Why Chief Justice Roberts Upheld Abortion Rights

When Donald Trump ran for president, he promised to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. His running mate, Mike Pence, vowed the same. Today, it seems that the president may have followed through with his promise … but was stopped in his tracks by Chief Justice John Roberts, who apparently does not want to let that happen.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law that would have shut down all but one clinic in the state. That law — requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital — was almost identical to a Texas law that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in 2016. In the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court found that the Texas law provided no benefits to patients but instead burdened access to abortion so significantly because most clinics in the state would shut down.

Thus, today’s decision should have been an open and shut case. Texas’ law was unconstitutional four years ago; Louisiana’s law was virtually identical to that law — it should be unconstitutional as well. But, the addition of the two new justices to the court, and in particular conservative Justice Kavanaugh replacing abortion-rights supporter Justice Anthony Kennedy, made this case a very big deal. To everyone following this issue, this case was going to be the barometer for how the newly conservative Supreme Court would treat abortion.

This morning gave us the complicated answer. A majority of the justices voted to strike down the law based on the 2016 case, however, those five justices did not agree on the rationale. Justice Breyer, who wrote the 2016 decision, authored an opinion for himself and the three other liberals on the court. His opinion was a straightforward application of the 2016 case. He said that this law is no different, and because it also provides no benefits while seriously burdening abortion access, it is unconstitutional, like the Texas law. The Louisiana abortion clinics can remain open, and people seeking abortions in the state will not have to face an even more drastic access landscape.

This is where Chief Justice Roberts comes in. The chief dissented in the 2016 case and would have allowed the Texas laws. But this time around, he voted with Justice Breyer to strike down the Louisiana law. He couldn’t bring himself to join Justice Breyer’s opinion, writing his own opinion instead. And until the court changes, because the chief justice is the swing vote on this issue, this opinion will be the key to future abortion cases.

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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/scotus-abortion-rights-chief-justice-roberts-opinion-1021951/