High court abortion move threatens contraception, LGBTQ+ rights, scholars say

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% :Berkeley Law Professor Kristin Luker, a legal scholar and sociologist who has written about reproductive rights since the 1970s, said a decision to overturn Roe would be "historic" -- as if the court had decided to overturn the landmark Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka decision that outlawed racial segregation in public schools.
49% : Same-sex marriage:
48% : "Over the last century," Chemerinsky said, "the Supreme Court has protected rights such as the right to marry, the right to procreate, direct custody of the children, the right to keep the family together, to control the upbringing of one's children, to purchase and use contraceptives, the right of consenting adults to engage in same-sex sexual activity, the right of competent adults to refuse medical treatment.
48% : "We have very good evidence that liberalized abortion not only permitted women like me to go to graduate school and law school and professional school, but it also enabled women to invest human capital in themselves and compete with men on an equal basis," she explained.
46% : The high court affirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry only seven years ago, in the 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges.
44% : Chemerinsky predicted that the court "is going to very much cut back on rights related to marriage equality, even if it doesn't overrule Obergefell."
41% : An apparent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down abortion rights could open broader threats to some types of contraception and to LGBTQ+ rights, including same-sex marriage, Berkeley legal scholars say.
41% : While the Constitution makes no mention of abortion, the court found on a 7-2 vote that a woman's decision to have an abortion was protected under that right.
40% : "Abortion isn't in the text.
40% : For example, he said, a case before the Supreme Court next year focuses on a Colorado web designer who refused to design websites for same-sex couples, in violation of state law.
37% : Contraception: If abortion can be outlawed by states, based on the premise that life begins at conception, then contraceptives such as the morning-after pill or even an intra-uterine device (IUD) could be challenged.
36% : "In states where abortion is illegal, privileged folks will have relationships with medical providers who will be able to perform an abortion for them despite the law," Bridges said.
32% : If Roe is overturned, Luker said, women in states where abortion is illegal may find that their work prospects are limited by employers who feel they are likely to become pregnant.
26% : With Justice Samuel Alito's draft decision on abortion, "it's as if the Supreme Court said Brown v Board of Education was wrongly decided, and that they were going to turn the issue over to the states," Luker said.

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