Justice Alito, who penned the groundbreaking Supreme Court majority opinion that reversed Roe v. Wade, last week ridiculed foreign critics of the ruling, many of whom preside over countries with more restrictive national abortion regimes than the U.S., for meddling in American constitutional affairs.
Speaking at a conference on religious liberty in Rome sponsored by the University of Notre Dame, Alito wore the international backlash to the decision like a badge of honor.
In noting the erosion of religious freedom in many parts of Europe, Alito said, “When I was putting these remarks together I was tempted to provide some examples…but a diplomatic impulse came upon me and I said to myself, ‘You’re an American judge, what business is it of yours to criticize decisions that are handed down by foreign courts?'”
He said he reconsidered, however, after “I had the honor this term of writing, I think, the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders, who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law,” he said, according to a video of the address.
“One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but he paid the price,” Alito quipped, referring to the conservative British leader, who resigned in disgrace earlier this month after a series of scandals shook his political career and triggered a party uprising. “Post hoc ergo propter hoc, right?” the justice said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
Alito said he wasn’t fazed by French president Macron and Canadian prime minister Trudeau’s criticism of the decision, but “what really wounded me was when the duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision whose name may not be spoken with the Russian attack on Ukraine,” Alito said. “Despite this temptation, I’m not going to talk about cases from other countries.”
In his keynote address to the assembly, Prince Harry lamented Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’s “global assault on democracy and freedom,” which included an alleged “rolling back of constitutional rights in the United States.”
The rest of Alito’s speech focused on religious freedom, which many countries profess to uphold, he said, but routinely violate. Citing the European Convention’s public safety provision on religion freedom, Alito said its language, similar to that of other national charters, can be interpreted by any judge to shrink religious liberty to what is currently known as freedom of worship, applying to the home or church but not to the public square.
But in an increasingly secular society, he said, “it is hard to convince people that religious liberty is worth defending if they don’t think that religion is a good thing that deserves protection.”