At stake in the Kavanaugh fight: Rule by the people
Jul 20, 2018, 9:25 AM
In their desperate desire to block the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Democrats say they’re fighting to protect “abortion rights,” but that claim is deeply misleading. If a state legislature wants to pass laws creating a right to abortion, not even the most pro-life justice would say that the Constitution stops them from doing so, and not even the most pro-choice justice can identify a clause in the Constitution that requires them to do so.
The fundamental debate isn’t about abortion — it’s about who gets to make the regulations that govern society. Originalists see all power coming from the people and their elected representatives; judicial activists want to impose the choices of un-elected judges over the popular will.
Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation will convey a powerful message that in America, it’s the people who rule, not all-powerful judicial elites.