In His Roe Opinion, Thomas Flags Same-Sex Marriage

Roe v. Wade has been officially overturned by the US Supreme Court, eliminating federal protections for abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years, but a solo concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas is also getting attention. In his writing, Thomas notes that, based on the reversal of the abortion rights precedent, the Supreme Court should mull previous rulings on contraception, protections for same-sex couples, and the institution of same-sex marriage, per Rolling Stone. "In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergfell," Thomas wrote.

Those case names refer to rulings on those three matters, respectively. Per NY1, the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut ruling protected a married couple's right to privacy and freedom of state restrictions regarding contraception use. In 2003, the Lawrence v. Texas decision invalidated sodomy laws across the country, while 2015's Obergfell v. Hodges maintained that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states under the US Constitution's due process clause and equal protective clause. "Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous' ... we have a duty to 'correct the error,'" Thomas added in his opinion regarding Friday's ruling. (More Roe v. Wade stories.)