TPM Reader mail …
Atrios is correct that Casey was a 5-4 decision. But what he apparently isn’t aware of is that one of the dissenters (Byron White), was subsequently replaced by a pro-Roe/Casey justice. Even without O’Connor, there are still five justices on the court who are on the record as favoring at least some kind of constitutional right to termination a pregnancy. Those five are Ginsberg, Breyer, Stevens, Souter and Kennedy. Sure, Kennedy’s vote can’t be counted on in the more extreme cases, like partial birth abortion. But unless he flip flops (which seems increasingly unlikely after his decision on sodomy), he’s still going to strike down anything that resembles a ban on abortion.
Passed on without comment.
(ed.note: Just to be clear, I post this as a correction to my earlier post below.)
