The unprecedented leak of a draft court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has created a firestorm of criticism.
This decision may go down in history in a long line of controversial and unjust decisions, motivated by pure politics.
One example is Korematsu vs. The United States (1944),which challenged the legality of Executive Order 9066 (1942). Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the order authorized the secretary of war and the armed forces to remove people of Japanese ancestry, a great many were U.S. citizens, from what they designated as military areas and surrounding communities in the United States. In a fiery dissent, Associate Justice Robert Jackson decried the ruling and stated that this ruling resulted in the legalization of racism, as it applied only to persons of Japanese ancestry.
In the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Taney, writing for the majority, included the phrase “... that they (meaning enslaved black persons) had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
In light of the revelations contained in the leaked draft opinion authored by Associate Justice Alito, which would overturn the precedents of Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, a little intellectual honesty must be added to his opinion.
How about adding the phrase: American women have no rights which deserve respect. This would be an acknowledgement of the true nature of this odious effort to subvert a constitutionally protected right.
William E. Hewitt Jr., Salt Lake City