Shock, Anger, Activism As Supreme Court Draft Opinion Leaks.

May 4, 2022 Glen Turpening

The draft of an opinion that could outlaw abortion in half of America was leaked to a stunned nation. (NY Times)

Opponents and supporters of abortion rights had expected for months that the Supreme Court would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, but the leaked draft opinion late Monday came as if out of the blue, setting off shock, outrage and jubilation on both sides of the nation’s deeply polarized abortion debate. Activists took to the streets to declare their intention to fight harder, especially over control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections. Candidates sought to raise money off the news. And in states that are poised to ban abortion or guard access to it, politicians and governors declared that they were ready to act. Yet many Americans woke up stunned, not realizing — and some still not believing — that Roe and the constitutional right to an abortion that it has guaranteed for five decades could disappear within a matter of weeks.

Kate Zernike, Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham, 'New York Time'

The right to abortion has alway held on by a thread for the past 50 years and that thread may have been severed by the far right packed Supreme Court. Only now are rights to abortion being codified into the Constitution of Blue States which could have been done anytime during the last 5 decades. The same can be said for the right to same sex marriage, a 5-4 decision that would be decided differently today. Congress must act to protect these rights and act quickly.