Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: It's Not That John Roberts Isn't Opposed To Abortion, It's That He Wants To Handle It Carefully To Mitigate Backlash
The Supreme Court has just handed down a pair of decisions that illustrate an important truth: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is not, as many conservatives believe, some kind of traitor to their cause, an unreliable ally who will stab them in the back whenever he gets the chance. In his own way, he鈥檚 as devoted to the fortunes of the Republican Party as any of the other conservative justices. But unlike Samuel A. Alito Jr. (generally recognized as the most partisan judge on the court) or Brett M. Kavanaugh (who will almost certainly challenge Alito for that distinction), Roberts is playing a longer game. He鈥檚 trying to save the GOP from itself. (Paul Waldman, 2/8)
Roe V. Wade and subsequent Supreme Court precedents stand for the proposition that a woman has a constitutional right to choose abortion, subject only to federal and state regulations that do not impose an 鈥渦ndue burden鈥 on that right. At a time when Americans distrust all branches of their federal government, the Supreme Court鈥檚 legitimacy challenge can be stated as a question: Will a court with a five-justice conservative majority, appointed by Republican presidents hostile to Roe, move swiftly to strike down, or hollow out, that well-established precedent? (2/9)
In America, we are entering a new chapter in the effort to protect life. Many of the old euphemisms obscuring the truth about abortion are fading and, for better or for worse, Americans no longer can avoid the truth. (Kristen Waggoner, 2/8)
