OPINION:
Today, as we visit the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, hope is rising in our hearts. Yes, we remember and acknowledge the injustices that sadly have taken place on our country’s soil. With repentant and forgiving hearts, we give thanks to those who — past and present — are brave enough to fight for the freedom of all Americans. However, let us remember that justice, in every decade and generation, does not come quickly or easily.
For five decades, our nation lived with the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court’s separate but equal ruling. By God’s grace, the Supreme Court eventually acknowledged and overturned that disastrous and immoral decision.
Nearly five decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court wrongly decided to strip states of their power to regulate women’s health and protect the lives of the unborn.
As a result, generations of young people have been erased without ever having the chance to be born, to live or to dream.
As my uncle, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Could there be any greater injustice than robbing the lives of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens — our unborn babies?
Today, the Supreme Court faces an opportunity to correct another egregious wrong. With the Dobbs v. Jackson case, the court is now considering whether to overturn the ruling that allowed the killing of young, innocent humans in the womb.
Similar to the pressure the justices faced when they overturned our nation’s segregation laws, a torrent of political pressure is up against our justices today. Rather than discuss what’s right, the conversation has revolved around what’s politically expedient.
In recent weeks, many pundits and politicians have tried to bully the justices into preserving our nation’s abortion laws. Some have tried to make the argument that if the court overturns its own precedent, it will be viewed as an illegitimate, political body.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
As Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said in December, the court’s most important and consequential cases have been the ones where the Supreme Court overturned its previous rulings; specifically, but not limited to the court’s decision to expose the destructive fallacy of separate but equal.
The justices who show bold leadership today will be remembered tomorrow for fighting for justice and freedom for all lives in the state of Mississippi and our nation as a whole.
We pray that the justices will not succumb to the predatory arguments that the Supreme Court’s reputation relies upon taking the safe road no matter how wrong that road may be. We pray that the justices will follow the example of their predecessors who bravely struck down flawed legal precedent despite the loudest elements of public opinion demanding they do otherwise.
History has not always been kind to those willing to step out on a limb and fight for the dignity of all human lives, regardless of socioeconomic conditions, from the womb to the tomb. Yet, today, we see and remember not only the wrongs. We celebrate human dignity and build upon the victories as we right the injustice of abortion.
May a Dobbs victory be a standard and another exception to the rule. Regardless of gestational age or skin color, let righteous justice prevail for the one blood/one human race. God bless America.
• Alveda C. King serves as the chair of the Center for the American Dream at AFPI. She is the daughter of the late slain civil rights activist Rev. A.D. King and the niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Ms. King is the founder of Speak for Life, fighting for the sanctity and dignity of all life — from the womb to the tomb.
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