The Supreme Court Is Not the National Abortion Control Board
Pro-life conservatives were disappointed last year when—thanks to Bush appointee John Roberts—the Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, in the case of
June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, ruled that a Louisiana law requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital was unconstitutional. These conservatives don’t mind if the Supreme Court functions as the national abortion control board as long as it rules in favor of restrictions on abortion.
The phrase comes from the dissenting opinion of Justice Byron White, joined by William Rehnquist and Chief Justice Warren Burger, in the case of