Health care, guns and abortion on docket for reshuffled top court
Healthcare, abortion, guns and religious liberty - many of the most divisive issues in america - will be on the docket as the Supreme Court prepares to get started on a fresh term in early October with only eight justices.
Should US President Donald Trump successfully appoint a ninth justice following death of liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court’s slant can be heavily conservative.
- Obamacare -
After failing woefully to torpedo in Congress the huge health care reforms passed by former president Barack Obama, which includes extended coverage for an incredible number of Americans, President Donald Trump is relying on the Supreme Court to kill the bill, something he promised to accomplish on the campaign trail in 2016.
Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as the reform bill is officially known, is one of the key issues hanging in the balance in the November 3 election.
The text of the bill has already been scrutinized by the Supreme Court, which backed it by a tiny majority. It is due to get back to the Court again on November 10, weekly after the election.
Without Ginsburg’s progressive vote, Obamacare could be scrapped entirely, like the obligation for insurers to cover pre-existing medical conditions.
- Abortion -
The other goal of the Republican administration is to overturn the historic Roe v. Wade ruling that in 1973 legalized abortion.
Once for abortion rights, Trump is currently an avowed opponent. The topic is close to the hearts of his religious-right base.
Recently, several conservative states have been attempting to undermine the ruling, so that it is difficult for women to have access to abortions. As yet, the Supreme Court has blocked all of these efforts.
If Trump manages to push his applicant through, you will see most six conservative justices out of nine on the bench, and the anti-abortion lobby could have more room to maneuver in its constant push to finally end Roe v. Wade.
- Guns -
Trump has pledged to guard the Second Amendment, which gives Americans the right to bear arms.
Some Americans want to see controls on gun sales and an outright ban on semi-automatic assault rifles that have been used in multiple mass shootings.
The Democrat-run state of Virginia recently voted to limit gun sales and strengthen criminal background checks for buyers.
But an incredible number of gun owners, in addition to the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group, are fiercely opposed to any federal regulation on firearm sales.
Until now, the court has been reluctant to wade in to the debate, declining to study the several cases sent before it. But here again, a solid conservative majority could swing any future decisions and only gun owners.
- Religious freedom -
Religious freedom versus gay rights has become a hot-button issue lately, with the court showing itself more conservative on the subject. It ruled and only a Christian baker who refused to bake a marriage cake for a gay couple because of his religious convictions.
In November, the court will hear arguments from a Catholic adoption agency which had its license pulled by the location of Philadelphia for refusing to defend myself against gay couples.
- Elections -
In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, persons in several states already are allowed to cast their votes, be it via early voting or mail-in ballots, and the question of the outcome of the bitterly fought November 3 election is uppermost in the minds of all Americans.
Yet Trump has been undermining confidence along the way for months, warning without proof fraud and saying the only way he could lose is if the election is rigged.
Crucially, it's the Supreme Court that may settle any claims about a disputed outcome, since it did in Florida in 2000 when it decided and only Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore per month after the election
