7/2/05 Abortion front & center
Abortion front & center
Woman's right to choose key to upcoming justice war
By JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON - Experts say the coming war over the next Supreme Court justice will zero in on a single legal issue: a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy.
Never mind the environment, regulation, gun control, civil liberties or fighting terrorism.
Abortion will be the litmus test for all of President Bush's nominees, experts say, because any new appointee could tilt the Supreme Court's ideological balance and overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case legalizing the procedure.
"There's no doubt on both sides the No. 1 issue is Roe," said Manuel Miranda, a conservative legal activist in Bush's corner. "It's the representation of everything the court has done one way or another."
Abortion has for years prompted liberals and conservatives to give tens of millions of dollars to fund an almost-certain media melee by activist groups over Bush's picks for the top bench. Both sides of the abortion issue lure in cash by promising supporters Roe vs. Wade will be done in by a conservative court.
"It's like putting Tom DeLay or Hillary Clinton's picture on your fund-raising - it works," said former Solicitor General Theodore Olson.
But experts say that even if Roe vs. Wade is reversed after three decades, it wouldn't be the end of abortion in America.
Roe's demise would mean the question of abortion rights would revert back to the states. In most states, it would remain legal, experts say.
"You're secure for a long time, and if you live in places like New York, you're probably secure forever," conceded Miranda.
Miranda estimated it would take at least three conservatives replacing moderate or liberal justices to overturn Roe, and he doubted it could be achieved before the better part of a decade.
"Roe is now 32 years old. Even [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist believes precedent at some point trumps other arguments," said Solomon Wisenberg, who vetted nominees for the Reagan administration.
A 1992 case, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, could have thrown out Roe, but that was prevented by the votes of three Republican-appointed justices who still are serving: Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter.
With their views now well-known, "Roe isn't about to be overturned," Wisenberg said.
Originally published on July 2, 2005
Woman's right to choose key to upcoming justice war
By JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON - Experts say the coming war over the next Supreme Court justice will zero in on a single legal issue: a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy.
Never mind the environment, regulation, gun control, civil liberties or fighting terrorism.
Abortion will be the litmus test for all of President Bush's nominees, experts say, because any new appointee could tilt the Supreme Court's ideological balance and overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case legalizing the procedure.
"There's no doubt on both sides the No. 1 issue is Roe," said Manuel Miranda, a conservative legal activist in Bush's corner. "It's the representation of everything the court has done one way or another."
Abortion has for years prompted liberals and conservatives to give tens of millions of dollars to fund an almost-certain media melee by activist groups over Bush's picks for the top bench. Both sides of the abortion issue lure in cash by promising supporters Roe vs. Wade will be done in by a conservative court.
"It's like putting Tom DeLay or Hillary Clinton's picture on your fund-raising - it works," said former Solicitor General Theodore Olson.
But experts say that even if Roe vs. Wade is reversed after three decades, it wouldn't be the end of abortion in America.
Roe's demise would mean the question of abortion rights would revert back to the states. In most states, it would remain legal, experts say.
"You're secure for a long time, and if you live in places like New York, you're probably secure forever," conceded Miranda.
Miranda estimated it would take at least three conservatives replacing moderate or liberal justices to overturn Roe, and he doubted it could be achieved before the better part of a decade.
"Roe is now 32 years old. Even [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist believes precedent at some point trumps other arguments," said Solomon Wisenberg, who vetted nominees for the Reagan administration.
A 1992 case, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, could have thrown out Roe, but that was prevented by the votes of three Republican-appointed justices who still are serving: Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter.
With their views now well-known, "Roe isn't about to be overturned," Wisenberg said.
Originally published on July 2, 2005
posted by Aestrea Raven at Saturday, July 02, 2005
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