Garnett pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent that he believes "provided a clear blueprint" for a future court to overrule the Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.
Thomas wrote that the court's previous abortion decisions, beginning with Roe v. Wade, "created the right to abortion out of whole cloth, without a shred of support from the Constitution's text." The Roe decision founded a legal right to abortion upon "a free-floating constitutional right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut," he wrote.
Furthermore, Louisiana's law is "perfectly legitimate" and "represents a constitutionally valid exercise of the State's traditional police powers," Thomas said on Monday.
Ryan Anderson, the William E. Simon senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told CNA that Thomas "got it right" in arguing that justices cannot uphold legal precedent that is clearly erroneous.
"Nothing in the U.S. Constitution creates a right to abortion, regardless of what the Court has said in the past," Anderson said.
Other legal experts and pro-life advocates said that Louisiana's law aimed to protect the safety of women, and should not have been overturned.
"Louisiana abortion providers went to extraordinary lengths to erase a law that state legislators enacted overwhelmingly, in bi-partisan fashion, to promote the wellbeing of women," stated Kristen Waggoner, general counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom which published an amicus brief in support of Louisiana's law.
"Women seeking abortions have the same right to competent and quality care as patients involved in other surgical procedures. Louisiana's admitting privileges law protected that right," she said.
The March for Life stated that it was "appalled" by the ruling "which failed to hold Louisiana abortion facilities accountable for their numerous health and safety violations."
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, called Monday's decision "a bitter disappointment" that "reinforces just how important Supreme Court judges are to advancing the pro-life cause."
Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.