Sticky stink  

There is a feeling of dread creeping into American discourse at the moment. The source? The US Supreme Court, poised to render a ruling that will overturn the nearly 50-year precedent that is Roe v. Wade.

To recall, that ruling in Roe tied the hands of American states from prohibiting abortions, and pretty much set the standards for what were and were not acceptable in terms of regulating abortion clinics, medical professionals, and even abortifacients. Roe v. Wade epitomizes the victory of women activists, who asserted control over their bodies against an intrusive government.

Well, all that is in jeopardy. With a majority of justices now conservative in make-up, especially with the elevation of Catholic poster girl Amy Coney Barrett into the high court with the high-pressure backing of Donald Trump, only three liberal justices are left, and there are six conservative votes to contend with.

The case before the high court; a 2018 Mississippi abortion ban. This law criminalizes all abortions after 15 weeks except in cases of medical emergencies or severe abnormalities. This isn’t even the dreaded Texas abortion ban that got everyone so riled up, and which isn’t due for decision until maybe another year. This is just a blatantly unconstitutional law passed by eager Mississippi zealots.

But that this law is indeed blatantly unconstitutional is no longer a given. Not with this court. Not with a bench that has been eagerly stacked by Republicans with anti-abortion legal minds.

If the justices do vote along philosophical (a.k.a. political) lines and interpret anew the American Constitution, then it becomes crystal clear that constitutional interpretations are just that --only what a handful of people say it is. At the end of the day, a nation of hundreds of millions of citizens are affected in a very concrete way by the opinions of nine human beings.

In these dangerous, dark days, it would not do to allow for the realization that the court’s powers are only such because of the respect accorded to it, powers so tenuous that all it will take are a few determined attackers to chip away at that respect, chip and chip with fanatical zeal in social media and the press, to successfully delegitimize the supposedly venerable institution that is the Supreme Court.

That already seems to be the warning being sounded by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In a question posed to her conservative colleagues, she dramatically asks: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don’t see how it is possible.”

We should note the word “stench” that she employs. A strong word to deploy against a reversal of Roe v. Wade, and against her brethren. She is warning them that it stinks, and that stink could stick, not just to the six conservatives, but to the entire institution that is the judiciary.

It will become crystal clear to the nation that the justices are voting in accordance with political beliefs, not with reason, wisdom, research, or even respect for previous judicial precedents. And if this is how they do business, then faith in the legitimacy of the institution will likewise fly out the door.

Will the gauntlet thrown by Justice Sotomayor be enough to sway her brethren? Probably not. Pretty soon, we shall be dealing with the impact of a politically stinky Supreme Court that upends half a century of fundamental beliefs and socio-political structures built around the concept of freely-available abortion.

Watching all those upheavals play across the American landscape will not be a pretty sight. And guess where that will land abortion rights in this backward nation of ours? Not only does it stink, it sucks.