Justice suggests other protected rights could be at risk following SCOTUS decision on abortion

Justice Clarence Thomas released a solo consenting opinion on Friday suggesting the court should take up and strike down, other protections on the basis of substantive due process.

News 12 Staff

Jun 27, 2022, 9:13 PM

Updated 839 days ago

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One justice is suggesting other protected rights could be at risk following the Supreme Court’s controversial decision Friday on abortion.
Justice Clarence Thomas released a solo consenting opinion on Friday suggesting the court should take up and strike down other protections on the basis of substantive due process.
Those protected rights include the right to contraception and the right to same-sex marriage.
"Connecticut has been at the forefront of making a lot of these laws before they go federal, but at any point in time this can take a step back,” said Sydney Henck, director of programs at Norwalk's Triangle Community Center.
Quinnipiac University Law professor Stephen Gilles says those rights don't have the same political opposition as abortion.
"Particularly in the case of same-sex marriage, there's another big important roadblock to ever overruling that case, which is literally hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples have made their plans, gotten married, moved, are raising children etc., as married couples already, and that's called relance,” said Gilles.
He says those rights are likely safe, unless the court's makeup gets significantly more conservative.
"Ultimately, you could get a five-vote majority. But I would say we are a long, long way from that,” Gilles said.
Gilles says following the abortion ban certain kinds of contraception could become illegal in red states.