PROBLEMS OF LAW

A part from these serious problems, the Court's decision is objectionable from a legal perspective for a number of other reasons. In an egregious example of judicial fiat, the decision in Roe v. Wade overturned the duly enacted legislation against abortions that then existed in each of the several states from coast to coast. This action was subversive of the very concept of democracy and represented, instead, a type of oligarchy in which the view of seven men was imposed to the electorate in any meaningful sense. The act amounted to a clear case of the Court sitting as a sort of "super-legislature," something which the Court itself had previously held to be an inappropriate exercise of its power. Such a usurpation of legislative prerogatives is violative of the separation of powers doctrine. Since it invalidated State statues in an area in which the individual sovereign states were competent to legislate, it also was offensive to our basic concept of federalism.

[From 'A Resource Manual']