Commentary If the Supreme Court, pictured here, decides to overturn Roe v. Wade, they could be violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment, the author argues. Photo by Phil Roeder/Getty Images. Our Constitution guarantees all of us the right to free exercise of our personal religious and moral beliefs, be they for or against abortion. The law has no right to interfere with what a person believes God or conscience dictates about abortion. But equally, the Constitution guarantees that no one has the right to abridge the religious freedom of others. No one has a right to use either legislation or court decree to impose their religious or personal moral beliefs on their fellow citizens who disagree. This would establish a state religion or moral belief system, forbidden by the Constitution. To be constitutional, any attempt to resolve the abortion dispute must agree with both of these conditions. The problem is, the supporters and opponents of abortion believe they are engaged in an objective moral debate. That is, they believe whether abortion is murder or not is an objective moral question with an objective moral answer. They may be surprised to learn that it is not. In 2000 […]
