Poll: Americans want Roe V. Wade upheld

[sonicx]

WASHINGTON - A majority of Americans say President Bush's next choice for an opening on the Supreme Court should be willing to uphold the landmark court decision protecting abortion rights, an Associated Press poll found.

The poll found that 59 percent say Bush should choose a nominee who would uphold the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. About three in 10, 31 percent, said they want a nominee who would overturn the decision, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

"While I don't have a strong feeling about abortions personally, I wouldn't want the law overturned and return to the days of backdoor abortions," said Colleen Dunn, 40, a Republican and community college teacher who lives outside Philadelphia.

The preference for Supreme Court nominees who would uphold Roe v. Wade could be found among both men and women, most age groups, most income groups and people living in urban, suburban and rural areas. Fewer than half of Republicans, evangelicals and those over 65 said they favored a nominee who would uphold the abortion ruling.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/10290958.htm

[Hobarticus]

1. Shouldn't surprise anyone...

Most Americans mind their own damn business.

But, this could be the "rope" that the GOP hangs themself with.

[Donna Zen]

2. 59% is not that reassuring.

If they want to overturn R v W, a whirl of propaganda from a PR team could move that number. Especially if they combined forces with Gallup.

It is against the law for the government to use tax money to propagandize the people, but that is exactly what they did to see the war.

[gumby]

3. "Who cares what you think" is

Bush's motto and he and his cronies really could care less.

Criminalized abortion is just another avenue of control and that, along with stealing everything, is what these freaks are all about.

[Zynx]

4. I know many pro-lifers who don't want Roe overturned.

They think it would create a mess and they're right.

[Mz Pip]

5. thing is

nobody is paying enough attention. People may not want Roe overturned but it might very well happen because not enough people bothered to seriously consider what Bush would do when it came time to nominate judges.

Aside from us political junkies I would put money on it that most people don't even understand that president gets to choose SCOTUS justices and that they have the power to overturn Roe. Seriously, most people just aren't that plugged in.

MzPip
:dem:

[lenidog]

6. I have a question

This is a serious question and since I can't post my own thread I am going to borrow yours. (Sorry) When banning abortions was declared unconstitutional, what part of the Constitution did they use as precedent to make that decision?

[HawkerHurricane]

8. Roe in a nutshell

"Roe alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant; that she wished to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion "performed by a competent, licensed physician, under safe clinical conditions"; that she was unable to get a "legal" abortion in Texas because her life did not appear to be threatened by the continuation of her pregnancy; and that she could not afford to travel to another jurisdiction in order to secure a legal abortion under safe conditions. She claimed that the Texas statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. By an amendment to her complaint Roe purported to sue "on behalf of herself and all other women" similarly situated.

http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/roeins.htm

[Donna Zen]

10. Fourth Amendment

I could be wrong...it has been a while since I read "Closed Chambers" but Roe is about "personal privacy." Once overturned and the state can make laws ordering abortions and sterilization.

[almostallhere]

13. 5th Amendment - substantive due process

Roe held that banning abortions was a violation of the 5th amendment's command that people cannot be "deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law."

substantive due process refers to the idea that the guarantee of due process means not just that the procedures followed by the govt. in taking away someone's life/liberty/property will be fair, but also that some rights are so fundamental that there is no "process" by which it is acceptable to take them away.

Roe decided that abortion was one of those fundamental rights.

[atre]

15. Well, the due process clause that counts is in the 14th

because the Fifth restricts only the federal government; the Fourteenth applies to the states... Regardless, to say that "privacy rights" come from the Due Process Clause is a bit tenuous. Read Griswold v. Connecticut, the first case to find privacy rights in marital family planning. The rights come from "penumbras of emanations" of nearly all of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.

[lenidog]

14. Thanks

thanks for the answers. I appreciate it.

[Doctor_J]

7. they'll never overturn roe v. wade

that would take it off the table as an election issue. repugs are much more interested in creating an imaginary world that "might be" than actually getting things done. We've had an ultra-right wing congress and scotus for 10 years, and an ultra-rw wh for four years now, and all they've done is talk about the FMA, R v W, and other such social issues. they'll never actually move on any of them.

[sonicx]

9. actually, the SC vote for pro vs anti choice is...

5 solid pros vs 3 solid antis (thomas, scalia, and rein)

the other one (i can't remember which) leans pro, but almost went anti at one point.

[atre]

16. Bingo

The partial birth abortion bill was designed to be unconstitutional; the Court striking it down made it an election issue.

If you genuinely cared about the issue, why would you not insert a simple clause that the Supreme Court has said is necessary for such a statute to pass constitutional muster?

[LimpingLib]

11. Roe V Wade always was a political issue based on public opinion.

Had little to do with constitutional law.

So polls are very telling.

(I think Kennedys reason for casting the deciding vote in 1992 was the Americans were used to it so it was thus "constitutional" and shouldnt be overturned)

I think Roe V Wade is the biggest constitutional red herring Ive ever seen btw.Just got the wealthy men and young hippies to shut up about constitutional freedoms so long as the one (out of 1000) that happened to involve their sex lives was protected.

30 years and 1000 more civil rights flushed down the toilet later.....

[robbedvoter]

12. Curses! The Vichy Democrats were just throwing it overboard.

Must change poll! Must show the conquerors we collaborate good....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1397642&mesg_id=1397642