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As if politics in the United States weren’t fraught and overheated enough, now comes the news, in the form of a leaked draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, that the constitutional right to get an abortion is likely to be overruled by a conservative majority on the court.
As the news broke, demonstrators – both abortion foes and advocates – gathered in front of the court. Newspapers blared the headlines yesterday morning. My Twitter feed was a fevered mess of speculation and outrage, interspersed with very long threads by law professors.
The Conversation turned to Morgan Marietta, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, who is a Supreme Court scholar, to help readers understand the ramifications if the draft ruling becomes the actual one. Marietta points out that the right to get an abortion will no longer depend on the Constitution; it will largely depend on where you live. “The powers of individual states to determine whether abortions are legally available are increasing,” he writes. That promises to raise the volume and bitterness of debate at many statehouses. But the ruling would have another potentially huge implication for America’s politics by lowering the
standard for overruling previous court rulings. Use your imagination to conjure up the battles that could spawn.
Also today:
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Naomi Schalit
Senior Editor, Politics + Society
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Abortion rights battles look set to go from the Supreme Court to statehouses.
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Morgan Marietta, UMass Lowell
If the Supreme Court guts landmark rulings that established a constitutional right to abortion, the legal struggle will shift to statehouses and state courtrooms.
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Politics + Society
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Matt Williams, The Conversation
A draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito suggests that a majority of the court may overturn the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion in the US.
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Health + Medicine
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Ushma Upadhyay, University of California, San Francisco
During the pandemic, health care providers began prescribing abortion pills without requiring in-person exams. This practice could help people access the care they need when abortion rights are in limbo.
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Vaibhav Upadhyay, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Krishna Mallela, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Existing coronavirus vaccines are not as effective against newer variants of the virus. Two vaccine experts explain how new vaccines currently in development will likely offer better protection.
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Scott A. Conger, Boise State University; David Bassett, University of Tennessee; Lindsay Toth, University of North Florida
Research is revealing that fitness trackers alone can be helpful facilitators toward changing a sedentary lifestyle but don’t motivate people to increase their physical activity.
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Science + Technology
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Susan De Long, Colorado State University; Carol Wilusz, Colorado State University
Over 800 sites across the US report coronavirus data from sewage to the CDC. Here’s how this kind of surveillance system works and what it can and can’t tell you.
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Environment + Energy
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Kathryn Rodgers, Boston University
Tests found PFAS in school uniforms, pillows, upholstered furniture and several other items that are often next to children’s skin and near their noses and mouths.
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Patricia J. Rettig, Colorado State University
Agreements negotiated a century ago to share water on Western rivers among states are showing their age in a time of water scarcity.
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Economy + Business
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Paul B. Stephan, University of Virginia
The US has frozen tens of billions of dollars worth of assets belonging to Russians and their government. A legal scholar explains why confiscating them is a bit trickier.
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Emily Finchum-Mason, University of Washington
This growing trend aims to shift some of the power funders typically wield to the groups getting their money.
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Education
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Gerald K. LeTendre, Penn State; Peggy Schooling, Penn State
A study of rural schools in Pennsylvania found that schools ended up in a clash between local residents and state and federal agencies.
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Ethics + Religion
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Joanne M. Pierce, College of the Holy Cross
Relics often provided a way to bring more pilgrims into a church – and therefore, more offerings.
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