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By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett reveals in a forthcoming book why she voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in a landmark 2022 ruling that gutted the constitutional right to abortion.
Barrett, who was President Donald Trump's third Supreme Court appointee, writes that the "moral debate" over abortion sets it apart from other protections, like the "rights to marry," that have more widespread public support, according to a copy of the book reviewed by CNN.
The justice's comments in Listening to the Law come as the Supreme Court has been asked to decide this fall whether to overturn its 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.
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Why It Matters
Abortion and reproductive health care remain one of the most contentious issues across the political landscape. In a June survey, the Pew Research Center noted that while public opinion had fluctuated over the last two decades of polling, it has stabilized in recent years.
According to Pew, 63 percent of U.S. adults believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 36 percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases. That gap is wider based on party affiliation; 85 percent of Democrats or those who lean Democratic say abortion should be legal in almost all cases, while 41 percent of Republicans or Republican-leaning adults feel the same.
What To Know
Barrett writes in her upcoming memoir that the "complicated moral debate" about abortion sets it apart from other rights that have broad public support and are considered traditionally fundamental. Those rights, Barrett said, include "the rights to marry, have sex, procreate, use contraception," according to CNN.
Newsweek has not independently reviewed a copy of the memoir.
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Barrett was one of six conservative justices who voted to overturn the federal right to an abortion in the landmark 2022 ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The court's three liberals dissented.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, described Roe v. Wade as "an exercise of raw judicial power." Barrett, who joined her conservative colleague in the opinion, cites from it in her forthcoming book, according to CNN.
She also dismissed the dissent from the court's three liberal justices, who cited the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as saying that Roe v. Wade ensured the "liberty and equality of women" and meant "government could not control a woman's body or the course of a woman's life."
What People Are Saying
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett writes in her book, according to CNN: "[T]he Court's role is to respect the choices that the people have agreed upon, not to tell them what they should agree to."
The Supreme Court's three liberals wrote in their 2022 dissent: "Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens."
They went on to accuse the conservative majority of betraying precedent, writing of the ruling: "It says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of."
What Happens Next
Barrett's memoir will be released to the public on September 9.
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