Letters

The 14th Amendment guarantees that government shall not deprive any person of “life, liberty or property” without due process.

The Supreme Court has long cited the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to prevent the government from interfering in intimate relationships, including the right to interracial marriage, abortion, contraception and same-sex marriage.

Now, for the first time in its history, the Supreme Court is poised to strip Americans of a fundamental right that has been supported by both Republican and Democratic justices for over 50 years.

The justices signing on to this opinion lied under oath at their Senate confirmation hearings, promising to uphold the court’s principle of stare decisis to maintain social stability. These same justices were handpicked by the ultraconservative Federalist Society and then nominated by two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, both of whom lost the popular vote.

In other words, we have a minority court, appointed by minority presidents, and pushed through by Republican senators representing a minority of the population. Polls show that a majority of Americans support Roe.

Because these Justices argue that the Constitution does not specifically mention privacy rights, Americans may next find themselves stripped of other settled rights — such as the right to contraception and the right to marry whom they love.

This ruling will not stop abortions. It will only stop safe, affordable and accessible abortions. Forced births will turn women into second-class citizens, compromising their physical and mental health, education, careers, and ability to provide for their children. There will be no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

And Republicans refuse assistance to women once their babies are born. They have consistently voted against child tax subsidies, free child care, affordable health insurance and other safety nets to protect children once born.

This is not pro-life or pro-family. This is merely pro-birth.

This patently partisan and compromised Supreme Court can also guarantee that Republicans stay in power despite majority will. The court likely will be called upon to rule on the validity of voter suppression laws, politically gerrymandered voting districts, and other attempts to subvert free and fair elections. They might even be called upon to determine who wins the next presidential election.

While Democrats have been working tirelessly to conserve democracy, civil rights and the rule of law against endless onslaughts by Republicans, the GOP has turned to anti-democratic activism to suppress personal freedoms, legislate morality and remake America in its own image — a white, Christian, male-dominated society where women and people of color are second-class citizens.

If this is not your vision of what America should be, we urge you to get off the sidelines and help elect Democrats.

Gordon Herr

Chair

Andrea Klausner

Vice Chair

Executive Board

Southampton Town Democratic Committee