There has been a lot of language being thrown around regarding the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that was announced on June 24, 2022 by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). One phrase that keeps being repeated is Stare Decisis. The abortion industry was sure that stare decisis would prevent Roe v Wade, and Doe v Bolton, from being overturned. The Pro-Life movement was praying that SCOTUS would ignore stare decisis and overturn both.
The Right to Life was the predominant ruling in this decision, 6-3, from SCOTUS on June 24, 2022, which overruled Roe and Doe, and sent the decision about abortion, access to abortion, and the legality of abortion back to individual states. Unlike many people are being told, this decision did not take a freedom away from half the population. Dobbs has provided an opportunity to protect the freedom of the most innocent of the population-the preborn human.
Definition
“Stare decisis is a legal principle that compels a court of law to follow established precedent when ruling on cases concerning similar issues and circumstances. It is a Latin term that means “to stand by the things that have been decided.” In practice, it means that a court of law should adhere to the ruling from a previous case when faced with similar cases.” (1)
Based on that definition, Planned Parenthood v. Casey stuck to stare decisis. “…Casey upheld Roe, saying that the right to an abortion was protected. In other words, it followed what it is called stare decisis, or following the precedent set by previous cases the court has decided on.” (2) This made it even more unlikely that Roe and Doe would be overturned.
Stare Decisis
But SCOTUS has set stare decisis aside before when “settled” cases were, quite simply, wrong. In 1896’s Plessy v Ferguson, SCOTUS had ruled that “separate but equal” education for white and black children was constitutionally sound as long as the facilities were the same. In 2022, we know that the facilities (and the staff) were never “equal”, and so in 1954, 58 years after Plessy, SCOTUS disregarded stare decisis, ruling on the case Brown v Board of Education, and overturning Plessy. (1) While this country still has challenges regarding the education of the Black child, it no longer claims “separate but equal” is good enough.
Another decision that ignored stare decisis is one that many people seemed to be quite happy about a few years ago. Obergefell v Hodges struck down Baker v Nelson, a precedent that had been in place since 1972. (3) Obergefell legalized “marriage” between two people of the same sex and many people disagree with this ruling. However, they aren’t out there actively attempting to overturn it, because it is still about two people making their own choice.
Abortion
Aborting a baby removes the ability to choose from one innocent human being and gives it to another human being who has the opportunity to make choices. In no other area of law is one person allowed to decide whether an innocent person is allowed to live. Even the death penalty has become something that is truly RARE because of the possibility that an innocent person might have been wrongly convicted.
Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton may have been law, but it was never settled in the hearts of the people of the United States. There have been protests since before the decision was made in 1973 on January 22. The moment the discussion started as the case (Roe) moved from Texas to SCOTUS, there were protests from those advocating that the Constitutional Right to Life that was the foundation of this country and rallies from those supportive of the right to kill a child in utero. The issue was originally split down faith lines, although science and the liberalization of some churches have helped blur those lines in recent years.
Democracy
Stare decicis is often criticized for its lack of a democratic process. “The judges who make decisions that set these precedents are not elected, but appointed. As such, judicial decision-making is rarely considered equivalent to the will of the people.” (1) The Dobbs decision sent the question of abortion back to each state to be democratically decided through state elected officials. Those elected officials hopefully reflect “the will of the people” in their state.
In states like New York, California, and Illinois, abortion will be available on-demand and without apology. In other states, abortion will be illegal, and in yet other states, there will be a middle ground where only early abortions will be legal, or there will be more restrictions on who may get an abortion.
Only time will tell whether the United States ends up on the side of history that values human life or destroys it in its most innocent stage.
“The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.” – St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) (4)
Sources
1. Stare Decisis: Definition, History, and How It Works
2. Roe established abortion rights. 20 years later, Casey paved the way for restrictions
3. The Separation of Powers, Stare Decisis, and the Constitution
4. Mother Teresa Quotes