During a recent speech, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito – who penned the unpopular Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade abortion protections – taunted world leaders who also disagreed with the ruling.
Poll after poll has shown that the American public does not support overturning the landmark 1970s ruling that protected abortion rights. Most recently, CNN poll results released this week showed that two thirds of the country disapproved of the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs, with most seeing it as an omen of negative changes in the country, especially for women.
Since the Dobbs opinion was delivered last month, American confidence in public institutions hit a historic low. It has also garnered criticism from outside the U.S.
“Restricting access to abortion does not prevent people from seeking abortion; it only makes it more deadly,” said United Nations Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
“It is a huge blow to women’s human rights and gender equality,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
According to CBS News, leaders from Scotland, Spain, Norway, Belgium, Canada, France and the U.K. also criticized Alito’s opinion.
“The news coming out of the United States is horrific,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Abortion is a fundamental right for all women,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “It must be protected.”
While British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “this is not our court,” he added that he thought the opinion was “a big step backwards,” that could impact other countries.
Alito, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said in the opinion that the court “cannot allow its decisions to be affected by such extraneous concerns,” as public opinion.
“I had the honor this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders, who felt perfectly fine commenting on American Law,” Alito said during his recent speech.
In particular, Alito bashed Johnson, who resigned from office following multiple scandals.
“He paid the price,” Alito joked, and the audience gathered for the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome laughed. However, he also noted that Macron and Trudeau are still in office.
“What really wounded me, what really wounded me, was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to comapare the decision whose name may not be spoken with the Russian attack on Ukraine,” Alito continued, referring to Prince Harry, who moved with his wife from the U.K. to the U.S. in recent years.
“I’m not gonna talk about cases from other countries,” said Alito after mentioning the world leaders. “All I’m gonna say is that, if we are going to win the battle to protect religious freedom in an increasingly secular society we will need more than positive law.”
In the wake of the Dobbs decision in the U.S., there has been at least one disturbing case impacted by new state-by-state laws concerning abortion. An Ohio 10-year-old who was raped had to travel to Indiana to get an abortion, even though medical research shows that “childbirth is especially dangerous for adolescents and their infants,” in women younger than 20.
Alito’s Dobbs opinion was backed by three conservative justices appointed by single term former President Donald Trump, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, another George W. Bush appointee, and Justice Clarence Thomas, a George H.W. Bush appointee whose wife, Ginni Thomas, has been linked to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. As of Friday, a petition to remove Thomas from the court had more than 1.2 million signatures.
Related
Related
