The Supreme Court Just Crossed a Dark Line

Illinois State Representative Terra Costa-Howard (center, pointing) prepares abortion rights protesters at the DuPage County Courthouse to march on to the County Fairgrounds early voting site to vote in the Illinois Primary on the evening the Supreme Court announced its decision overturning abortion rights under Roe v Wade on June 24, 2022. (Photo by the author)

We have all been waiting, because we all saw it coming. The Supreme Court announced its decision overturning federal protection of abortion rights under Roe v Wade on Friday afternoon, June 24, 2022.

At stake is a woman’s bodily autonomy. At stake is the liberty for every woman of child-bearing ability to determine the course of her own life and, possibly, her own health. Our Supreme Court has thus restricted each woman of child-bearing ability to choose the course of her own life.

It seems only fair to agree that a fetus is a part of a woman’s body, at least while its vital organs cannot function in order for it to survive on the outside.

If the “Judeo” side of the hyphen means anything within the notion of so-called “Judeo-Christian” tradition, then a fetus is not even considered human life in the Bible — not if Christians still believe that Exodus is the word of God. This is supported by the arguments of the Talmudic Sages, its commentaries by the likes of Moses Maimonides, and all the way up through generations of rabbinic responsa. For example, it is prohibited within rabbinic law (halacha) to mourn, sit shiva or recite the Mourners Kaddish for a miscarriage.

Constitutionally, a criminal ban on abortion is an arguable violation of the first amendment protection from “prohibiting the free…