U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his concurring opinion with the Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade on Friday that the judicial body should revisit several key rulings that are politically charged.
In his concurring opinion, Thomas wrote that “[i]n 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,” he continued.
Fox News reported:
Griswold v. Connecticut was a landmark 1965 case which ruled the use of contraception between two married individuals was a matter of privacy and constitutionally protected.
Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 dealt with homosexual sex between consenting parties, and Obergefell v. Hodges treaded the same territory in 2015 to rule gay marriage as a constitutionally protected right to privacy.
The 6-3 decision in Dobbs v.s. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Friday followed the early May leak of a draft opinion indicating which way the justices would rule, The Daily Wire reported earlier in the day. That leak prompted protesting across the nation, particularly in Washington, D.C., as well as dozens of attacks and vandalism of pro-life organizations, centers, and churches.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Roe and a subsequent case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe, both must be overturned, and the right to allow, deny, or restrict the right to an abortion must reside with states.
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.