Timothy Noah on George W. Bush's anti-Dred Scott rant: “What was the meaning of this borderline-incoherent ramble? Apparently, it was an invisible high-five to the Christian right. "Google Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade," various readers instructed me, and damned if they weren't on to something. To the Christian right, "Dred Scott" turns out to be a code word for "Roe v. Wade." Even while stating as plain as day that he would apply "no litmus test," Bush was semaphoring to hard-core abortion opponents that he would indeed apply one crucial litmus test: He would never, ever, appoint a Supreme Court justice who condoned Roe.”

For an argument that the Supreme Court should not have taken on Roe v. Wade on as a case in the first place, see Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America by Jonathan Rauch. He says that the states should have experimented with abortion laws before having a national policy on it, just as the states should decide gay marriage law before the Supreme Court does.