Justice Kennedy’s Resignation sets off Firestorm Left and Right

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the bench, it caused a firestorm of protest from the left and celebration on the right.

One of the first fears voiced by Democrats and progressives is that President Trump will nominate a conservative justice that may bring about an effort to overturn Roe v Wade, the decision that established the constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion.

President and CEO of the Montana Family Foundation, Jeff Lazloffy, said Kennedy’s retirement is the foothold that conservatives need to begin that process.

“Basically, what they see is their tenuous hold on the U.S. Supreme Court slipping, and instead of 5-4 decisions going their way on cases like Obamacare or same sex marriage, we may see 5-4 decision going the other way,” said Lazloffy. “As conservatives, we’ve looked forward to this day. This is our day to change the court from an activist court back to a court that’s strictly constructionist in terms of the Constitution.”

Lazloffy related his view of the Roe v Wade decision.

“Roe v Wade was predicated on a non-existent right of privacy, and the most telling thing about the case is that Justice Ginsberg, one of the most liberal justices on the court, also says that Roe v Wade was based on a bad decision.”

Kimberly Dudik is a state legislator and an attorney in Missoula. She supports the continuation of Roe v Wade.

“I think we should be especially concerned here in Montana, where our Supreme Court and in our Constitution when it was written in 1972, just a year before the Roe v Wade decision, it was decided that we have a specific right to privacy, especially between a person and their healthcare provider. Over the years the Montana Legislature has made several efforts to interfere in that relationship and the bills have died along bipartisan lines because we respect that right of privacy here in Montana.”

Dudik said what she finds most concerning is that America has real problems to face, like access to healthcare, poverty and racial equality, not looking back on a law that is decades old.

Lazloffy said abortion is a scourge that has taken over 60 million lives in America.

“The other side is worried,” he said. “And they probably should be.”