What Overturning Roe v. Wade Could Mean for Marriage Equality
Roe v. Wade, according to a leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito.The document, obtained by Politico and reported Monday, is a version of an opinion being circulated among the justices.
The decision in the opinion is not final and could likely change shape before issued. However, if the court does indeed overturn Roe, it has grave implications not only for abortion rights but for other rights rooted in privacy, such as the rights to contraception, private sexual activity, and marriage equality.The similarities in the legal principles at the heart of both Roe v.
Wade and LGBTQ+ is what is fueling concern that same-sex marriage could be the court’s next target.“The core of LGBTQ rights draws from the same principles that are at stake when it comes to reproductive justice and freedom,” Lambda Legal attorney Sharon McGowan tells The Advocate.Those principles, McGowan says, include the ability to make life-essential decisions without government interference and the right to autonomy and individual decision-making.She added that decisions related to LGBTQ+ rights have always had some critics on the high court.
