“So fundamental”: quotes from the US Supreme Court abortion case

Balloons with a slogan are seen at a protest outside the Supreme Court building on Argument Day in the Mississippi Dobbs v. Abortion rights case. Jackson Women’s Health, in Washington, USA, December 1, 2021. REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein

Dec. 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Washington on Wednesday centered on a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy in a case that could lead to a dramatic drop in rights to abortion in America. Here are some key quotes from the oral argument.

SCOTT STEWART, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSISSIPPI

Regarding two landmark Supreme Court decisions recognizing the right to abortion, in 1973 and 1992 respectively: “Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey haunt our country. They have no basis in the Constitution. They have no place in our history or our traditions. They “undermined the democratic process. They poisoned the law. They stifled compromise. For 50 years, they kept this tribunal at the center of a political battle it will never be able to resolve. And 50 years later. , they are autonomous. Nowhere else does this tribunal recognize the right to end a human life. “

ELIZABETH PRELOGAR, SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR THE UNITED STATES

“If this court renounces the freedom interests recognized in Roe and reaffirmed in Casey, it would be an unprecedented contraction of individual rights. … The court has never revoked a right that is so fundamental to so many Americans and so central to their ability to participate fully and equitably in society.

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Regarding the passage of the Mississippi law: “Now the sponsors of this bill, the House bill, in Mississippi, have said, ‘We are doing it because we have new judges (of the Court supreme) ”. … Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public’s perception that the Constitution and its reading are only political acts? “

“The question of the beginning of life has been hotly debated by philosophers since the dawn of time. It is still debated in religions. So when you say it’s the only right that takes away the state’s ability to protect a life, that’s a religious point of view, isn’t it? “

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS

Regarding the decisions in the Roe and Casey decisions that states cannot ban abortion until a fetus is viable outside the womb, generally considered by doctors between 24 and 28 weeks: “I would like to focus on the 15-week ban because it’s not dramatic. This is the standard that the vast majority of other countries have. When you reach the standard of viability, we share that standard with the People’s Republic of China and North Korea. “

JULIE RIKELMAN, LAWYER FOR JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Mississippi’s two-month abortion ban is categorically unconstitutional given decades of precedent. Mississippi calls on court to dismantle that precedent and allow states to force women to stay pregnant and give birth against their will.”

JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER

“The problem with a great case like this – the rare case, the turning point, where people are really opposed on both sides and they’re really fighting – is that they’re going to be willing to say, no, you’re just political, you’re just politicians. And that’s what is killing us as an American institution. “

JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN

“There have been 50 years of water under the bridges, 50 years of rulings saying it’s part of our law, it’s part of the fabric of women’s existence in this country, and that puts us in a totally different situation than if you had come 50 years ago and made the same arguments. “

JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO

Regarding an 1897 Supreme Court ruling authorizing racial segregation: “Wouldn’t it suffice to say that it was an extremely bad decision the day it was made and should now be overturned?”

JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH

“When you have these two interests at stake and both are important, as you recognize … why should this court be the arbiter rather than Congress, state legislatures, state supreme courts, people being able to solve this problem? And there will be different answers in Mississippi and New York, different answers in Alabama than in California because these are two different interests at stake and the people of those states might assess those interests a little differently. . “

JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT

Regarding “safe haven” laws in states that allow women to deliver unwanted babies to health facilities without penalty: “Roe and Casey emphasize the burdens of parenting. And insofar as you… would hinder women’s access to work and equal opportunities, it is also focused on the consequences of parenthood and the obligations of motherhood that arise from pregnancy. Why don’t shelter laws solve this problem? “

Compiled by Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham

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