It happened.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
The Associated Press’ Mark Sherman reported:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.
The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.
Read the full opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
• • •
I haven’t always paid close attention to the Supreme Court. But lately I do.
On days the nation’s high court releases new opinions, I vow find myself refreshing — again and again — the justices’ home page.
The court’s five biggest religion cases of 2022 have piqued my interest. The Dobbs decision, highlighted above, was not specifically about religion. But religious voices on both sides are a major part of the debate.
Here is where the other four religion cases stand:
• Ramirez v. Collier: Justices “ruled 8-1 in favor of a death row inmate seeking to hear vocal prayers and feel his pastor’s touch as he dies. The decision makes it clear that religious freedom protections for prisoners extend to the execution chamber,” the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas reported in March.
In a surprise twist, a prosecutor later asked to withdraw the death warrant for John Henry Ramirez, as the New York Times’ Ruth Graham explained. But a Texas judge this week denied the request, according to The Associated Press’ Juan A. Lozano. For now, Ramirez’s execution remains set for Oct. 5.
• Shurtleff v. City of Boston: The court ruled unanimously that “the city of Boston violated the Constitution when it rejected an application to fly a Christian flag on one of the three flagpoles in front of city hall. Because the city program that allowed other private groups to raise and fly their own flags was not speech by the city, the court held, the city could not refuse permission to fly a particular flag because of the views that it expressed,” SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe reported in May.
• Carson v. Makin: Just this week, justices “ruled that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money. The 6-3 outcome could fuel a renewed push for school choice programs in some of the 18 states that have so far not directed taxpayer money to private, religious education,” The Associated Press’ Mark Sherman reported. Read more on the ruling’s significance by the Deseret News’ Dallas, my go-to journalist on religion cases.
• Kennedy v. Bremerton: Back in April, Plug-in highlighted oral arguments in the case of Joseph Kennedy, a Bremerton, Washington, high school football coach who wants to kneel and pray at the 50-yard line. This is the last of the major religion cases still awaiting the court’s decision.
In the meantime, ReligionUnplugged.com contributor Jovan Tripkovic interviews Kennedy about the case and its impact on him, his faith and his family — and what a ruling in his favor might mean.
Another related and compelling story: Dallas — I might as well link to her again — explores “How the fight over school prayer became a battle for the soul of the nation.”
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Westward expansion: California’s Southern Baptist churches proliferated after the Great Depression: While out West to cover the Southern Baptist Convention’s big annual meeting last week, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood produced four Page 1 stories and three other articles for the Saturday religion section.
Lockwood covered the obvious news — including Baptists’ actions on sex abuse and the election of a new SBC president, an Arkansas native.
But — and this is what I like best — the Democrat-Gazette’s religion editor also stepped off the beaten path. This feature (here’s the link again) recounts how desperate Arkansans and Oklahomans flocked to California during the Dust Bowl years. Once there, they planted churches.
CONTINUE READING: “Roe V. Wade Overturned, Plus The Supreme Court's 4 Other Biggest Religion Cases Of 2022“ by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.