Supreme Court Needn’t Fear Political Backlash on Abortion
History shows that the justices can undermine their legitimacy with decisions that block popular measures like the New Deal, but not when they cede authority to policy makers.
Don’t hold your breath.
Photographer: John Lamparski/Getty ImagesMillions of Americans are unhappy, even furious, at the US Supreme Court for reversing its 1973 abortion-rights precedent Roe v. Wade last month. There is more talk of a political backlash against the high court than at any time since the era of massive resistance to its school desegregation rulings in the 1950s.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Bronx Democrat, suggests that the justices need more checks and balances. Senator Ed Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat, says the latest abortion decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, justifies expanding the court to let President Joe Biden pack it. Other critics of the justices are calling for term limits on them. Still others are issuing sorrowful warnings that the court is losing its “legitimacy.”