I was responding more generically to those who did make that argument. The thought came up when your post reignited my thinking on the issue, so that's where I posted it. One of the failings of the chat board format.
It's an interesting question what would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned. I suppose some of those old statutes are still on the books, though I haven't looked even at my state. Woudl they enforce them? My suspicion is that there would be battle royales in the legislatures of many, if not all, states.
Of course, it depends on what the case overturning Roe would hold. Would it hold that the issue is up to the states, that there was no constitutional right to abortion which prevented states from regulating it, but that there was no constitutional protection for the unborn which ? In that case, I'm sure some states would repeal or seriously modify their statues -- I am sure that California, being only marginally a part of the US in the first place, would legalize almost all abortions; I'm equally sure that some states would ban it in many or most cases, or leave in place existing statutes that already banned it but were unenforceable since Roe.
But if the case held that the 14th Amendment extended to some extent or other to the unborn, and that they were entitled to certain constitutional protectections, it would be a whole different scenario. Personally, I don't expect the Court to hold that, partly because the justices do read the papers and partly because they would be too mindful of the statement of whichever President it was who said "the court has made its decision, let them enforce it." But it's not impossible that they would hold that way, in which case it's anybody's guess what would happen.
Whatever happens, though, if the Court does overturn Roe, or even seriously weaken it, I wouldn't want to be a state legislator! |
