By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
I have often wondered what it felt like for pro-life activists the day the men of the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. To see abortion-on-demand legalized throughout the country must have been a profoundly painful feeling. But even those with much foresight could not have envisioned the aftermath of Roe: more than 58 million dead…countless numbers of women maimed and wounded…legions of men forced to grapple with the reality of lost fatherhood.
But I do know what it felt like on June 27, 2016, when the Supreme Court handed down Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt. I felt such an overwhelming sadness, knowing that the women of Texas would no longer have the safeguards that protected their health and safety when entering abortion centers. It was a stinging defeat, and I fear for our nation.
Then, I remembered something: Justice Stephen Breyer had written the decision. Breyer had been appointed by President Bill Clinton. And I, in a completely misinformed and misguided vote, had once cast my ballot for Clinton.
I understand that I am only one individual. But in that moment, I realized that a mistake I had made long ago had contributed, if only in a small way, to the disastrous court ruling.
I know I will never make that mistake again. I will never vote for a President who would appoint pro-abortion Justices to the Supreme Court. Because, although justice in America is supposed to be blind, it sees too often the talking points of the abortion industry and regurgitates them.
This Supreme Court decision is a wake-up call. The most important aspect of Election 2016 is the course it will set for the Supreme Court. A President who pledges to appoint pro-abortion Justices will expand Roe. And that would haunt us for generations to come.