7/3/2018

ABORTION/LGBTQ/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In the week since Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, the future of Roe v. Wade has dominated the conversation among both liberals and conservatives, becoming a flash point in the partisan battle over President Trump’s pick to fill the seat. The effect Justice Kennedy’s retirement could have on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights has received less attention. The prospect of a more conservative justice, though, has L.G.B.T. rights groups worried about legal challenges from conservative groups that oppose gay marriage, who may see an opportunity to challenge rulings that have established its legality. L.G.B.T. groups have made great advances in recent years thanks largely to a string of Supreme Court decisions written by Justice Kennedy, including cases that legalized gay sex and established a right to same-sex marriage…Opposition to Roe v. Wade has been a driving force in American conservatism for decades. But Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage, is a newer setback for religious conservatives. Many activists said they would welcome the chance to challenge the ruling, but they said it could take years for a case to reach the Supreme Court.”

-Liam Stack and Elizabeth Dias, “Why the Supreme Court Opening Could Affect Gay Marriage as Much as Abortion,” The New York Times online, July 3, 2018