Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Kennedy's Departure Marks End To Abortion Rights; Chief Justice Roberts Unlikely To Overturn Roe V. Wade
Chicago Tribune: With Anthony Kennedy Retiring, The Fate Of Abortion Rights Lies With John Roberts
If you think a woman’s reproductive freedom includes the right to abortion, here is the stark reality: The survival of the constitutional protection recognized in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision lies with Chief Justice John Roberts. Overturning it has been the fervent hope of conservatives for decades. It was a primary justification for them to support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. (Steve Chapman, 6/27)
The Hill: When The Highest Court Sides With The Most Powerful, Women's Rights Are At Risk
Today, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, and the question facing our country is clear: Will his replacement ensure that the Supreme Court does its most basic job and ensure that the rights of individuals are not trampled by the political agenda of the powerful? Among the freedoms currently in imminent danger is the right to control your own body and make decisions about your future. For more than 40 years, the right to safe and legal abortion has been the law of the land. Roe v. Wade has been upheld repeatedly by the court, most recently two years ago in the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision, in which Justice Kennedy’s was the deciding vote. (Dana Singiser, 6/28)
The Wall Street Journal: The Court After Kennedy
A Republican nominee also offers the best chance to sustain Justice Kennedy’s legacy, despite the fear and loathing you hear on the left. Democrats are already predicting the demise of abortion rights, the end of gay marriage, and no doubt we’ll be hearing about the revival of Dred Scott before the confirmation hearings on Justice Kennedy’s replacement are over. But that overlooks the entirety of Justice Kennedy’s jurisprudence, which is far richer than the cultural cases like Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Obergefell v. Hodges for which he is celebrated on the left. (6/27)
Reuters: Kennedy’s Supreme Court Departure A Death Knell For Roe V. Wade
The Supreme Court’s headline-grabbing ruling to uphold President Trump’s travel ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries in the face of overwhelming evidence that it was motivated by religious prejudice has overshadowed another Supreme Court decision that also deserves attention – especially now that Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the bench. Kennedy is often the pivotal vote on a nine-member court that already is fundamentally hostile to the abortion rights guaranteed in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. His departure will enable Trump to nominate a conservative replacement, skewing the court to the right for decades as the remaining justices serve out their lifetime tenures. (6/27)
The New York Times: Trump Remakes America
The most lasting consequence is in the Supreme Court, which has lifetime appointments. So now, if you are a woman, a minority, an immigrant, a person who is L.G.B.T., the rights you have acquired could be in jeopardy.I f you are just a decent person who believes in expanding equality, respecting choice and identity and civil rights, your vision of America is in jeopardy. (Charles Blow, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times: In Replacing Justice Kennedy, Trump Should Rein In His Partisan, Populist Tendencies
The retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy after three decades on the Supreme Court presents President Trump with a fateful choice. He can nominate an extreme ideological conservative likely to receive only or mostly Republican votes in the U.S. Senate, pleasing his base but perpetuating the hyper-politicization of the court that reached its low point with the Republican Senate’s refusal in 2016 even to consider Merrick Garland, former President Obama’s third nominee to the court. Such a nominee would no doubt seek, if confirmed, to roll back Roe vs. Wade or to ease reasonable restrictions on guns or to weaken even further the nation’s campaign finance laws. (6/27)
Bloomberg: The Next Supreme Court Won’t Reflect Public Opinion
With Kennedy’s departure, civil rights won’t be the only issue on which the new court will be far from the mainstream. It’s quite possible that the radical “constitution in exile” group may start winning many cases, which could endanger programs such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as basic New Deal economic regulation. Will public opinion constrain them? (Jonathan Bernstein, 6/27)
The New York Times: We’re About To Find Out How Bad It Will Get Without Justice Kennedy
For more than a dozen years, Justice Anthony Kennedy stood at the center of the Supreme Court. He moved the court to the right, but while he often provided a crucial fifth vote to the court’s conservative wing, Justice Kennedy sometimes voted against it. And he picked a few causes that liberals cherish, making him their occasional, if fickle, guardian angel. Among other things, Justice Kennedy was the bulwark against legal assaults against abortion, perhaps the one issue, more than any other, where the court’s influence and public attention so clearly intersect. (Emily Bazelon, 6/27)
USA Today: Justice Anthony Kennedy Has An Open Mind. So Should His Successor.
The nation’s culture wars are already at a boiling point, and the retirement announced Wednesday by Justice Anthony Kennedy just turned the burners up higher.The departure of the justice who has often been the pivotal vote on issues from civil rights to abortion will set off a monumental fight over his successor on the Supreme Court, the likes of which this country has seldom seen. (6/27)
Boston Globe: The Supreme Court Is Poised To Take A Hard Turn To The Right
The US Supreme Court, which just completed its most conservative term in recent memory, is about to move much further to the right with Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing that he is retiring. Since the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in 2006, Kennedy has been the “swing justice,” frequently determining the outcome of cases. ...Reproductive freedom. I believe that there are four votes to overrule Roe v. Wade and allow states to prohibit all abortions, or at least to allow virtually every restriction on abortion. Kennedy famously was the fifth vote to reaffirm Roe v. Wade in 1992, and as recently as two years ago he was the fifth vote to strike down a Texas law restricting access to abortion. Roberts, by contrast, dissented and never has voted to strike down any restriction on abortion. (Erwin Chemerinsky, 6/27)
