Justice Sotomayor becomes political on abortion

The Supreme Court held a fascinating discussion on constitutional rights and when its own precedents should be overturned in the oral argument on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban on Wednesday (Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization). The media consensus is that a majority is willing to change their standard of review of abortion regulation by the states, although questions in oral arguments can never be for sure.

One judgment we can safely make is that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is furious as hell about this and was willing to violate the normal standards of decency of the court in order to take her point. She persuaded the Mississippi attorney from the start, but more noteworthy were her words, intended as a message to her fellow judges in case they overturned Roe against Wade and Planned Parenthood against Casey.