In a move that goes against public opinion, six out of nine U.S. Supreme Court justices have agreed to an opinion that overturns Roe v. Wade. One of those justices – Clarence Thomas – thinks that the court should also reconsider the case that allowed same-sex couples in the U.S. to marry, as well as others.
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” he said in the opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health announced Friday. Obergefell is the case that establishes same-sex marriage rights, Griswold protects marital couples’ right to privacy regarding contraception and Lawrence holds that criminalizing private sexual acts violates the Due Process Clause.
“Today the Supreme Court overturned 50 years of precedent around abortion rights, directly impacting all people – including LGBTQ+ folks,” the Human Rights Campaign said Friday. “Justice Thomas also had some alarming things to say about Obergefell v. Hodges and Lawrence v. Texas but he only spoke for himself.”
That opinion is Thomas’ alone and included in his concurring opinion explaining that he agreed with the majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito for differing reasons. Chief Justice John Roberts also filed a concurring opinion.
“The opinion is not a binding precedent, unlike the majority opinion,” Business Insider explained regarding Thomas’ concurring opinion on Dobbs. However, Alito and Thomas have joined together in the past to criticize the 2015 Obergefell decision, according to CBS News.
Apart from Thomas and Roberts, justices who agreed with Alito’s Dobbs opinion Friday were Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Neil Gorsuch. All three were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
“Thomas is the only justice who has called on the court to reconsider other precedents,” Axios also reported. “It is unclear what immediate effect his concurring opinion will have.”
In recent months, Thomas has faced criticism as information about his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, and her connection to Trump’s unfounded claims regarding election fraud and potential connection to the deadly Capitol riots have come to light. In April, a poll found that 52% of Americans believe Thomas should recuse himself from any cases related to the 2020 election, which Trump lost to current President Joe Biden.
Pro-choice has reached near-record highs in the U.S. even as the nation’s highest court overturned landmark protections on abortion, according to a Gallup poll from earlier this month. Similarly, polls from this year have found most people in the U.S. support free, widely available birth control and that support for same-sex marriage reached a new high.
“This new vision of the Constitution will embolden state legislators to make trouble – but today, it has no immediate legal effects on the right to same-sex marriage or same-sex intimacy,” the Human Rights Campaign said Friday. “Our fight right now is centered on ensuring people still have access to the abortion and reproductive services they need, but make no mistake: We will not back down from defending the progress we have made and keeping the fight for full LGBTQ+ equality going.”
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