Justice Kennedy: The Gift of Goodbye

Supreme Justice Kennedy’s looming retirement sends conservatives and liberals, alike, in a frenzy. The Left’s collective lamentation regarding their now-threatened “civil rights” looms amid mainstream media. What the left laments as an oppressive loss of “civil rights,” the right celebrate a long-overdue return to Constitutional sovereignty. Indeed, the past eight years have been a devastating blow to the Constitution as the U.S. has witnessed, firsthand, the debilitating effects of liberalism in the SCOTUS. We’ve watched helplessly as the central government literally dictated matters of life and death in our country with utter disdain for the 10th Amendment . We have watched the central government distort the principles instilled in our Constitution and the majority, rightly, is beside itself with indignation. 

The laments in mainstream media about Kennedy’s retirement almost distract from what a major victory this is for our country if President Trump nominates a constitutional originalist. 

Of these outcries, notably the “right” to abortion guaranteed by Roe v. Wade appears the loudest. The similar fear-mongering tactics appear, yet again, plastered among headlines of news outlets. The same tired clichés live on: White Republican men decide reproductive rights for all women in the U.S., all abortions will soon be criminalized, Trump seeks to punish women, and “back alley” abortions will return.

The Left seems to play upon the ambiguity and misinformation surrounding  Roe v. Wade. It's true: the more ignorant citizens remain regarding the issue, they more easily they will feed into the collective outrage regarding Trump’s next SCOTUS member. The greatest misconception hovering amid the issue is that the Supreme Court will enact a wide-sweeping ban of abortion, nationwide. This couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Its content aside, I deem the chief injustice behind Roe v. Wade (and Obergefell v. Hodges, for that matter) its gross negligence of state jurisdiction. Upending Roe will likely transfer that power back to its rightful location, in state courts. This prospect should be thrilling, not infuriating! SCOTUS might also ban abortion in certain states without overturning Roe; this is another viable possibility. These bans and restrictions, nonetheless, will hinge on state legislation. 

So, fear not, Leftists: the effects of Roe v. Wade will not be entirely demolished (for better or worse). Rather, abortion may be reinstated where it should have remained, with the states. The past two years of Supreme Court rulings elicit a similar reaction to that of old yearbook photos in their cringe-worthiness. Roe is, without a doubt, the most glaring example. With Kennedy's retirement, this nation will soon beckon in a new era, hopefully one in which Constitutional reverence prevails. I, for one, am ecstatic to put SCOTUS’s centrist rulings in the past— preferably somewhere far, far away, only to be accessed for teaching purposes.