In the minutes, hours, and days since the Supreme Court ruled to overturn the constitutional "right" to abortion that was concocted in 1973's Roe decision and reiterated in 1992's Casey decision, radical pro-abortion leftists — along with their allies in the mainstream media and Democrat politics — have been screeching that a Handmaid's Tale dystopia had arrived. They declared that the Supreme Court was invalid, that other rights were on life support, and that — suddenly remembering the innate difference between the two sexes — women would be rounded up in paddy wagons and prosecuted for getting an abortion or left to die whenever they experience a life-threatening health emergency. The only problem? It's all a lie.
LIE: Justices voting to overturn Roe and Casey committed perjury during their confirmation hearings
Despite the claims of leftist pundits, the mainstream media, or U.S. senators, neither Justice Kavanaugh or Gorsuch lied under oath during their confirmation hearings about the standing of abortion precedent. Nowhere in their sworn testimony did either justice say that Roe or Casey were unimpeachable or immune from further judicial consideration. Jonathan Turley noted that "[m]ost of those crying 'perjury' do not cite the specific perjurious language" in their claims that Kavanaugh or Gorsuch misled or lied to the U.S. Senate during their confirmation hearings. Both noted that the previously decided cases are considered "precedent," but that designation does not mean a decision cannot be overturned. So-called precedents have been overturned throughout the Court's history, and the Dobbs opinion was no different. What's more, Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Barrett, and even Ketanji Brown Jackson all followed the example set by Ruth Bader Ginsburg: they talked about the precedent that existed but did not pledge to vote one way or another should a case challenging those precedents come before them.
LIE: The Court's decision in Dobbs means certain rights are in jeopardy of being overturned
As the majority opinion made clear, the Court's decision in Dobbs means that the invented "right" to an abortion was overturned because Roe and Casey were deeply flawed and didn't hold up under the Court's scrutiny. The only rulings that were overturned dealt with abortion, and no other rights are placed in jeopardy by the Dobbs majority. As Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the opinion: "to ensure that our decision is not misunderstood or mischaracterized, we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right."
LIE: It is now illegal for women to receive necessary medical care in life-threatening situations
According to Dr. Christina Francis, M.D., a board-certified OB/GYN and associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute, "treating ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages or other life-threatening conditions in pregnancy is not the same thing as an abortion." Dr. Francis added that "chemical abortions, which are being heavily promoted by the abortion industry and its allies, cannot treat an ectopic pregnancy according to the FDA" and "treatments for ectopic pregnancy are not the same procedures used by induced abortions, which even Planned Parenthood admits." And when it comes to "the rare but tragic situations where a pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk, there are medical procedures for compassionately separating the mother and her baby and working to save both lives," which is different from abortion where the "only intent" is "to produce a dead baby."
LIE: Women will be prosecuted for getting an abortion or seeking life-saving medical care
Now that abortion law has been returned to the people and their elected representatives, several Democrat-run states won't see any limitations on abortion access. In states where there were restrictions on abortion that pre-date Roe and in states that prepared new laws in anticipation of Roe being overturned, the penalties fall on doctors or those providing abortions. That is, women are not the ones prosecuted under state trigger laws that took effect when the Dobbs opinion was handed down or are set to take effect in the weeks ahead. In all the laws Townhall reported here the day Roe and Casey were overturned, there isn't a single law under which women can be prosecuted. Multiple Republican governors, including South Dakota's Kristi Noem, have also been clear that they will prosecute abortion providers and not women. There is no basis for the left's fear-mongering on this point, as the pre-Roe standard across the country was for abortionists to be charged under state abortion laws, not women.
