Reversing Roe Would Risk Supreme Court Legitimacy: Noah Feldman

If a conservative majority of the Supreme Court votes to overturn Roe v. Wade, it won’t only be a disaster for people who need abortions. It will be a watershed moment in the history of the court. A body that has gained public legitimacy in the post-World War II era by making Americans freer would suddenly be making them less so.

The court’s push to expand a range of freedoms, from religious liberty and free speech to reproductive and sexual rights, has been the one consistent theme for the entire lifetimes of all the sitting justices. Reversing Roe would end ...