- This week, the conservative transformation of the U.S. Supreme Court led by Donald Trump was fully demonstrated, and the decision was seen as a serious setback to abortion rights.
- The Supreme Court plans to review a Mississippi law later this year that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- How the US Supreme Court will rule on other sensitive issues, and how the Democratic Party will respond, these issues are currently a hot topic in Washington.
On Thursday, the court refused to block a Texas law that effectively prohibits most abortions in the state by a 5 to 4 majority on the grounds of procedural arguments.
Steven Schwing, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the ruling “represents a right turn of the court.”
Even if the court did not resolve the merits of Texas law, the decision would result in an “end” around Roe v. Wade, a landmark case of the Supreme Court in 1973 that stipulated women’s right to abortion.
Schwinn pointed out that such a ruling was impossible a year ago, when the liberal feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg was still on the bench.
Ginsberg’s death in September 2020 gave Trump the opportunity to nominate his third judge to the court, consolidating the conservative 6-3 majority.
The justices claimed their independence and indeed rejected Trump’s appeal to the court to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election.
But the Texas decision revealed their true conservativeness.
Tracey Thomas, director of the Constitution Center at the University of Akron in Ohio, said: “The curtain has been drawn.”
“Their decisions are influenced by politics and the environment in their jurisprudence and belief system,” Thomas added.
The Supreme Court plans to review a Mississippi law later this year that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“I expect the court will drastically cut abortion rights in Rowe v. Wade, or reject Rowe v. Wade altogether,” Schwing said.
The court also plans to hear arguments in the New York case that may limit the ability of city or state authorities to enforce gun control laws.
Thomas said: “In addition to the First Amendment and religious freedom and abortion rights, we also see active judges questioning our entire administrative procedures,” adding that this may affect “commercial issues, regulatory issues, environmental issues.”
“It spans everything. This is a radicalism with a very wide range of influences,” she said.
“This is a conservative court…want to leave a legacy in the law. Obviously, conservatives are more active in the judiciary than we have seen in the past few decades.”
For months, the Democratic left has been calling for an increase in the number of court judges to weaken the influence of conservatives.
President Joe Biden initially stated that he was not a “fan” of this idea, but he later appointed a bipartisan committee to study the subject of reforming the court. The committee will submit a report before the end of the year.
Thomas said that although reforms may occur, “the question is whether this has political acumen and political wisdom.”
It may lead to a situation in which each party in power is endlessly branded on the court.
Another idea is to limit the tenure of judges currently serving for life.
“In recent years, I think no one really thinks this is a viable option,” Thomas said, “but if there is time to think about it, it must be now.”
Biden issued a fierce statement after the abortion decision in Texas, calling it an “insult to the rule of law” and accusing the court of causing “unconstitutional chaos.”
Some Democrats in Congress once again called for reform of the country’s Supreme Court.
But any attempt to do so will be strongly resisted by Republicans in the Senate. Schwing said he does not expect any meaningful reforms to be carried out soon.
