Justice Thomas: SCOTUS 'should reconsider' same-sex marriage

LGBTQ rights activists warned if the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, same-sex marriage could be targeted next. With today's SCOTUS ruling to strike down Roe v. Wade those concerns are substantiated.

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's concurring opinion overturning abortion rights states that other precedents should be reconsidered.

Thomas called for the reconsideration of Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the right of married couples to use contraception; Lawrence v. Texas, which protects the right to same-sex romantic relationships; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which establishes the right to same-sex marriage.

"Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous,' we have a duty to 'correct the error' established in those precedents," Thomas wrote. "After overruling these demonstrably erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated."

Activists said LGBTQ rights are now at risk.

"In cowardice, the justices claimed that their decision would only impact abortion, but numerous scholars have noted that it would undermine a range of widely accepted rights, from access to contraception, LGBTQ rights including the equal right to marriage, to preventing bans on interracial marriage," said Linda Loew, a founding member of Chicago For Abortion Rights.