When Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade, reflecting well-settled law on abortion for some 50 years, it set off a pandemonium of conflicting issues on the constitutional rights of individuals and the constitutional balance of power between states and the federal government, ushering in chaos. The touch point, however, is not just abortion, but something more systemic: the concepts of federal restraint and stare decisis – the judicial doctrines that the Supreme Court should decide cases under the narrowest of terms and with a view towards distinguishing, not obliterating, settled law. Dobbs turned a blind eye to those two principles. Abortion is today’s casualty. What comes next is the real issue.
Originally posted for the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100.
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