The Alito opinion in Dobbs tells us that the Court has just returned the abortion issue from the legal system to the political arena, as it was in 1973. Are we just returning to the world as it existed before Roe?
No, because circumstances are far different. The extreme right has been energized. In 1973, there were no vigilante laws, no extraterritoriality issues, and no proposals for a national ban on abortion. All of these ideas are very much on the table today. As a result, instead of a low-key issue that motivated a handful of true believers, abortion is at the heart of a national culture war.
It isn’t going to be pretty.