For one week I may be a conformist. The constant news cycle has not spoken about anything but the Supreme Court ruling on the decision of Roe v. Wade, which really was a decision on Dobbs v. the Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Yes, Roe v. Wade was involved but this was really a case about legal or illegal abortion in Mississippi. Despite all the “online experts,” I wonder how many have actually read the 210-page document released by the Supreme Court that contains their opinions on this case. I have read about 70 pages of it so far and find it very interesting.
First, one could make the case that since 1865 and the Civil War, the erosion of states’ rights has been painful. While that is not a statement about slavery, the human ownership of other humans is truly about states’ rights. Case 19-1392, released on June 24, 2022, is a major victory for the constitutional rights that states were assured by the Founding Fathers.
Let me share a few comments from the opinion of the court on the case at hand:
“Under the Court’s precedents, rational-basis review is the appropriate standard to apply when state abortion regulations undergo constitutional challenge. Given that procuring an abortion is not a fundamental constitutional right, it follows that the States may regulate abortion for legitimate reasons, and when such regulations are challenged under the Constitution, courts cannot ‘substitute their social and economic beliefs for the judgment of legislative bodies.’
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives.
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives. ‘The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations, upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.’ That is what the Constitution and the rule of law demand.”
I personally find those three paragraphs extremely powerful in the quest to take this country back, county by county. Yes, I realize the highest court in the land just reminded us about states’ rights, but the truth of the matter is that we, at the county level, have allowed the state and federal government to dictate our lives.
We must not sit back and say that the Supreme Court has finally saved the day. No, they did not save anything other than your ability to be a rudder into the future direction of your state. I recognize that several states have a trigger law in place and have been waiting for this day but there are others that will require other provisions to address the matter.
Your greatest source of angst in the coming days will not come from your state capital but rather from what is currently happening and may accelerate in your own church with the results of this ruling.
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the views of High Plains Journal. Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].