The Greatest Victory in the History of the Conservative Movement

‘H eld: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

No matter how many times I read that sentence from Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion, it does not feel quite real. For nearly a half century, the constitutional malpractice of Roe v. Wade has loomed over American politics. Nobody below retirement age really remembers a time when it wasn’t on the books. The conservative coalition as we’ve known it for decades arose out of the aftermath of Roe. But despite all the hard work, the organizing, the protesting, and fighting for the nomination and confirmation of judges who would actually uphold the U.S. Constitution, overturning it seemed ever elusive.

Conservatives watched as Republican-appointed judge after Republican-appointed judge turned out to be disappointments. They lived through the crushing Planned Parenthood v. Casey defeat. At the time of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February 2016, despair set in, and the prospect of seeing Roe overturned within a few years seemed far-fetched.

This victory came, it must be acknowledged, as a result of the hard work and efforts of many people on the right, including those who often have harsh disagreements about the strategy and direction of the conservative movement.

There is a fundamental debate right now among conservatives. One side argues for standing up for certain timeless principles and patiently working within institutions. And the other side is more outcome-driven — skeptical about the idea of playing the long game, scoffing that clinging to broad principles ultimately leads to defeat.

The truth is that Friday’s monumental victory depended on all of these perspectives. It took a mixture of intellectual rigor, commitment to principles, institution-building, and bare-knuckles politics to get to this moment.

Fundamentally, conservatives spent decades laying the intellectual groundwork for this decision — in books, in law journals, and in losing opinions. Scalia’s blistering dissent in Casey presented a crystal-clear argument for overturning Roe, and on Friday, its essence became a majority opinion.

The Federalist Society played an indispensable role in providing a forum for conservative law-school students to meet and deepen their understanding of judicial principles, and created a pipeline of lawyers with impeccable qualifications and fealty to the Constitution who were able to work their way up the judicial ladder. This meant that by the time Donald Trump was in office, he had a much deeper bench of conservative judges to choose from than Ronald Reagan did when he was sworn into office.

But the Federalist Society could not have done it all alone. Their efforts would have been futile were it not for the millions of pro-life activists who kept the fight alive for the most vulnerable among us, and who kept up the pressure on Republican politicians to nominate and confirm conservative judges. At the same time, many authors amplified their voices over the years, writing passionately on the cause — including the work of those here at National Review.

Of course, it also takes somebody to nominate judges. Those of us who aren’t fans of Trump and who could not bring ourselves to vote for him have to acknowledge a few things. One, that had pro-life conservatives who found it hard to stomach Trump decided to stay home en masse in 2016, this victory would not have taken place. Two, that Trump did follow through on his pledge to appoint judges from his vetted list. Three, that Trump stuck with Justice Brett Kavanaugh when his nomination was in doubt and did not hesitate to nominate Justice Amy Coney Barrett right before the election.

At the same time, this day could not have arrived had Republicans been unwilling to assert their political power when it came to judicial appointments. When Scalia died, it was no guarantee that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell would have held the seat open. But he made maximal use of his power and immediately made clear that the Senate would not consider any replacements. McConnell, for all the heat he has taken among conservatives over the years, placed a heavy emphasis on judicial confirmations and used his expertise in the Senate to shepherd Republican-appointed judges through the confirmation process, including navigating the contentious Kavanaugh fight as well as the high-wire act to get Barrett confirmed just before the 2020 election.

Conservatives such as Carrie Severino at the Judicial Crisis Network helped ensure that there was an infrastructure in place that had the backs of conservative nominees when they faced vicious attacks from Democrats and their allies in the media. Having been caught flat-footed before (such as in the case of Robert Bork), conservatives rallied to make sure future nominees were not hung out to dry.

But after everything, it happened. States will now be free to set their own abortion laws, unencumbered by an edict handed down by seven men in robes half a century ago. Mark your calendars: June 24, 2022 — the day of the greatest victory in the history of the conservative movement.