The SCOTUS abortion decision is worse than you think. It's not truly 5-4. On the core of the abortion right, it's more like 8-1. Only Thomas clearly attacks Roe/Casey. The other dissenters say this, essentially "apply Casey." /1:
This means, in plain English, that even the dissenters would likely strike down the Louisiana law if the plaintiffs could show that their access to abortion was "substantially impaired." In other words, the law would be upheld only if it didn't do much about abortion at all! /2
It's true that Louisiana didn't ask the court to overrule Casey. Perhaps another justice agrees with Thomas. All we know is what they just said, and what they just said indicates that the core abortion right is at least as secure as it was in 1992, when Casey was decided. /end
You can follow @DavidAFrench.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: