McConnell calls Roe v. Wade ‘outdated’, compares SCOTUS overturning it to ending racial segregation

Estimated read time 5 min read


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the precedent granting federal abortion rights in Roe v. Wade ‘outdated’ in a Monday speech, his first public remarks since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 case. 

‘Precedent is important. It is important,’ the Republican said. ‘But sometimes precedent is wrong.’

The high court upended five decades’ worth of precedent and the lives of potentially millions of American women on Friday when it sided with Mississippi against its lone abortion clinic in overturning Roe. 

Speaking to a receptive audience at the Rotary Club of Florence, Kentucky,  McConnell compared the court’s explosive decision to the judicial body ending racial segregation in 1954.

He referenced the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, a decision stating that segregation laws did not violate the US Constitution and upheld the racist doctrine of ‘separate but equal.’

‘The case in 1896 upheld racial segregation on rail cars, which is the way people moved around then,’ McConnell said.

‘Fifty-eight years later,’ he continued, the high court ended racial segregation in public schools with Brown v. Board of Education. The decision partially struck down Plessy and paved the way for further societal integration along with the Civil Rights Movement.

‘It became, 9 to nothing, the law of the land, breaking down racial segregation,’ the Senator said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade, in his first public appearance since the ruling

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade, in his first public appearance since the ruling

‘So I raise that just to make the point that precedent is important – but sometimes the precedent is outdated or wrong.’

He said the issue of abortion was now ‘sent back to the democratic process for the will of the American people and their elected representatives to make this decision.’

One of McConnell’s top allies, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, landed in hot water over the weekend for making a similar comparison.

The senior Republican lawmaker retweeted former President Barack Obama’s Friday statement declaring that ‘the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.’

Cornyn quipped: ‘Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education.’

Critics accused the Senator of knowingly posting a racist dogwhistle that implicitly endorsed segregation. 

Roe and its sister case, 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey, were rolled back in a 5-4 decision by the court’s conservative supermajority. Liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. 

McConnell's comparison to the high court ending racial segregation is similar to a comment that sparked criticism of Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn

McConnell’s comparison to the high court ending racial segregation is similar to a comment that sparked criticism of Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurring opinion agreeing with Mississippi’s request to lower the legal abortion limit to 15 weeks but not its follow-up demand of scuttling the right to an abortion. 

During his Monday speech, McConnell suggested that it’s unlikely Congress would act to either ban or protect abortion on a federal level, citing the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.

‘What the court did in effect, was return this very controversial issue to the people and their representatives so that it can be decided through the democratic process.  Now, that’s almost entirely likely to occur at the state level – and let me tell you why,’ he explained.

‘In the Senate, most things require 60 votes…neither side of this issue has come anywhere close to having 60 votes, so I think this is likely to all be litigated out and dealt with in the various states throughout the country.’

Abortion became illegal in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky as soon as the court’s decision was handed down thanks to a so-called ‘trigger law’ passed by the state’s Republican majority in 2019. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest, only allowing the procedure in medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother.

The court's 5-4 decision sparked protests across the country, including outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC

The court’s 5-4 decision sparked protests across the country, including outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC

White segregationist demonstrators protesting at the admission of the Little Rock Nine, to Central High School, 1959. Five years earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution

White segregationist demonstrators protesting at the admission of the Little Rock Nine, to Central High School, 1959. Five years earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution

The senator was key to helping former President Donald Trump secure a decisive conservative lean on the Supreme Court. 

The Republican commander-in-chief appointed three out of the five justices who voted to scuttle federal abortion protections.

McConnell infamously blocked Obama from appointing now-Attorney General Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Trump then appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the bench in his place.

After claiming that it’s unreasonable for a president to make lifetime appointments during an election year, McConnell rushed Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process in late October 2020 despite criticism over her lack of judicial experience and his own previous comments.





Source link

You May Also Like

More From Author