Texas) that invalidated sodomy laws and a right to same-sex marriage (2015's Obergefell v.
Virginia, 1967) a right to consensual sexual activity in a 2003 decision ( Lawrence v. Connecticut, 1965) a right to interracial marriage (Loving v. Many of the rights that would potentially be endangered currently have the backing of Supreme Court rulings, much like the 1973 Roe decision. The court has established a right to contraception ( Griswold v. "So, if you unravel one string in that fabric of doctrine, it could potentially unravel the other rights or at least open them up to greater attack."īASIS FOR RIGHT TO ABORTION: What Supreme Court justices are considering The right to privacy "comes from a number of different areas within the Constitution itself, but it evolved out of a right to contraception access. And from that we got a whole slew of sexual privacy rights," he said. The potential decision, which would uphold a Mississippi law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, also undermines the right to privacy, a grounding for the Roe decision and of numerous other rights, said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University College of Law. Wade: Major takeaways from the Supreme Court leak on abortion case WHAT'S NEXT? Anti-abortion groups aren't stopping with Roe Worry about the fate of other civil rights stems not just from the potential overturning of Roe, but the language used to justify it in the draft opinion, reportedly authored by Justice Samuel Alito with the backing of a court majority. One argument leveled against abortion in the court draft is that abortion rights are not enumerated in the Constitution, a circumstance that also could be applied to same-sex marriage and contraception, legal experts said.ĭECADES IN THE MAKING: A look at conservatives' efforts to overturn Roe v. "I think gay marriage is right on the heels of this" in terms of potential legal challenges and legislative proposals, said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, a national LGBTQ rights organization.Īnd it goes beyond that, she said: "I caution anyone who thinks that anything is off the table that our democracy, our agency, our civil rights are on the line."
If the draft opinion, published Monday by Politico, takes effect, it would open the door to reconsideration and potential reversal of other established rights, including same-sex marriage, contraception, private consensual sexual activity and even interracial marriage, according to activists and law professors. WadeĪbortion isn't the only right that could be under threat by the Supreme Court's draft ruling overturning Roe v. Watch Video: Protests at Supreme Court after leak shows possible end to Roe v.