If Roe Falls, Is Same-Sex Marriage Next?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The leaked draft opinion that would eliminate the constitutional right to abortion sent mixed signals about what other precedents might be at risk.

Celebrations outside the Supreme Court in 2015 after it ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. Supporters of gay rights worry the final opinion in the Mississippi case could imperil hard-won victories, like same-sex marriage. | Doug Mills/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — When the Supreme Court heard arguments in December over the fate of the constitutional right to abortion, it was already clear that other rights, notably including same-sex marriage, could be at risk if the court overruled Roe v. Wade.

The logic of that legal earthquake, Justice Sonia Sotomayor predicted, would produce a jurisprudential tsunami that could sweep away other precedents, too.

The justices’ questions on the broader consequences of a decision eliminating the right to abortion were probing but abstract and conditional.The disclosure last Monday of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, has made those questions urgent and concrete.

The opinion, by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., provided conflicting signals about its sweep and consequences. On the one hand, he asserted, in a sort of disclaimer that struck a defensive tone, that other rights would remain secure.

“To ensure that our decision is not misunderstood or mischaracterized, we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” he wrote. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”

On the other hand, the logic of the opinion left plenty of room for debate. » | Adam Liptak | Sunday, May 8, 2022