The Democratic Process Is The Way To Decide
It is amazing to me how people on both sides of the abortion issue are so perplexed as to how we got to this place.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe, I thought it was the right decision. I didn’t see where there was a constitutional right to the procedure. If the court hadn’t been involved in 1973, then by now the issue would likely have been settled by the political process.
I am not against abortion and believe that it should be available in all circumstances. I love how people in individual states are putting the issue regarding legalization on ballot after ballot and having the people decide. In state after state, the laws criminalizing the procedure are not what the people want, so those draconian laws are being done away with through the democratic process. Unfortunately, it is not as fast as new laws curtailing the procedure are written for the supposed wishes of the governed.
Voters have become too complacent when it comes to understanding the policy positions of those whom they elect. If they insist on voting for legislators that they don’t agree with on issues, then they can expect more positions with which they don’t agree to become state law. Republicans have switched with Democrats to become proponents of the nanny state.
The other thing I am bewildered by is the idea that a law is bad because it is 160 years old. The Arizona law forbidding abortion is bad not because of its age but because it no longer represents the will of the governed. There are thousands of laws on the books at every level of government that are not enforced and should be repealed.
Why then haven’t our legislatures and Congress repealed them? Because, as we have seen, the legislative branch at both the federal and state level does not perform their duties. They are dysfunctional. The members would rather be before the camera than in the committee room forging legislation.
If a law is in the books and is no longer relevant, then repeal it. If a law is passed, then it should be specific enough that the executive branch can enforce it without having to write pages of regulation. Policy is the purview of the legislature…laws are policy.
What Roe did was postpone the political fight that was needed on abortion. It is painfully obvious that a clear majority of the American people want legal abortion. A recent Axios/Ipsos poll from March show ¾ of Americans want medication-induced abortion to be legal. A FoxNews poll shows a 15-week ban is unpopular with a solid 60% of Americans.
The burden in this fight and so many others should rest with the American people. That means it is the duty of the voters not to be fooled by the letter after a candidate’s name and requires the voter to learn the candidates’ positions on the issues. It is about time voters stop being pawns in all politicians’ grab for power. We need to make sure that those we elect to office share our beliefs.
