Abortion is an important issue for a clear majority of Nebraskans. The recent leak of a Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) draft opinion concerning an abortion case before the court is shocking. My lawyer friends tell me something like this is unprecedented in history, and represents a huge betrayal of the integrity of the court and all the dedicated Americans who work there. The person responsible will likely be disbarred and will never practice law in the United States again. It’s possible they could even be charged with serious federal crimes. 

The argument laid out in the leaked draft opinion by Justice Alito is about power, not abortion, and who should control that power. Should it be the choice of the people and their state legislatures, or should it be the federal creature lording over the people with pronouncements from on high? 

Justice Alito said: “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

I am very pleased to see a justice on the supreme court defend a God-given right of the people, through their elected legislatures, to choose the sort of laws they want for their state. Roe v. Wade made abortion an exception to this reasoning by conjuring a “right” to an abortion not found anywhere in the text in the constitution. Overturning this flawed decision and returning the power to the people to decide for themselves is the very essence of our democratically-elected constitutional republic, and Justice Alito articulated this beautifully.    

Abortion supporters are upset because they know they do not have the votes to pass a pro-abortion law in most state legislatures. Abortion proponents depend on a ruling from the court to force the practice of abortion on the states. They know the United States Constitution does not provide or protect a “right” to an abortion. That is what the “Roe vs. Wade” decision has been these last forty-nine years; a federal pronouncement making abortion legal nation-wide and not something the states have the ability to broadly regulate. The left knows that if this issue is ever left up to the states to decide, a majority will pass laws to outlaw or severely restrict abortion.

It bothers me to see riot fencing now installed around our nation’s highest court. I’ve read reporting where conservative justices and their homes and families are being threatened in an attempt to intimidate them. All of this is happening because a small but loud group of extremists do not want the question of abortion to ever be a question answered by the people. 

Speaker Mike Hilgers has said that if the SCOTUS does eventually overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, the Nebraska Legislature will likely be called into Special Session by the Governor to address Nebraska’s laws on the subject. I look forward to restoring the people’s voice to this issue. I have no doubt our local chapter of abortion proponents will make their presence known in the Capitol should a special session occur. I sincerely hope they bring some dignity with them this time.