{"id":1072991,"date":"2021-12-01T14:29:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T19:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1072991"},"modified":"2021-12-01T14:29:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T19:29:59","slug":"clarence-thomas-what-specific-right-is-in-the-constitution-that-allows-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/clarence-thomas-what-specific-right-is-in-the-constitution-that-allows-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarence Thomas: What \u2018Specific\u2019 Right Is In The Constitution That Allows Abortion?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fclarence-thomas-what-specific-right-is-in-the-constitution-that-allows-abortion%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1072991&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"p1\">In Wednesday\u2019s oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States on the monumental <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/why-the-mississippi-abortion-case-is-such-a-big-deal\">Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/a>,&nbsp;Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, asking if she could point to what specific right Roe v. Wade protects in the Constitution, comparing the request to the \u201cright to bear arms\u201d found in the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2021\/12\/01\/clarence_thomas_what_specifically_is_the_right_to_abortion_in_the_constitution.html\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>, Justice Thomas asked, \u201cWould you specifically tell me, specifically state, what the right is? Is it specifically abortion? Is it liberty? Is it autonomy? Is it privacy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe right is grounded in the liberty component of the 14th Amendment, Justice Thomas,\u201d Prelogar stated. \u201cBut I think it promotes interests in autonomy, bodily integrity, liberty, and equality. I think it is specifically the right to abortion here, the right of a woman to be able to control without the state forcing her to continue a pregnancy whether to carry that baby to term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI understand we are talking about abortion here,\u201d Thomas rebutted. \u201cBut what is confusing is that we \u2014 if we were talking about the Second Amendment, I know exactly what we are talking about. If we\u2019re talking about the Fourth Amendment, I know what we\u2019re talking about because it\u2019s written. It is there. What specifically is the right here that we are talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWell, Justice Thomas, I think that the court in those other contexts, with respect to those other amendments, has had to articulate what the text means and the bounds of the Constitutional guarantees,\u201d Prelogar tried to explain. \u201cAnd it has done so through a variety of different tests that implement First Amendment rights, Second Amendment rights, and Fourth Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI don\u2019t think there is anything unprecedented or anomalous about the right that the court articulated in Roe and Casey, and the way it implemented that right by defining the scope of the liberty interest by reference to viability and providing that\u2019s the moment when the balance of interest tips and when the state can act to prohibit a woman from getting an abortion, based on its interest in protecting fetal life,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cSo the right, specifically, is abortion?\u201d Thomas responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe right of a woman, prior to viability, to control whether to continue with a pregnancy, yes,\u201d Prelogar answered ending the questioning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Of course, pro-abortion advocates have long argued that Roe protects the right to privacy, which supposedly includes the ability to have an abortion. So, the heart of the matter is that Thomas is trying to understand what specific right is the government supposedly protecting in keeping abortion past 15-weeks legal, which is the Mississippi law that Jackson is challenging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Post Millennial <a href=\"https:\/\/thepostmillennial.com\/justice-thomas-wants-to-know-on-what-the-right-to-abortion-is-constitutionally-based?utm_campaign=64474\">surmised that<\/a>&nbsp;was the reason this line of questioning was asked by Justice Thomas several times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Thomas pointed out possible confusion earlier in the arguments when asked attorneys argue on behalf of Jackson: \u201cIf I know your interest here is in abortion. I understand that. But if I were to ask you what constitutional right protects the right to abortion? Is it privacy, is it autonomy? What would it be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIt\u2019s liberty, your Honor. It\u2019s the textual protection in the 14th Amendment that a state can\u2019t deprive a person of liberty without due process of law, and the Court has interpreted liberty to include the right to make family decisions and the right to physical autonomy including the right to end a pre-viability pregnancy,\u201d&nbsp; the attorneys responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cSo it\u2019s all of the above,\u201d Thomas continued. \u201cBut what I\u2019m trying to focus on, is if we, to lower the level of generality, or at least be a little bit more specific. In the old days, we used to say it was a right to privacy that the court found in the due process, substantive due process clause. Okay. Or in substantive due process, and I\u2019m trying to get you to tell me what are we relying on now? Is it privacy? Is it autonomy? What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI think it continues to be liberty,\u201d the attorneys responded, \u201cand the right exists whatever level of generality the court applies. There was a tradition under the common law for centuries of women being able to end their pregnancies. But in addition, when it comes to decisions related to family, marriage and childbearing, the court has done the analysis at a higher level of generality. And that makes sense, because otherwise the Constitution would reinforce the historical discrimination against women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Legal observers who heard the arguments in full \u2014 including CNN\u2019s Jeffrey Toobin \u2014 asserted the arguments overall for the pro-abortion were \u2014 to put it lightly \u2014 a complete failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIf you believe that women should have the right [to] choose abortion, today\u2019s Supreme Court argument was a wall-to-wall disaster,\u201d Toobin tweeted.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">If you believe that women should have the right choose abortion, today\u2019s Supreme Court argument was a wall-to-wall disaster.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffreyToobin\/status\/1466089180392562688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Wednesday\u2019s oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States on the monumental Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization,\u00a0Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, asking if she could point to what specific right Roe v. Wade protects in the Constitution, comparing the request to the \u201cright to bear arms\u201d found in the Second Amendment.According to RealClearPolitics, Justice Thomas asked, \u201cWould you specifically tell me, specifically state, what the right is? Is it specifically abortion? Is it liberty? Is it autonomy? Is it privacy?\u201d\u201cThe right is grounded in the liberty component of the 14th Amendment, Justice Thomas,\u201d Prelogar stated. \u201cBut I think it promotes interests in autonomy, bodily integrity, liberty, and equality. I think it is specifically the right to abortion here, the right of a woman to be able to control without the state forcing her to continue a pregnancy whether to carry that baby to term.\u201d\u201cI understand we are talking about abortion here,\u201d Thomas rebutted. \u201cBut what is confusing is that we \u2014 if we were talking about the Second Amendment, I know exactly what we are talking about. If we\u2019re talking about the Fourth Amendment, I know what we\u2019re talking about because it\u2019s written. It is there. What specifically is the right here that we are talking about?\u201d\u201cWell, Justice Thomas, I think that the court in those other contexts, with respect to those other amendments, has had to articulate what the text means and the bounds of the Constitutional guarantees,\u201d Prelogar tried to explain. \u201cAnd it has done so through a variety of different tests that implement First Amendment rights, Second Amendment rights, and Fourth Amendment rights.\u201d\u201cI don\u2019t think there is anything unprecedented or anomalous about the right that the court articulated in Roe and Casey, and the way it implemented that right by defining the scope of the liberty interest by reference to viability and providing that\u2019s the moment when the balance of interest tips and when the state can act to prohibit a woman from getting an abortion, based on its interest in protecting fetal life,\u201d she added.\u201cSo the right, specifically, is abortion?\u201d Thomas responded.\u201cThe right of a woman, prior to viability, to control whether to continue with a pregnancy, yes,\u201d Prelogar answered ending the questioning.Of course, pro-abortion advocates have long argued that Roe protects the right to privacy, which supposedly includes the ability to have an abortion. So, the heart of the matter is that Thomas is trying to understand what specific right is the government supposedly protecting in keeping abortion past 15-weeks legal, which is the Mississippi law that Jackson is challenging.The Post Millennial surmised that\u00a0was the reason this line of questioning was asked by Justice Thomas several times.Thomas pointed out possible confusion earlier in the arguments when asked attorneys argue on behalf of Jackson: \u201cIf I know your interest here is in abortion. I understand that. But if I were to ask you what constitutional right protects the right to abortion? Is it privacy, is it autonomy? What would it be?\u201d\u201cIt\u2019s liberty, your Honor. It\u2019s the textual protection in the 14th Amendment that a state can\u2019t deprive a person of liberty without due process of law, and the Court has interpreted liberty to include the right to make family decisions and the right to physical autonomy including the right to end a pre-viability pregnancy,\u201d\u00a0 the attorneys responded.\u201cSo it\u2019s all of the above,\u201d Thomas continued. \u201cBut what I\u2019m trying to focus on, is if we, to lower the level of generality, or at least be a little bit more specific. In the old days, we used to say it was a right to privacy that the court found in the due process, substantive due process clause. Okay. Or in substantive due process, and I\u2019m trying to get you to tell me what are we relying on now? Is it privacy? Is it autonomy? What is it?\u201d\u201cI think it continues to be liberty,\u201d the attorneys responded, \u201cand the right exists whatever level of generality the court applies. There was a tradition under the common law for centuries of women being able to end their pregnancies. But in addition, when it comes to decisions related to family, marriage and childbearing, the court has done the analysis at a higher level of generality. And that makes sense, because otherwise the Constitution would reinforce the historical discrimination against women.\u201dLegal observers who heard the arguments in full \u2014 including CNN\u2019s Jeffrey Toobin \u2014 asserted the arguments overall for the pro-abortion were \u2014 to put it lightly \u2014 a complete failure.\u201cIf you believe that women should have the right [to] choose abortion, today\u2019s Supreme Court argument was a wall-to-wall disaster,\u201d Toobin tweeted.If you believe that women should have the right choose abortion, today\u2019s Supreme Court argument was a wall-to-wall disaster.\u2014 Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) December 1, 2021The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1072991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1072991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1072991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1072991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1072991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}