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"The good news is that it opens the door to reversing Roe v. Wade," Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum, told The New York Times. "If the court can overturn a decision made 17 years ago, they can now overturn Roe." In fact, Justice Scalia made a similar case in his dissenting opinion, noting that the majority opinion credited public opposition to the Bowers decision as a reason to ignore stare decisis (the principle that courts stand by earlier rulings). In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey case, "when stare decisis meant preservation of judicially invented abortion rights, the widespread criticism of Roe was strong reason to reaffirm it," Scalia wrote. "Today, however, the widespread opposition to Bowers, a decision resolving an issue as intensely divisive as the issue in Roe, is offered as a reason in favor of overruling it."

But it's unlikely that Lawrence v. Texas will ever be used to overturn Roe. If anything, the decision's expansion of the right to privacy (the Court in Lawrence v. Hardwick called it the "liberty of the person both in its spatial and more transcendent dimensions") will make such an action even more difficult.

Others have suggested, however, that the decision could have implications in future cases involving government and religion. "Although this is not a church-state issue in the narrowest sense, it is a victory for the separation of church and state," Bernadette Brooten, professor of Christian studies at Brandeis University, told the Los Angeles Times. "The court has moved beyond a Christian shaping of laws concerning sexuality." (Brooten earlier wrote a book claiming that the early church performed same-sex marriages between women.)

Columnist Neil Steinberg made a similar argument in Friday's Chicago Sun-Times. "For the past 200 years, the miracle of democratic government has been slowly stuffing religion back into its box. Thursday's Supreme Court ruling on anti-sodomy laws is another step," he said. "I don't muse about God much, obviously. But when I do, I can't conceive of Him caring an awful lot about the various practices consenting adults do back in their bedrooms. Awful childhood diseases don't bother Him, apparently. No reaction on the Congo to date. Is he really steamed that Brad and Tim are frolicking? Not only don't I believe it, but I have a hard time believing that anybody believes it."

Evangelicals are likely to find such comments much sadder than the Supreme Court's majority opinion.

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Other comments from Christian leaders include:

"This is probably as bad a day as the court has had on social issues since Roe v. Wade. … [The Court put]Court put the right of privacy ahead of respect for community standards of morality which have prevailed for many years." — Jerry Falwell, quoted in The New York Times.

"Today's decision has awakened a sleeping giant, and will galvanize and reinvigorate the majority of Americans who believe in traditional marriage but have ignored the radical agenda of the same-sex marriage movement." —Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, quoted in The Washington Post.

"The White House should take note of the fact that four of the six justices making this decision were appointed by Republican presidents. A conservative, pro-family president must be extremely careful to make sure that any appointments he makes will defend traditional values." — Gary Bauer, president of American Values, quoted in USA Today.

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June (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47