North Central College political science professor pens op-ed in Naperville Sun

Suzanne Chod addresses the Supreme Court’s upcoming abortion case

Suzanne Chod, professor of political science at North Central College, penned an op-ed in the Naperville Sun. The column, published September 24, 2021, focused on the Supreme Court having already decided to take a case about the viability precedent this fall, following the attention given to the recent Texas law (SB8) that criminalized abortions after six weeks.

Here is an excerpt from her op-ed:

Each Supreme Court majority opinion ends with the same four words: “It is so ordered.” But, with Roe v. Wade (1973), has it been? Will it still be in about a year?

The misunderstanding of what the Supreme Court ordered in Roe has been at the center of the debate over abortion rights for decades. The court did not prohibit states from banning abortions; nor did the ruling provide iron-clad legal protections for “late term” or “partial birth” abortions.

What it did do, though, was establish a right to privacy, state that fetuses are not people and therefore do not have 14th Amendment protection, and allow states to decide their own abortion regulations after the first trimester and when the fetus is viable.

Click here to read the full op-ed in the Naperville Sun.