On Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did something no American senator has ever done: he implicitly threatened Supreme Court justices if they did not rule his way on an abortion case.  Chief Justice Roberts sharply reprimanded him, but that doesn't change the fact that this is an escalation of the simmering civil war in America ever since Roe v. Wade.

In 1857, the Supreme Court decided Dred Scott v. Sandford, which excluded blacks from American citizenship, denying them any rights and privileges under the Constitution.  Four years later, America was fighting a civil war that killed roughly 655,000 Americans.

In 1973, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, holding that various unarticulated penumbras and emanations in the Constitution created a constitutional right to abortion.  That decision resulted in the deaths of 61,781,600 individuals who would have been Americans, given a chance.

Like Dred Scott before it, the Roe v. Wade decision also led to civil war, although a peculiarly low-level one.  One side has killed 61,781,600 babies under color of law.  The other side has mostly held its fire.  In the 47 years since Roe v. Wade, seven people chose to use violence as an anti-abortion statement, leading to eleven deaths.  Otherwise, the anti-abortion side has used legislation and persuasion to slow abortions in America.

The primary battlefield has been the place in which this Second Civil War began: the Supreme Court.  Over the years, the Court has articulated a test that says state laws cannot impose an "undue burden" on women.  For example, in 2016, the Court held that it was an undue burden on Texas women to require that abortion facilities have health and safety standards equal to outpatient surgical centers and that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

The Supreme Court will soon hear June Medical Services v. Stephen Russo, regarding Louisiana legislation requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility.  Democrats are worried because the Court currently has four constitutional conservatives (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh), four activists (Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer), and one squish (Roberts).  Democrats are frantic lest the conservatives take the lead, resulting in the Supreme Court placing limitations on abortions.

It was in this context that Schumer, while speaking at a Planned Parenthood rally outside the Supreme Court, abandoned the accepted practice of criticizing the justices' intelligence or impartiality and, instead, implied a call for violence against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh:

Democrat leader Chuck Schumer outside the Supreme Court:

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price."

"You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions"pic.twitter.com/fVvM61Te9C

— Trump War Room - Text EMPOWER to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) March 4, 2020

Chief Justice John Roberts, who tries to stay above the fray, was compelled to weigh in:

Schumer's remarks were so inflammatory that even Laurence Tribe, a reliable leftist and fanatic Trump-hater, called him to account:

These remarks by @SenSchumer were inexcusable. Chief Justice Roberts was right to call him on his comments. I hope the Senator, whom I’ve long admired and consider a friend, apologizes and takes back his implicit threat. It’s beneath him and his office. https://t.co/xbNnUeznRR

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 4, 2020

Through his spokesman, Schumer attempted to defend himself by blaming Donald Trump:

Schumer points at the Supreme Court as he makes his threat (YouTube screen grab).

Schumer's spokesdrone was referring to the fact that, in February, Trump accused Sotomayor and Ginsburg of making statements showing they were biased against him, which Trump contended justified their recusing themselves.  Requesting a recusal is a universe away from Schumer's statement, which, intentionally or not, sent a message to Antifa, the armed branched of the Democrat Party in this Second Civil War, to use violence to effect a political outcome.

The president was appropriately outraged and completely correct in both his diagnosis of Schumer's appalling action and the price he should pay:

There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices. This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2020

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has already announced that on Thursday he will introduce a motion to censure Schumer:

I would call on Schumer to apologize, but we all know he has no shame. So tomorrow I will introduce a motion to censure Schumer for his pathetic attempt at intimidation of #SupremeCourt

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 5, 2020

To a man like Schumer, who's now a hero to the pro-abortion party for his rhetoric, censure is meaningless.  He's already achieved his goal: for the first time in America, a senator has threatened Supreme Court justices with violence if they do not support his political views.  He's unleashed the hounds and taken the Second Civil War to an entirely new plane.