by Eli Hovland

Created on: March 09, 2010   Last Updated: March 11, 2010

I remember standing on the sidewalk of King Avenue and 24th about a year ago protesting with some fellow pro-lifers and thinking “hmm…this is pointless.” Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in a child’s right to life, but I came to the realization that there is no use in protesting something that can’t be changed very easily by the voters. I think that’s why I have such a problem with abortion.

It’s not an issue that we can tackle as a people because the Supreme Court ruled that the implied right to privacy in the constitution protected a woman who wanted an abortion from the law.

Let’s take a look at what would need to happen to overturn Roe v. Wade. The most time-consuming method would be to amend the constitution. That doesn’t happen often and let’s face it, the country is very evenly divided about abortion.

I don’t think either side is willing to compromise so there is no way that anyone would be able to amass enough votes to effect this kind of change (either adding a right to life or a right to privacy that specifically mentions abortion). The other option, however, is possible.

In fact, I’d be willing to say that it will happen. The Supreme Court can reverse its decision. Currently, there are four justices that would overturn Roe v. Wade - Roberts, Thomas, Scalia and Alito. There are plenty of abortion cases that get appealed to the Supreme Court so getting a case won’t be an issue. All that is needed is one more conservative vote on the court.

Alito, Thomas, Scalia, and Roberts are all fairly young and will be on the court for some time. The next justices that will need to be replaced will be the remaining 5 votes.

If a Republican president is in office when it comes time for one of those liberal votes to be replaced, Roe v. Wade will be overturned and abortion will once again been an issue for the states.

The real question as far as Roe v. Wade is concerned shouldn’t be “Should abortion be legal?” Instead, it should be “Should the citizens have a say in abortion?” This really isn’t an issue of pro-life and pro-choice.

It’s an issue of Democracy, and deciding exactly what rights a person has that protect that individual from the will of the masses. Moreover, it’s a question of what rights our constitution actually gave us.

So what rights did the constitution give the people? I’m not going to go into a lengthy discussion

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