Scalia - No Right to Abortion In the Constitution

California Lawyer recently published an interview with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (The Originalist) in which he talks about his views on the Constitution.

1 of the things he explains is what he means by an "enduring constitution" as opposed to an evolving one. "In its most important aspects, the Constitution tells the current society that it cannot do [whatever] it wants to do. It is a decision that the society has made that in order to take certain actions, you need the extraordinary effort that it takes to amend the Constitution."

He goes on to talk about a lot of areas where the left has tried to change things through the courts rather that through "a legislature and a ballot box". 1 of those areas that he talks about is abortion. He puts it very bluntly. "You want a right to abortion? There's nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn't mean you cannot prohibit it."

He does admit that originalism isn't perfect. Some questions have no easy answers. But "by God we have an answer to a lot of stuff ... especially the most controversial: whether the death penalty is unconstitutional, whether there's a constitutional right to abortion, to suicide, and I could go on. All the most controversial stuff."

The interview does end up with asking a question that his answer to may be the most controversial opinion he ever gave, at least in Chigago: "You more or less grew up in New York. Being a child of Sicilian immigrants, how do you think New York City pizza rates?

I think it is infinitely better than Washington pizza, and infinitely better than Chicago pizza. You know these deep-dish pizzas—it's not pizza. It's very good, but ... call it tomato pie or something. ... I'm a traditionalist, what can I tell you?" Like I said, in Chicago this may be seen as his most controversial opinion ever.

See also: Scalia: Abortion not in the Constitution

Supreme Court Justice Scalia: Roe v. Wade Not in Constitution