Stop Crying About SCOTUS Overturning Roe v Wade
Yes, the title was designed to whip readers into an emotional frenzy. Enjoy.
There are a few fundamental reasons why American politics separates itself from the rest of the world. One, particularly, solves the riddle of Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) justices overturning such a controversial and historical ruling.
This has nothing to do with American exceptionalism (an oft and justifiably criticised stance), religion (specifically Christianity) or standing on the shoulders of white-cloaked Boogeymen.
The reason? The 10th Amendment, aka State’s Rights.
In simpler terms, it’s called Federalism.
A QUICKIE ON FEDERALISM
WHAT THE HELL IS FEDERALISM?
When Americans won their independence from the British in 1776, the last thing the Founding Fathers wanted was another top-heavy monarchy substitute. To prevent this from happening, they founded a Republic constructed on a heavy foundation of individual liberty.
Fifteen years later, the Bill of Rights was added to the US Constitution, which included the key Amendment in question: Number 10, State’s Rights (aka Rights Reserved to States or People - a full history is here for nerds like me).
HOW DOES IT WORK?
This was done for two reasons:
To keep certain powers in local state governments filled with locally elected representatives which would act in a state’s best interest (versus the interest of the country as a whole).
To ensure that laws would accurately represent the constituents within each state, based upon the representatives elected within them, to self-govern.
This motivation remains crucial due to America’s extreme size, and variance in population. Imagine having a single government for California and Texas, and the problems that would cause! (If you’re thinking this sounds like what America has going on now, you’re correct, which is a topic for a later time).
WHY DOES FEDERALISM MATTER re: ROE v WADE?
Understanding Federalism has everything to do with the pending overturning of Roe v Wade.
To start, the constitutional Right of Privacy noted by the majority Justice Blackmun was invented out of whole cloth. With no such right superseding the 10A, Roe is relegated back to the decision making of individual states.
While Roe stands, the majority justices of the majority justices believed Roe represented a Federal right explicitly enumerated within the Bill of Rights, which always remained plainly false upon examination of the document. This is what forced the decision as Federal law, decidedly overtaking State’s rights to decide how their local populations want to deal with abortion as a medical and social issue.
When the majority justices’ opinion described a Right of Privacy overtaking the prescience of Self-Governance, each state was required to follow a federal law - Roe v. Wade, now codified not only as Federal law, but as a Supreme Court ruling. Overturning a SCOTUS-ruled case is rare; SCOTUS has overturned approximately 232 of their own cases (by 2020) since 1810 (view a full table of decisions).
WHY PRO ABORTS AND PRO LIFE HAVE NOTHING TO SAY
Like it or leave it, abortion is not banned in the United States.
The determination of how and until what age a foetus may be killed in utero will be legal in all states, pending local and state legislation. Whether this resolution sounds ideal or not, Republicanism and the Bill of Rights was chosen as a governance style to represent local constituencies. And this means that we do not always get our way legally.
I will be upfront: this decision has forced me to confront the issue of abortion as a personal belief. I have lived a life swinging from staunch to begrudgingly pro-abortion. At this stage in my life, combined with the obscene glee of leftists surrounding abortion (refer to the “shout your abortion” crew, if you dare), I find abortion to be a horrendous matter to be avoided at all costs.
The cherry on top of this bloody escapade are the outlier issues used as cudgels to state a case for pro-abort arguments: rape, and incest. If only abortion was only used for those cases.
Alas, abortion is used far more casually than I believe should be permitted by law or polite society. Safe, legal and rare haven’t been the drumbeats of this crowd since Hilary Clinton pretended to love her husband.
There may be states which petition to significantly reduce or remove the right to abortion. There will undoubtedly be states which choose to permit post-birth abortion. I’m not kidding; infanficide of a 28 day old infant is legal in Colorado.
The beauty (and horror) is that you can choose where you lay your head. If your state does not represent your social morals, then move.
If you can’t afford to move, try using birth control.
I can tell you from personal experience, it works.