There's nothing conservative about overturning Roe v. Wade

It's not conservative. It's incitement.

Pro-life demonstrators.
(Image credit: Illustrated | SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images, str33tcat/iStock, slavadubrovin/iStock)

Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's pick to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, will almost certainly be confirmed by the Senate in the coming weeks. And once he is installed, there is a significant chance that Roe v. Wade will be overturned within the next few years, fulfilling the fervent multi-decade-long wish of pro-life activists and leading members of the conservative movement to see the landmark decision gutted.

If you're convinced that abortion is the infliction of lethal violence against innocent human beings, then working and praying for the downfall of Roe not only makes sense — it may well be a moral imperative. But there's another, more pragmatic case for overturning Roe that's emanating from the center-right. For Megan McArdle of The Washington Post, abortion would be made "less contentious" by throwing the issue "back to the states so that people can argue about it." That, she believes, will "have a moderating effect on extreme positions." Ross Douthat of The New York Times, likewise, sees the "overturning [of] our inhumane abortion settlement" as something that just might help to "save our culture, if it's ever to be saved."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.