Advocates and legal experts fear that other rights that are not enshrined in constitutional law, such as gay marriage and access to contraceptives, could be at risk. They base their argument on a draft of a Supreme Court opinion that aims to reverse the groundbreaking Roe vs. Wade ruling.
The ruling guarantees Americans will have access to abortion treatment. This reversal of the guarantee now threatens the rights of millions of US citizens. The legal draft has argued that the right to access abortion treatment was not substantive due process liberty as guaranteed by the 4th Amendment.
A substantive due process asks whether the government’s deprivation of a person’s life, liberty, or property is justified by a sufficient purpose. it restraints what the government has the power to do, such as restricting freedom of speech, religion, or freedom of the press.
The past rulings by various courts have termed access to contraceptives, interracial marriage, and gay marriage substantive due process liberty as well.
Justice Alito’s Radical Opinion On Abortion Is A Threat To Gay Marriage
Conservative commentators indicated that Justice Alito has drawn a roadmap indicating future efforts to abolish other liberties, such as gay marriage, that have been earlier guaranteed by the highest court. Legal scholars believe that there remains a willingness of legislatures and courts to eliminate such rights.
The fact remains that citizens have banked on the gay marriage decision to invest in and plan their relationships and lives, and any chance of overturning it has many worried.
Josie Russell, an LGBT rights activist, said that gay marriage is at stake. She said that groups not belonging to a certain political party or ideology are fair game at this point.
She said that every member of the LGBTQ community has a reason to be worried, especially in matters of gay marriage, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe Vs. Wade.
