With the possibility that G. W. Bush may get to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court it is becoming increasingly likely that Roe v. Wade may take a serious a battering sometime in the future. It seems, to me, to be unlikely that the court wil declare abortion outright unconsitutional, but it seems, at this point, that the ability for states and the federal government to legislate on abortion may be vastly expanded in the near future. The result of this could be that abortion becomes illegal in numerous states. This would,obviously, be an enormous blow for the "pro-choice" crowd and a huge victory for the "pro-life" crowd. However, I think it could also provide a huge boost to the Democratic Party. I will use a paragraph from Edward Whelan's column on John Roberts to help illustrate why.
Increasing numbers of observers across the political spectrum are coming to recognize that it is well past time for the Supreme Court to restore abortion policy to the people and to the political processes in the states. As Scalia observed in his Casey dissent, the Supreme Court's unconstitutional power grab on the abortion issue in Roe "fanned into life an issue that has inflamed our national politics ever since." "[B]y foreclosing all democratic outlet for the deep passions this issue arouses, by banishing the issue from the political forum that gives all participants, even the losers, the satisfaction of a fair hearing and an honest fight, by continuing the imposition of a rigid national rule instead of allowing for regional differences," the Court has profoundly disrupted the proper functioning of the American political system.
The right wing of the Republican Party became so powerful because they were forced to inorder to gain enough to change something for which they care about dearly. Democrats on other hand, because of Roe, no longer had to continue fighting at the Federal level in order to insure that abortion remained an issue of choice. The Justices took the issue out of the hands of the legislature. While the right wing realized that they had to gain complete control of the government in order orchestrate the change they desired; the Democratic Party lost a major draw to it's party and a major motivating factor to get voters to the polls who would pull the party lever specifically for this issue.
If Roe were scaled back and made into a legislative issue rather than a judicial issue, while it would be a defeat for the "pro-choice" crowd. It might well reinvigorate a significant portion of the Democratic party that has been complacent and apathetic for far too long. Voters would start coming out to pull the Dem lever just on the abortion issue alone, which they don't need to do now becuase of the courts, or at least many people currently feel like they don't need to do that right now.
Just trying to put a Sunny Side to a bad situation.