Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Stare Decisis

 

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth!  I came not to bring peace, but a sword.  ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  Your enemies will be right in your own household!’  Matthew 10:34-36

In a 213-page document,[1] handed down from the  Supreme Court of the U.S. on June 24th, the 1973 decision of Roe vs. Wade (favoring a Constitutional right to abortion), was overturned, returning the issue, and the power to determine such rights, back to the individual states.  One of the main factors upon which the case was decided was stare decisis.  The Latin term is defined as a doctrine or policy of following rules or principles laid down in previous judicial decisions...Stare Decisis appears 84 times in the court’s ruling syllabus.  Something which is that central to the thinking to the court’s 5-4 decision begs our attention 

It would seem, from even a casual observance of news reports, that the entire country (and by extension, the world) is as divided as it was in World War II.  In no way do I wish to add to that divide.  However, if I understand what was presented to the court, stare decisis, upon which rested the defense’s argument to sustain Roe vs. Wade as law of the land, was ruled as inappropriate, not having been sufficiently established. 

Setting aside the celebrations, or protestations of those who are overjoyed, or those outraged by the decision, the takeaway with which we must live, is the division we have created.

If there is anything I’ve learned about stare decisis, it is as old as eternity.  God, the Father revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush as, I AM…the statement of eternal existance, covering what was, what is, and what will be.  This is the same as the declaration of Jesus:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God.  “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”  Revelation 1:8

Jesus attested to the fact that He, and everything He brought from the Father in Heaven to teach us, would be the dividing line separating even the closest of families.  The issue of life still in the womb is a strong example of that.

The principle of stare decisis demands going back to the earliest precedent.  As such, 1973’s Roe vs. Wade ruling is a decidedly modern idea.  God, who is eternal, and therefore predates even the so-called primordial ooze, is the one who gave us Exodus 20:13…do no murder.

God is also the one upon whom we received what our forefathers wrote in the Constitution we so revere, the guarantee of liberty to individuals to choose their course.  The stare dicisis of that posit demands we understand we are free, but the precedent insists we must also not infringe upon the freedom of another at any stage of this life’s journey, including the womb. 

For You Today

The 9 justices of our country’s Supreme Court took 213 pages to explain why Roe vs. Wade was wrongly-decided 50 years ago.  In two pages I find it hard to find fault with admitting a mistake.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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To dig deeper into this topic or Scripture text:  Subway Sermon and Shattered Beyond All Hope of Repair

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©  

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