The Forgotten Issue

In The Nation's October 9, 2000, special report on the Supreme Court, Tom Wicker wrote, "No issue is more vital...repeat, no issue is more important than the makeup of the next Supreme Court." Today the war in Iraq and terrorism fears blot out the political sky. But the future makeup of the Supreme Court should remain a top priority for progressives.

You wouldn't know this, though, from the scanty press coverage, the Court's absence from political ads, the silence of the candidates. Kerry and Edwards are understandably training their fire on domestic matters like job losses, corporate corruption, budget deficits, Social Security, neglect of Iraq war vets, economic inequality, public education, shrinking healthcare coverage, an inadequate minimum wage. But a reactionary Supreme Court could negate a legislative solution to any of those problems.

The Bush Administration has kept relatively quiet about its most cherished objective--overruling Roe v. Wade. It's no wonder, given that a majority of Republican voters, according to a May poll, don't want Roe overturned--and neither do those coveted middle-of-the-road swing voters. Yet the President faces intense pressure to deliver the goods to his evangelical base, which dreams of a Roe reversal. It's clear why Bush is dancing around the issue--but what about Kerry? He says he's committed to appointing a Court that will protect women's abortion rights, but he's also said he would not rule out nominating lower-level judges who are antichoice, and he hasn't made abortion rights a central issue of his campaign (see Katha Pollitt, page 12).

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