Nothing drives the commentariat crazier than the prospect of losing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision abolishing all state bans on abortion.
If they see someone so much as looking at the ruling funny, they lose their composure entirely, succumbing to outlandish, feverish fantasies pulled from the wildest corners of their minds. They’ve certainly been doing that the past few weeks in response to rumors that President Trump may nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Roman Catholic, to succeed outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
[Also read: Poll finds 63 percent of Americans agree with Roe v. Wade]
One of the best (worst?) examples of this kind of pro-Roe scaremongering took place this week on MSNBC, when guest Dorothy Roberts argued that overturning the law would lead to the criminalization of miscarriages.
Because why not?
“It’s a very thin line between putting a woman in prison for a stillbirth or a miscarriage that she’s blamed for — for something she did during her pregnancy — and criminalizing abortions,” said the University of Pennsylvania professor of law and sociology.
She added, “So we’re already at that point, and I agree with Jennifer that women and others have to protest against this continued criminalization of women, harms to our health, and what I think is misogynistic laws against women.”
[Also read: Trump narrows field of possible Supreme Court nominees to three]
If you think this is all a bit over the top, consider that she’s not even close to being alone in her hand-wringing over what will happen if a conservative-majority court overturns Roe. She is joined by a great many in politics and media.
