National Review Online
Friday, June 24, 2022
At last. It has taken 49 years and five months, but
the Supreme Court has finally reversed the monstrous injustice it
worked in 1973. In Roe v. Wade, seven justices cast aside the laws
of every state protecting unborn children from the violence of abortion, even
though nothing in the text, original understanding, or history of the
Constitution authorized them to do so. It was an act of “raw judicial power,”
as a Democratic justice wrote in dissent, and even law professors who approved
the abortion license Roe created assailed the decision for
lacking any constitutional base.
Decades of work, the efforts of tens of millions of
Americans, and persistence through many disappointments were necessary to bring
us to this day of correction. Overturning Roe does not
guarantee justice for the unborn: Pro-lifers know the work must continue. What
the Court has done is give pro-lifers the chance to make their case and prevail
in democratic fora. Our fundamental law will no longer effectively treat unborn
children as categorically excluded from the most basic protection that law can
provide. It is a mighty step forward for the rule of law, self-government, and
justice.
Our fellow citizens who reject the right to life for all
human beings, tragically misguided as they are, have the right to protest
against the Supreme Court’s decision. They have no right to threaten,
intimidate, vandalize, or commit acts of violence. One of the worst causes in
American history — the defense of a judicially imposed regime of
abortion-on-demand — appears likely to end in further disgrace. The Biden
administration will be derelict in its duties if it fails to keep the peace.
The pro-life goal has been to make sure that unborn
children are protected in law and welcomed in life. Our tactics in advancing
that goal will have to adapt to the happy new circumstances. In legislatures in
strongly pro-life areas, that should mean new laws that prohibit doctors from
committing elective abortions and carry penalties sufficient to make that
protection effective. In other places, it should mean as much protection as the
political balance of forces will allow — and a commitment to do the work of
persuasion needed to tilt that balance further toward justice. Everywhere, it
should mean private and public efforts to support women bringing life into the
world.
The Supreme Court’s cruel decision in 1973 has been
complicit in the killing of scores of millions of innocents. It has warped our
law, our politics, our medicine, coarsened our social fabric, hardened our
hearts. Let us rejoice that this sad episode in our nation’s history has ended,
and work to extend the blessings of life.
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