Scalia

Fox News is reporting on a speech by Justice Scalia. In that speech, he says, with reference to those who believe in a "living constitution," that "[t]hey are not looking for legal flexibility, they are looking for rigidity, whether it's the right to abortion or the right to homosexual activity, they want that right to be embedded from coast to coast and to be unchangeable."

That is an extremely wise statement, although it might appear counterintuitive at first glance. If, in fact, the Supreme Court were to rule (correctly in my opinion) that nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to abortion, the so-called "right" would be left to the whims of the people acting through their elected representatives. The existence of this "right" would then be far more susceptible to change than under the current status quo where it is protected by most judges' basic commitment to the idea of stare decisis.