Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion in the overturning of Roe v. Wade suggests other landmark rulings — including those that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage — could be in peril.
Clarence Thomas writes, in a concurring opinionexcerpted on Twitter, that the Supreme Court should reconsiderGriswold v. Connecticut, Lawrence V. Texas, andObergefell v. Hodge— the rulings that currently protect the right to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction, the right to a same-sex relationship, and the right to same-sex marriage.
From Thomas' concurring opinion: “… in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous,’ … we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents…”
Jim Obergefell, one of the plaintiffs in the historicObergefell v. Hodgecase, said in a statement sent to PEOPLE that Thomas is “not the Supreme Deity.”
Clarence Thomas.ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
At a May fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in Chicago, PresidentJoe Bidensaid of the leaked opinion: “It’s not just the brutality of taking away a woman’s right to her body … but it also, if you read the opinion … basically says there’s no such thing as the right to privacy.”
Biden continued: “If that holds … mark my words: They are going to go after the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.”
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The draft document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court,” also said, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Twelve states in the country, including Mississippi and Texas,have “trigger” lawsin place that go into effect onceRoeis overturned. More states are likely to follow suit, as Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst atthe Guttmacher Institute, a research group focused on abortion rights, told PEOPLE earlier.
There are efforts to maintain the right to abortion in other states such as New York, Hawaii, California and Washington, which have statutory protections for abortion rights in their laws.
source: people.com
