By Erica and Karen

The Bill of Rights provides constitutional protection of individual rights from federal government infringement. The Fourteenth Amendment extends that protection to actions by state governments. The Supreme Court guards our rights by interpreting the U.S. Constitution. We depend on these protections. Our children should be able to do so too.

As citizens and as lawyers, for some time we have expected the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution to protect women-–even though the Constitution does not mention women–-as well as the many others who aren’t mentioned by name. We expect the Court to be respectful of precedents protecting citizen’s rights. We grew up in a world where, as Americans, we thought our basic rights were inalienable. Like the right to vote for President. Some rights had yet to be articulated when we were children–like privacy, contraception, interracial marriage, abortion. But once they were identified, they became part of the fabric of our American rights and we relied ion them.

The May 2 draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade would, if issued, eliminate longstanding rights in sweeping language that denigrates precedent.

If we feel dislocated, imagine how our children feel. How are they supposed to think about a democracy in which basic rights are ephemeral? The right to control your own body–no longer. The right to vote-–maybe, for some. The right to vote for President–-depends on the party in power in your state.

We are a government of laws, not people. How does the next generation see our democracy when their constitutional rights and the actions of their government seem to depend on which party is in charge?