly 50 state laws that prohibited abortion at the time. Taking abortion out of the picture, this jurisprudence marked a complete violation of states’ rights.
This anniversary marks a yearly celebration for Planned Parenthood; the organization can thank the justices who decided Roe for allowing their steady income flow.
There are plenty of viable arguments supporting safe and legal abortion, but the intent behind Roe was not for abortion to be hailed as a positive. Historically, abortion has been viewed by both pro-life and pro-choice movements as a solemn choice women make with their doctor; this widely accepted view is the best argument for why women deserve the privacy to make their own decision. Now, abortion is no longer recognized as an elective procedure which requires a solemn decision, but rather a routine healthcare procedure.
Abortion supporting groups such as Planned Parenthood even go as far as to identify abortion as a constitutional right:
Today marks the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Here's a friendly reminder: Abortion is safe and still legal in all 50 states — and we’re doing everything we can to keep it that way. #RoevWade pic.twitter.com/vsnGKZpCrf
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) January 22, 2020
The deciders of Roe would all be horrified to hear abortion be categorized as a Constitutional right on account of the Roe decision. This narrative is unequivocally false and completely disconnected with American judicial procedure. A Supreme Court ruling does not equal a Constitutional Right. This trend by the Left to categorize virtually every one of their policy preferences as a ‘constitutional’ or ‘human’ right is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set for our political discourse. Indeed, Roe permits abortion on the federal level, but it does not enshrine abortion rights into the Constitution. The Founders structured the Constitution this way on purpose; the role of the judiciary is to rule on the constitutionality of laws, not to create them
Whatever view you may hold on abortion, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade marks a dark day for American jurisprudence, and the Left continues to perpetuate that.
