THREAD
1.This Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear one of the most important abortion cases ever. I decided to record this track to draw attention to the case, and in particular to ways to protect reproductive justice without relying on the courts. open.spotify.com/album/6GU0BNye…
1.This Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear one of the most important abortion cases ever. I decided to record this track to draw attention to the case, and in particular to ways to protect reproductive justice without relying on the courts. open.spotify.com/album/6GU0BNye…
2.The Louisiana abortion case is a mirror image of one the Supreme Court heard 4 years ago from Texas. The laws are virtually identical, and require doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.
3.The Supreme Court struck down the Texas law 5-4 as burdening a woman’s right to choose. But Justice Kennedy cast the deciding vote, and he is no longer on the Court, and has been replaced by Justice Kavanaugh.
4.By contrast, Chief Justice Roberts voted to uphold the Texas restrictions 4 years ago, but he has more recently suggested he might be amenable to changing his mind.
5. A federal judge heard much evidence about the Louisiana law, and concluded it would mean only 1 doctor in Louisiana would perform abortions after the law went into effect.
6. There are approximately 10,000 abortions performed in Louisiana each year.
7. How the Supreme Court rules in the Louisiana case will be a barometer for how much the Court wants to reconsider its abortion jurisprudence. But there’s another important point: those who want to protect choice have another option: Congress.
8. Congress undoubtedly has the power to pass a federal law to “pre-empt”—or sweep away—contrary state laws. The House could pass such a bill, and with a more moderate Senate, get a law passed.
9. Of course, that requires both the Senate and the President (who wields a veto) to change.
10. The recorded track (with an accompanying amazing tune by Matt Berninger of @TheNational) goes through all of this. I’ll also be talking about all this more on @msnbc this week, as the Court hears the case.
11. So as you think about 2020, remember that choice is very much on the ballot, not just for the Presidency, but Congress as well. END
