If we want to protect abortion, let it be said. If we want to ban semi-automatic weapons, let it also be said. Instead, we continually attempt to treat the document as a “Magic Slate” by defining and re-defining previously unambiguous terms to fit a given circumstance. If we want a different outcome, amend the Constitution!

Hamilton, Jefferson and others suggested periodic re-writes, with Hamilton suggesting that doing so every 19 years would be wise.

We are continually endangering the document and the rights it has given us through our feckless judicial work arounds.

Abortion, marriage and sexual conduct are not addressed by the Constitution. Slavery and religious freedom are. Therefore, the former are not in SCOTUS’ purview, but the latter are rightly subject to federal protections.

What is a “fundamental constitutional right” anyway? My interpretation is that it is only a notional concept used to promote a point of view on a given issue. Apparently SCOTUS agrees, relegating the Dobbs matter to a state issue, where it rightly belongs. 

As Justice Antonin Scalia once observed: “The Constitution says what it says, and it doesn’t say what it doesn’t say.” This is the foundation of our federalist system. Justice Samuel Alito was spot on when he called out Justice Harry Blackmun’s reasoning for being the wishful thinking that it was.

The remedies are there for Dobbs and like cases: state statutes or even congressional acts. Those who want change can certainly access the means to get it done.

Dobbs is an important reset of our court system to a point where the roles of the judiciary are properly clarified. We should celebrate it.

James M. Graber

Franklin