but no mistake about it, there s much more activity in the legislatures this year than there s been probably ever since roe was decided. and dalia, if the states pass these laws, abortion rights advocates are certainly free to challenge them and to try to get this before the supreme court. and yet you argue they ve made a tactical decision not to raise the issue. i suppose out of fear that there s a more conservative supreme court would take the opportunity to, in fact, overrule roe versus wade? that s exactly right, savannah. i think the only thing that s really critical to understand is this all comes down to one vote at the high court and that s anthony kennedy s vote, right? the famous swing voter right in the middle of a very polarized 4-4 court. and while anthony kennedy in 1992 voted with the majority to preserve the core holding of roe vs. wade, certainly in 2007, in ray very, very controversial decision, regarding
this may have been two cute by senator feinstein. she is getting hit by her opponent for mangling this and believes she should have brought it up in july and gone to the chairman soy think we have a jump ball on which the politics of this go but the most important thing, of course, to be gracious and very careful and listening to the professor s allegations and very, very studious of the judge s rebuttal and then make up our minds. it is easy to get lost sort of in the big picture is here. the big picture is that the u.s. senate has a solemn obligation here. it s always a solemn obligation but we re looking at a nominee who could potentially change the face of the court, could change the face of the court for not just years but decades to come. it s also important to remember when we talk about the timing here the date of october 1st is important to republicans because that s when the supreme court s term starts and mitch mcconnell months ago opened the door to holding the vote lat
because we haven t had a major decision since the ideological shift on the law happening with abortion and justice o connor in the center and in the end an advocate for at least modest abortion rights retired. so now we have the test of a more conservative supreme court, the center vote being justice kennedy and whether it is that they will in essence the decision in roe versus wade undercut significantly. as pete once described it, this is a back door way to restrict abortion. it s advocated in medical terms but others hope it s almost impossible to have an abortion with them and a major challenge to the basic right. give us context about how the court shifted for those of us who don t follow the sbi ka sys of the supreme court. give us a history. when did that happen and where do we find ourselves in terms of