Liberals have reviled the conservative Supreme Court justice since his confirmation hearing, but now hope that he still cherishes the reputation for moderation that he cultivated.
By Noah Feldman
August 22, 2021
For the first time in 30 years — a legal generation — the Supreme Court is poised to revisit the law of abortion rights in a fundamental way.
The last time, in 1992, amid expectations
that Roe v. Wade might be reversed, the right to choose was saved by an
unlikely coalition: Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O’Connor, both
President Ronald Reagan’s nominees, and David Souter, nominated by President
George H.W. Bush, wrote a joint opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that
preserved the essential holding of Roe, which had made abortion a
constitutional right in 1973.