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Opinion
Ramesh Ponnuru

America’s Constitution Is Conservative, Like It or Not

There’s a reason the Supreme Court is rejecting liberal arguments on everything from abortion to guns. And it has nothing to do with the justices’ politics. 

The conservative institution. 

The conservative institution. 

Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Conservatives are, by and large, thrilled by the Supreme Court’s recent decisions. It has expanded its conception of gun rights that states have to respect, and ruled that states have to include religious schools in voucher programs. It has also allowed states to ban abortion. All of this before the court has even ended its current term.

We conservatives say that we favor these decisions not just because we favor the policy outcomes, but because they were right on the law. They reflect the text of the Constitution as its provisions were originally understood by the ratifying public.