Tag Archives: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

What Difference Did It Make?

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In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The decision basically stated that the U.S. Constitution does not confer the right to an abortion and that abortion laws should be left up to individual states (essentially reinforcing the Tenth Amendment). That ruling should not have been a surprise—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had stated when she was on the Court that Roe v. Wade was bad law.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, there were approximately 609,360 abortions reported in 2022 and an estimated 1,037,000 in 2023, marking an increase of 11% from 2020. So why did the number of abortions increase rather than decrease after the law changed? First of all, there was the increased use of the abortion pill, making abortion something you could do at home. Unfortunately, there are some real concerns about the safety of that pill, but it is being used frequently despite the concerns. Secondly, the people supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade saw abortion as a legal problem—not a cultural problem.

Laws reflect the culture. If you change the law without changing the culture, the behavior the law is aimed at will not change. The cultural problem behind the large number of abortions in America is sexually immorality and the devaluing of life. Abortion is a symptom of both of these.

The sexual revolution of the 1960’s and the availability of abortion in the 1970’s changed the demographics of American society. In 1970 the median age for a first marriage in America was 23.2 for men and 20.8 for women. In 2024, the median age for a first marriage in America was 30.2 for men and 28.6 for women. In 1970, the age for first-time mothers was 21.4, in 2023 that number was 27.5. It should be noted that the divorce rate since 1970 has gone down because many people are choosing to live together rather than get married. That is also a reflection of the cultural decline of our society.

The trends of later marriage and fewer children are not good for our society. They are a reflection of the devaluing of motherhood and life that will eventually collapse our society. The answer to the problem of both abortion and the significantly lower birth rate is to go back to the time when America had a Biblically-based culture that valued chastity. Our culture is no longer Biblically based–it is based on the whims of Hollywood and the news media. Until the moral values of the nation change, we can make all the laws we want regarding abortion, but there will be no change in the number of abortions. Let’s start teaching our children the value of sexual morality and the risks they run when they are promiscuous—disease, heartbreak, unplanned pregnancy, etc. Let’s teach our daughters to value their purity and our sons to respect the women around them. Ideally, we could reach a point where laws against abortion are not necessary—it is just understood that the killing of babies is evil.

Like Two-Year Olds Throwing Temper Tantrums

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Yesterday The Gateway Pundit posted an article about the Democrat’s reaction to the President’s plan to appoint a Supreme Court Justice in the coming six weeks.

The article includes a screenshot of a tweet by Gavin Newsom’s Chief of Staff Ann O’Leary:

Maybe I am missing something, but it seems to me that laying your body on the floor of the Senate might be considered radical.

The article details some of the threats the Democrats have made:

Democrats are determined to prevent the Republican President and Republican Senate to nominate and confirm the next Supreme Court Justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The 87-year-old Ginsburg passed away at home on Friday.

Democrats are threatening impeachment of President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr.

And Democrats are even threatening to block access to the Republican senators from entering the US Senate Chamber in the US Capitol Building.

So what is this actually about? It’s about two things. The first is the fact that in recent years the Supreme Court has become an oligarchy making laws and impacting American lives in ways our Founding Fathers never intended. The Supreme Court in recent years has made things legal on a federal level that Americans never had a chance to vote for or hold their elected officials accountable for. The reason Congress is tasked with the responsibility for making laws is that the voters can hold them accountable for their actions. The Supreme Court Justices serve for life and are not accountable to the voters. The second is the fear of the political left that a conservative court will overturn Roe v. Wade. There are a few misconceptions in this. Overturning Roe v. Wade will not end abortion in America. Ending Roe v. Wade will simply allow every state to set its own rules regarding abortion. There have been a number of judicial scholars who have stated that the Roe v. Wade decision was flawed. The political left is well aware of this and wants to protect the decision.

Planned Parenthood (through its political action spin-offs) has invested a lot of money into Congressional campaigns to protect the abortion industry (which is a million dollar industry). This investment has allowed abortions and the practice of selling aborted baby parts to continue without interference from Congress. I have often wondered how history will view this practice.

 

The Tweet That Vanished

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Never take a poll (or put one on Twitter) when you are not relatively sure of the results ahead of time (just like lawyers who never ask a  witness a question unless they already know the answer). There are times when surprises are not a good thing.

Fox News posted an article today about a recent Twitter poll taken by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). One might assume that the people following the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Twitter might have liberal leanings (or they could have been totally trolled). At any rate, things did not go as planned.

The DSCC tweet looked like this:

The article reports:

The poll, which is not scientific and open to anyone with a Twitter account, was posted on May 3 and stated it had two more days before it closed.

However, by Sunday afternoon, the tweet had vanished.

I would really like to know exactly who actually voted in the poll.

Their Concept Is Correct, The Patriotism Is Lacking

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The Washington Examiner posted an article today about some recent comments by Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin.

The article reports:

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was pressed on this “dilemma” that Democrats face as the 2018 midterms approach during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Staying united to stop the Supreme Court pick could cost you red state senators. Not fighting it as hard might allow the red state senators to get re-elected and get Democrats in control of the Senate. That’s your dilemma,” host Chuck Todd posited on Sunday.

Durbin conceded that it is a dilemma “in one respect,” but made that case for how it is a trade off Democrats are willing to make.

“It is a dilemma in one respect, but not in another. I will tell you, the men and women that I work with on the Democratic side really take this seriously. They understand it’s an historic decision. It’s about more than the next election,” he said, adding that the issue is about setting the future course for the country.

The balance on the Supreme Court has been slightly left on social issues because of the views of Justice Kennedy. Replacing Kennedy with a conservative justice who believes that the Constitution is the law of the land might change the court for generations. That might change many things. The main thing the Democrats are worried about is Roe v. Wade.

In 2013 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a very interesting comment about Roe v. Wade (article here):

Those more acquainted with Ginsburg and her thoughtful, nuanced approach to difficult legal questions were not surprised, however, to hear her say just the opposite, that Roe was a faulty decision. For Ginsburg, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion was too far-reaching and too sweeping, and it gave anti-abortion rights activists a very tangible target to rally against in the four decades since.

Ginsburg and Professor Geoffrey Stone, a longtime scholar of reproductive rights and constitutional law, spoke for 90 minutes before a capacity crowd in the Law School auditorium on May 11 on “Roe v. Wade at 40.”

“My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to have stopped the momentum on the side of change,” Ginsburg said. She would’ve preferred that abortion rights be secured more gradually, in a process that included state legislatures and the courts, she added. Ginsburg also was troubled that the focus on Roe was on a right to privacy, rather than women’s rights.

“Roe isn’t really about the woman’s choice, is it?” Ginsburg said. “It’s about the doctor’s freedom to practice…it wasn’t woman-centered, it was physician-centered.”

What the frantic pro-abortion people are not telling you is that overturning Roe v. Wade would not end abortion–it would simple give the states the right to decide the issue for themselves (in accordance with the Tenth Amendment) as was the case before 1973.

What the hysteria over this judicial pick illustrates is that we have wandered from the intent of our Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers envisioned the judiciary as the weakest branch of government–they were not elected and theoretically had little power–they did not make laws–Congress did. In 1803 Marberry v. Madison established the principle of judicial review, and the courts assumed power they were never intended to have. It is telling that American law students do not study the U.S. Constitution–they study case law.

President Trump has every right to have his nominee for the Supreme Court approved. Hopefully the Democrats will respect that right. Candidates should be judged on their qualifications–not their politics. Democrats pushed through some very left wing judges under President Obama after invoking the nuclear option. The Democrats demanded that the Republicans vote on qualifications rather than politics. It’s time for the Republicans to demand that same courtesy from the Democrats.

One Decision, But Not Really A Resolution Of The Issue

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In 2012, Jack Phillips refused to bake a wedding cake for Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig. In 2012. Same sex marriage was not legal in Colorado, and the Supreme Court had not yet ruled on the issue. It was a very different time. The State of Colorado charged Mr. Phillips with discrimination, and the case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled today. The Washington Times posted the story today.

The article in The Washington Times reports:

Mr. Phillips had argued as a Christian, he could not be forced to create a custom wedding cake for a homosexual couple, citing his First Amendment rights, though he said he offered to sell one of his standard cakes to them.

Colorado said his refusal broke the state’s public accommodation law prohibiting businesses from refusing service to anyone based on religion, race, sexual orientation and national origin.

During proceedings before the state’s civil rights commission one commissioner complained that freedom of religion had been used to “justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the Holocaust.” The commissioner called Mr. Phillips‘ beliefs “one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric.”

Justice Kennedy said those statements undermined the state’s case against Mr. Phillips.

The Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 in favor of Mr. Phillips. The two judges who ruled against Mr. Phillips were Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Mr. Phillips is essentially a cake artist. The question becomes whether or not a person can be forced to use his art for something he fundamentally disagrees with. Artists are usually commissioned. If the charges against Mr. Phillips were allowed to stand, does that mean that an artist does not have the right to refuse to do a commissioned work? I think that is the ultimate question–does a person running a business have the right to choose their clientele?

This Is What Civility Looks Like

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Yahoo News posted an article yesterday that included the following statement from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the death of Justice Scalia:

Toward the end of the opera Scalia/Ginsburg, tenor Scalia and soprano Ginsburg sing a duet: “We are different, we are one,” different in our interpretation of written texts, one in our reverence for the Constitution and the institution we serve. From our years together at the D.C. Circuit, we were best buddies. We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation. Justice Scalia nailed all the weak spots—the “applesauce” and “argle bargle”—and gave me just what I needed to strengthen the majority opinion. He was a jurist of captivating brilliance and wit, with a rare talent to make even the most sober judge laugh. The press referred to his “energetic fervor,” “astringent intellect,” “peppery prose,” “acumen,” and “affability,” all apt descriptions. He was eminently quotable, his pungent opinions so clearly stated that his words never slipped from the reader’s grasp.

Justice Scalia once described as the peak of his days on the bench an evening at the Opera Ball when he joined two Washington National Opera tenors at the piano for a medley of songs. He called it the famous Three Tenors performance. He was, indeed, a magnificent performer. It was my great good fortune to have known him as working colleague and treasured friend.

Politically, you could not have found two people that were more ideologically opposed, yet they respected each other and were good friends.That is a wonderful example that I wish all of those in government (or aspiring to be in government) would follow.