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Does Dobbs Matter?
Yesterday on hour two of the “Erick Erickson Show,” Erickson argued that Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court case regarding the Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks, is not really that big a deal because it would return regulation of abortion to the states. He argued that most abortions take place in states that are liberal and either have no bans in place now or would be unlikely to ban them in the future, while conservative states that have already or would ban abortion have low abortion numbers already.
While there is some truth to this argument, I feel it is overstated. There are 17 states that have laws or constitutions that ban abortion and would go back into effect if Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were reversed or limited (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin). In 2017, 154,810 abortions were performed in these states out of 861,501 total in the U.S., which is 18% of the total. (By the way, Texas was a third of this total, with 55,440.) If these bans went back into effect, most of these abortions would not be performed, which would save a not insignificant number of babies’ lives.
If states were allowed to make abortion illegal or to restrict it significantly, there would probably be some adjustments by the states. Until now, it didn’t really matter if a state’s constitution or laws banned abortion because enforcement has been enjoined anyway. But legislators or voters might change things if they felt that it mattered. For example, Kansas has a statewide referendum on a constitutional amendment to ban abortion coming up in August 2022, and it will probably pass. Wyoming allows abortion up to the point of viability, but it had only 31 abortions in 2019, so there is clearly a strong cultural bias against abortion, regardless of the law. I expect that net overall, the restrictions on abortion would increase if voters and state legislators felt that they could do something effective, not just theoretical, against abortion.
Some states would reduce or eliminate restrictions on abortion if Roe and Casey were reversed. But this would seem to have little effect because those states already have very little practical restriction on abortion. For example, Massachusetts bans abortions after 24 weeks, and it might eliminate this restriction entirely since it is such a liberal state. But most abortions occur in the first trimester anyway, so this would not make a large numerical difference (although the death of even a few babies matters very much in moral terms). And some legislators in conservative states who previously voted in favor of life might start to vote in favor of abortion once their votes started to matter. But overall, I think these would have a minor effect.
But I believe that the most important impact of a pro-life decision in Dobbs would be psychological and moral. It would make people more aware that science overwhelming favors life because the baby has his own distinct DNA from the moment of conception. It would make more people aware that the age of viability, the pain threshold, and the age of heartbeat detection are much earlier than the beginning of the third trimester, the point where Roe allows states to regulate abortion. It would be a powerful statement for life.
(Note: The data on the number of abortions by state comes from WorldPopulationReview.com, and the information on state abortion bans is from Wikipedia.)
Published in Healthcare
It’s a step in the right direction and will further erode the number of infancized’s. Yes states rights is the slavery argument but it’s better than universal.
States’ rights is a federalism argument that should be respected by conservatives.
Erickson’s argument holds water for those who wish to eradicate abortion in one ruling (and I’m not criticizing that), but it also puts the lie to those who claim overturning Roe is “pro-choice” Armageddon. Yes, abortion would still be available, subject to the wishes of those in individual states. That, IMO, is as it should be. The next frontier is to work politically within those states, or for a pro-life constitutional amendment.
I’d like to add to the post that I think states like Florida probably move to ban it. That’s a major win.
I think it’s huge; I listened to the oral arguments and I agree with Dan McLaughlin at the National Review when he says,
“We’ve had the football pulled away from us before in big cases, so take all of that with a grain of salt. But if you envisioned the Court finally overturning Roe, this is about how you’d have expected the argument to go.”
Roe v Wade is the worst scotus case in American history, and it would be a tremendous moral and cultural victory to finally overturn it.
We can move for a constitution amendment to ban it later. Overturning Roe is the first step which allows us to broaden the battlefield at the state level where before we couldn’t.
If the scotus overturns Roe v Wade, Trump in my mind will have become perhaps the greatest president in 100+ years. Who cares about tweets when we are savings lives. If you think there is any moral equivalence between the two, you can go you-know-what.
And to be fair to Erickson, he did say he was strongly pro-life and that the lives of the babies saved do matter.
Just getting the Supremes out of the issue would be a generational win. Roe did two kinds of damage; it was a blow against individual life, and it crippled the society. Whatever one thinks about abortion, only a single-issue zealot should want the Feral Government to have any say in it whatsoever. Let the individual states debate and decide the issue honestly, without Big Sister’s interference.
Only if the states with abortion bans, also criminalize going to other states to get abortions.
True, and such a ban would likely be unconstitutional.
I always thought Roe was only about first trimester. I don’t think Dobbs challenges that.
I can see that but Mississippi is infringing on Roe’s second trimester standard and potentially on the third trimester standard.
It’s very big. (1) It undermines the philosophic underpinning of abortion, that is it’s a woman’s right to choose. (2) It allows states to make the counter philosophic underpinning that a human being is being killed when you abort. Philosophic underpinnings to anything shape the conscious and conscience of society. But also (3) restrictions to abortions have shown to reduce the number of abortions across all the states that have implemented such laws. Lives will be saved and substantially so. Don’t let anyone kid you, this is big.
Pretty sure John Roberts is going to rule that Roe v Wade is a tax and strike down the Mississippi law on that basis.
One added advantage is that it will force GOP legislators to actually take real action to be pro-life as opposed to their current lip service. I knew a fellow on FB who is an extremely devout Catholic who also despises the GOP for their lack of social justice. We had many debates about Cruz v Beto and his open support for Beto and mine for Cruz. We both feel similar about abortion, but he felt that Cruz was worse because he claimed to be pro-life but didn’t actually accomplish anything to that end. He claimed that Beto was pro-life as well, even after I linked to his website where he said he supported abortion.
We are ended the first half of this fight. We lost the first quarter with Casey. Dobbs changed the game in the second half. Combined with the technogical advances that are going to make the viability argument completely irrelevant, Dobbs will allow the argument to become about the child’s inherent right to exist as opposed to the mother’s right to privacy. When one casts the argument in those terms, few people are really happy to say that privacy trumps life.
And another important impact is the return of an issue to the states where it belongs.
I can’t help feeling that kowtowing to women who want abortions demonstrates our caving to narcissists. These women think they are much more valuable, even though they are murderers, than the babies. And don’t try the “fetus” or “viability” argument. Won’t work.
When the culture tells people abortion is a positive good, it is easy for young women to believe this. When the culture in some states scorns abortion completely, it changes that mindset, even if some young women will still go to California’s legions of Planned Parenthoods.
Wyoming is a small population state, but there were only 31 abortions there in a year??? That is amazing and super cool.
I listened with rapt attention to the oral arguments. I definitely am on the side of “Dobbs Matter,” even if it ends up creating only an incremental change by throwing out viability as the inviolable standard. (If that happens, abortion can be slowly strangled in its metaphorical cradle by politics moving in the opposite direction.)
Yes, and also I have a strong moral problem with those who deliberately use and push the use of the term “fetus” to refer to unborn babies. It’s as if they are trying to dehumanize them.
And of course, if they are not human, they are of no value (except perhaps to PETA).
Wyoming had 140 abortions in 2017 and 31 in 2019. I couldn’t find data for 2018. It is one of only two states without a Planned Parenthood office and has only one abortion clinic that has to provide other services to keep going, all according to Wikipedia, writing about the lamentable state of baby-murdering services in Wyoming.
Roe being undone would be a stupendous start. It’s felt so hopeless for so long. No precedent could be reversed. No bureaucracy could be undone. This would be like a mouthful of crisp cold spring water to a weary desert traveler.
Also, it would crush those bent on destruction. They don’t react well to not getting their way. This along with a massive red wave in 2022 and an actual conservative administration in 2024 would, I predict, lead to a mass exodus of millions of degenerates, lowlifes, perverts, etc. from the US.
I actually think Roe getting thrown out would invigorate the leftist base right before the mid-terms. Right now they are demoralized and less likely to vote because Biden is a disaster on every front, but the thought of losing their only sacrament would get them to the polls.
It’s a fine trade off- I’d easily kill Roe knowing the trade off would be expecting to lose House seats since it would be a massive win. We lamented for years that the court was too left wing, but now we have the most constitutional court in decades. This moment right here is what we voted for conservative presidents for and why we pushed for constitutional nominees- strike while the iron is hot. We might not get a 2nd chance.
Hope for the best/ prepare for the worst.
Unless Brandon gets a big Senate majority as a result, and then packs the court.
The trimester framework in Roe was overruled in Casey and replaced with the “undue burden” standard centered around viability. It’s a really unworkable standard. The only thing left from Roe is the Constitutional “right” to an abortion.
I think it’s unlikely they get both the house and senate under their control in 2022. I suppose anything is possible, but every trend is towards a red wave. I don’t see how they undo that in a year.
They don’t need the House to pack the court.
<< In 2017, 154,810 abortions were performed in these states out of 861,501 total in the U.S. >>
Do we actually know the total number? I was under the impression California doesn’t report it’s numbers.
It’s not worse than Dred Scott but it also isn’t any better.
The push for a Constitutional amendment has never required Roe to be overturned first. The problem with a Constitutional amendment is political. We just don’t have enough Americans on our side of the issue to make it happen.
He got the judges through because the Senate filibuster of SC nominations was ended. McConnell did that and Harry Reid (ironically) made that politically possible. Trumpworld hates McConnell and Trump himself is also not a fan.
Thomas is the single greatest SC appointment of my lifetime and that happened despite a Democrat Senate. Trump had a lot of structural tail winds and accomplished little that will last. The judges are one of his few truly lasting legacies. They simply would not have happened without McConnell. He also kept Garland off the Court long before Trump had even arrived. This gave Trump an extra bite of the apple.
If Roe is repealed, Alito will also be part of that majority. If we get this win, it will have been a team effort.
I think Roberts might even join a a majority to repeal but only if he can be the 6th vote. I don’t think he’d cast a 5th vote to repeal.
Yes, they do. The size of the Court is set by 28 U.S.C. sec. 1. In order to change it, you need bothe the House and Senate to pass a new law.
Thanks. I didn’t know that.
Dobbs absolutely matters. The best outcome is overruling Roe/Casey and getting the Court out of the abortion debate. But even upholding the MS law and creating a new test for reviewing abortion laws would be a big win.
The question is what do we do next? Now comes the hard part of legislating. Do we go for full bans or compromise? Will laws like MS’s 15-week ban be the norm, or will heartbeat bills? Do we allow for exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother? What about penalties? Do we punish the mother or the doctor? These questions have mostly been theoretical for decades.
Finally, we have lately made a habit of mocking and laughing at the Left when they ask dumb questions about laws to provide more support to mothers and families. Will we actually pass such laws? I like to think we would. If Roe/Casey are gone, that’s just the first win. The next battle is just as important .
Sorry, I was thinking of just the confirmation process.
Same here. Sure, they can pack the court, but with a Republican Senate theoretically only with conservatives.