NY Times' Bret Stephens makes the 'conservative' argument for keeping Roe v. Wade

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New York Times "conservative" columnist Bret Stephens claimed in an opinion piece on Tuesday that overturning Roe v. Wade should not be a conservative position.

After Politico leaked a Supreme Court draft opinion that suggested an overturning of the landmark abortion case, several media pundits and Democrats denounced it. In Stephens’ piece "Overturning Roe Is a Radical, Not Conservative, Choice," the former Wall Street Journal columnist wrote that the right should do the same.

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New York Times building in New York City  (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo)

"America is a different place, with most of its population born after Roe was decided. And a decision to overturn Roe — which the court seems poised to do, according to the leak of a draft of a majority opinion from Justice Samuel Alito — would do more to replicate Roe’s damage than to reverse it," Stephens wrote. "It would be a radical, not conservative, choice."

Although Stephens referred to Roe v. Wade as "an ill-judged decision," he maintained that conservatives are "philosophically bound to give considerable weight to judicial precedents, particularly when they have been ratified and refined."

"What is conservative?" Stephens wrote. "It is, above all, the conviction that abrupt and profound changes to established laws and common expectations are utterly destructive to respect for the law and the institutions established to uphold it — especially when those changes are instigated from above, with neither democratic consent nor broad consensus."

A police officer patrols in front of of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Photographer: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Like other Republican figures, Stephens criticized the act of someone leaking the draft opinion to the press. However, he argued that overturning Roe v. Wade will lead to more examples of "guerrilla warfare" similar to the draft opinion leak.

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"Yet the decision will also discredit the court as a steward of whatever is left of American steadiness and sanity, and as a bulwark against our fast-depleting respect for institutions and tradition. The fact that the draft of Justice Alito’s decision was leaked — which Chief Justice Roberts rightly described as an ‘egregious breach’ of trust — is a foretaste of the kind of guerrilla warfare the court should expect going forward," Stephens wrote "And not just on abortion: A court that betrays the trust of Americans on an issue that affects so many, so personally, will lose their trust on every other issue as well."

Stephens closed explaining, "The word ‘conservative’ encompasses many ideas and habits, none more important than prudence. Justices: Be prudent."

FILE - In this April 23, 2021, file photo members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington. Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Before the Supreme Court this is week is an argument over whether public schools can discipline students over something they say off-campus. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

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Although the draft opinion suggested enough votes to overturn Roe v. Wade, the leak came from an early draft that could have since been revised or rewritten. The full decision is expected to be announced in June.