questioned their fellow justices about what it will do to the perceived legitimacy of the court. a large majority of the country has said don t overturn roe, that has been true for decades, it s still true now. the more liberal justices effectively made the argument that the court will have a problem on its hands if they overturned roe, not just because it s an unpopular decision, even though it would be. it would be a problem for the court if they overturned roe because roe is settled precedent. nothing about the country has changed since roe that would meaningfully effect the terms on which roe was settled. nothing about the constitution has changed since roe that would affect the way that roe was decided. none of those things have changed in any way materially that would warrant throwing out generations of settled precedent around which americans have built their lives and their expectations for what it means to be a free person living in this country.
i wonder if you feel like this moment does mean that the sort of lying and the artifice around this issue is over. under president trump, when he talked about supreme court nominations, he essentially dropped the guise and said, yeah, whoever i put on there is going to overturn roe and that s why i ll put them on there. are we in a new place where it s essentially open combat on this issue and we re no longer couching it? yes and no. i mean, i think look, let s be grateful that all of those fancy law professors and susan collinss and people who told us what these folks really meant when they said roe was precedent, they meant that, okay, let s put that aside, that artifice is gone. the artifice i worry about, and you played that brett kavanaugh clip, is the artifice of saying, we re going to pretend to be neutral, we re not going to ban abortion, said kavanaugh, we re just going to let states decide. we saw that same artifice, amy coney barrett kept insisting
here, i know this has been an intense day. hi, rachel. so tell me about that clarity. oral arguments today made clear this court will overturn roe. you are not in the minority in asserting that, but what is the basis for that clarity that you feel about this? i think going into argument today, there was a narrative that went, this isn t really a 6-3 court, it s a 3-3 court that amy coney barrett and brett kavanaugh and the chief justice are incrementalists, they care about what people think, they worry about those legitimate questions you and nancy were just talking about, but they re going to tap the brakes, not do anything crazy. there was no reason to believe other than the chief justice, who was trying to figure out a middle way out not to overturn roe maybe we could move the viability line and be okay with a 15-week instead of 24-week ban. there was no reason to believe,
has said don t overturn roe, that has been true for decades, it s still true now. the more liberal justices effectively made the argument jo that the court will have a problem on its hands if they overturn roe, not just because it s an unpopular decision, even though it would be. it would be a problem for the court if they overturned roe because roe is settled precedent. nothing about the country has changed since roe that would if meaningfully effect the terms on which roe was settled. nothing about the constitution has changed since roe that would affect the way that roe was decided. none of those things have changed in any way materially that would warrant throwing out generations of settled precedent around which americans have built their lives and their expectations for what it means to be a free person living in h this country. if the only reason to throw out that settled precedent is because, hey, brett s here now, then won t that make americans think that the court actually is
act can address this law, the texas law, the dozens of other laws that have been passed that are being litigated in the courts right now. the house of representatives has passed the women s health protection act. it s before the senate. the biden administration supports it. people are going to wake up and realize the pressure has to be put on the congress. nancy northup, president and ceo for the center for reproductive rights. nancy, thank you so much for making time to be here tonight on this sort of it s an understatement to call it momentous. thanks for being here. thank you. i want to turn now to our friend dahlia lithwick, senior editor at slate.com. her piece on today s argument, scotus will gaslight us until the end. oral arguments today made clear this court will overturn roe. thank you so much for being