Hell yes, Dobbs was worth it

Conventional DC wisdom says Republicans are about to pay a heavy political price for supporting the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade. The prospects of a Red Wave election are deteriorating. An “invisible army of women” are flocking to register to vote. Dobbs had fired up Democrats. Joe Biden’s fortunes, miserable for only a few months, have suddenly turned around. The Economist says that cheering on Dobbs was “one of the worst political decisions of recent memory.”

Even if all of this were true, and I’m highly skeptical it is, “cheering on” the Dobbs decision was completely worth it. Just as cheering the overturning of Dred Scott or Schenck was worth it. Not everything is about short-term partisan gain.

You might also cheer because if someone had told you ten, or even five, years ago that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, you wouldn’t have believed them. Roe has been treated as a sacred text for over 50 years, not only by the press but by most of our institutions. The “right” to terminate life for convenience’s sake had been irrecoverably tethered to feminism and progress. For millions, it probably remains the only SCOTUS decision they can name. And once the left procures a new “right,” it rarely relinquishes it. The prospect of there being six justices willing to uphold the Constitution in the face of this immense pressure was improbable, to say the least.

So, yes, cheer.