Requiem for Roe v. Wade

The six Supreme Court justices who will almost certainly decide to either overrule Roe v. Wade or strip it of any practical meaning are all hard-nosed doctrinaire Catholics of a mind to think that by decreeing that a woman’s choice to have an abortion is not a Constitutional right, they are showing themselves to be more Christian, and therefore more virtuous, than those with contrary opinions. In this righteous act of self-sanctification they will ignore —they cannot bear to consider –– the dismay, cruelty, and hardship that will ensue from their decision. They will ignore that the incidence of abortions has radically declined since Roe v. Wade was decided. They will ignore that the Constitution not only guarantees freedom of religion, it guarantees freedom from religion. They will ignore that, in states where abortions will be illegal, women who are well off will be able to get an abortion by traveling to a state where it is allowed, but most poor women will not. It is the poor who will suffer. Our country will suffer. When the Court issues its decision, the Christian spirit will not be found in the majority opinion. It will be found in the dissent, which I hope will be written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Christian Catholic on the Court.