ROE VS. WADE AMONG WORST COURT DECISIONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, RANKING WITH DRED SCOTT

This week marks the 27th anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade decision that overnight pretty much legalized abortion on demand in the United States. Since then, more than 35 million unborn babies have been done to death under color of law in this country.

We say this decision is bad law for several reasons. It may startle some to know that the fact that Roe is bad constitutional law is acknowledged even by most scholars who favor abortion rights. At the time the case was decided, many states were already moving toward liberalized abortion laws, though most states still had restrictive statutes on the books. Overnight, the Supreme Court discovered an unfettered right to abortion never previously recognized through two centuries of American jurisprudence.

In doing so, the court engaged in one of the worst cases of judicial overreaching of the 20th century. The place for such divisive issues to be addressed isn't the courts, but rather through our elected representatives at both the state and federal levels. These officials are used to brokering rough but imperfect compromises with competing interests on difficult issues in a manner that reflects popular will. But Roe usurped the legislative power, guaranteeing decades of bitter conflict.

By denying the unborn any legal status, Roe remains to many Americans the modern equivalent of the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which denied to blacks the rights enjoyed by white Americans. It is a decision that will live in infamy.