Morgan Harper: Radicalized Supreme Court’s abortion rules reason to expand the court
Millions of women have been fearing this day for nearly 50 years: an ultra-conservative Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, the legal cornerstone of reproductive rights in this country.
Just weeks after the Court allowed Texas to ban nearly all abortions, it has now taken up a case that was specifically designed by Republicans in Mississippi to reverse Roe.
I’m running for the U.S. Senate as an unapologetically pro-choice Democrat — and I’m the only major candidate in this race who has never wavered in my support for the right to choose.
My Democratic opponent had a 15-year anti-choice record until evolving his position in recent years, and my Republican opponents seem to be competing over who can be the most extreme. J.D. Vance even suggested that Ohio should copy the Texas law, which not only bans nearly all abortions but also encourages citizens to spy on each other and report their neighbors’ abortions for cash prizes.
In fact, with Roe v. Wade’s demise looming, Republican lawmakers across the country have been champing at the bit to enact new restrictions on reproductive rights.
Here in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation shortly after he took office that would ban abortions before many women even know they’re pregnant. A federal judge blocked it from going into effect, but without the protection of Roe, it could be enforced.
More:Columbus files brief with Supreme Court for 29 cities and counties opposing Mississippi abortion law
While distressing, it’s no surprise that we’re here. After all, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has made it his life’s work to build a right-wing Court that would overturn Roe.
How we got here, of course, includes McConnell’s blocking President Barack Obama from filling a seat for nine months and then helping President Donald Trump ram three right-wing extremists onto the Court, including one only nine days before Election Day.
McConnell and Trump’s radicalization of the Supreme Court undermines its very legitimacy and now threatens the rights of all Americans. Democrats should not hesitate to do everything in their constitutional power to rebalance the Court — through expanding its size.
The Constitution does not dictate a specific size of the Supreme Court, and leaves that authority to Congress. In fact, Congress has changed the size of the Court on seven separate occasions. An expanded court would allow President Biden to appoint additional justices who will protect our constitutional rights.
So far, I am the only candidate running for Senate in Ohio who has called for expanding the Supreme Court, but I hope I will not be the last. I invite my Democratic opponent, Congressman Tim Ryan, to join me.
He evolved on his position to legalize abortion, and I hope he will also evolve on his position to expand the Court.
To be clear, there are other steps we must also take to protect reproductive freedom under the law. I have also called for eliminating the filibuster and codifying Roe v. Wade into law via the Women’s Health Protection Act.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the court’s decision on the Texas law “stunning.”
She summarized her dissent by saying, “The Court should not be so content to ignore its constitutional obligations to protect not only the rights of women, but also the sanctity of its precedents and of the rule of law.”
A Supreme Court that has become so radicalized and out of step with the American public must be reformed. Expand the Court.
Note from Opinion Editor Amelia Robinson: This is a submitted column from or about a candidate running for election. Its publication does not constitute the Dispatch Editorial Board's endorsement of the views expressed.
Morgan Harper, a consumer protection attorney and community organizer, is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Ohio.
What do you think?
Is Morgan Harper correct. Should the Supreme Court be expanded to protect abortion rights or for any other reason? Let us know in a letter to the editor of 200 words or less emailed to Letters@Dispatch.com.
