The Supreme Court has allowed the Texas law to take effect. BTW, anyone in the country can now sue anyone in Texas for helping someone to get an abortion. They get up to a $10K prize for winning such a suit. Now what?
SOME THOUGHTS
1) Other states will pass similar laws. FL and SD are already on board.
2) The Supreme Court didn't really rule; they just let the law take effect. There will be court cases (many from the federal government) that will probably force the Court to act, certainly against the idea of out of sate private citizens being the enforcers of the law.
At BEST this will delay the final decision until Rose v Wade is likely to be reversed (or severely limited) by the Court in the Spring. The Court will possibly put some restraints on the states, but not many.
3) Folks who can afford it will have their abortions out of state. OK is alreading seeing increases in out of state patients. At one point in 1973, some NY clinics had half their clientele coming from out of state.
4) Illegal abortions will greatly increase with the attendant negative medical effects.
5) The effect of the law will NOT be equally distributed. Many more minorities will now be born, given that their abortion rate will be much lower.
6) Democrats will again talk about stuffing the Supreme Court, something that will simply make them look silly. The Senate won't pass such legislation, which would need the support of every Democrat.
7) The federal government has abdicated. Since 1973, the Congress might have passed legislation, perhaps allowing abortions in only the first 3 months, or after rape or incest.
Instead, in 1973, the Republicans made this their #1 issue, and understood that it would take a very conservative majority in the Supreme Court for them to win their fight. Now, the fight is all but over.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In this as in all issues, with this Supreme Court, states will have more power with this Supreme Court, with the federal government having less power. In many aspects of society, the people will need to understand that they elect their state legislatures and governors. If folks don't like what their leadership is doing, then they need to vote them out.
That being said, the federal government can pass and strength laws that effect voting rights and civil rights. But make no mistake, the Court is unlikely allow abortions after 13 weeks (or the current 8 for Texas) just because white folks are more likely to be able to cross state lines.
SOME THOUGHTS
1) Other states will pass similar laws. FL and SD are already on board.
2) The Supreme Court didn't really rule; they just let the law take effect. There will be court cases (many from the federal government) that will probably force the Court to act, certainly against the idea of out of sate private citizens being the enforcers of the law.
At BEST this will delay the final decision until Rose v Wade is likely to be reversed (or severely limited) by the Court in the Spring. The Court will possibly put some restraints on the states, but not many.
3) Folks who can afford it will have their abortions out of state. OK is alreading seeing increases in out of state patients. At one point in 1973, some NY clinics had half their clientele coming from out of state.
4) Illegal abortions will greatly increase with the attendant negative medical effects.
5) The effect of the law will NOT be equally distributed. Many more minorities will now be born, given that their abortion rate will be much lower.
6) Democrats will again talk about stuffing the Supreme Court, something that will simply make them look silly. The Senate won't pass such legislation, which would need the support of every Democrat.
7) The federal government has abdicated. Since 1973, the Congress might have passed legislation, perhaps allowing abortions in only the first 3 months, or after rape or incest.
Instead, in 1973, the Republicans made this their #1 issue, and understood that it would take a very conservative majority in the Supreme Court for them to win their fight. Now, the fight is all but over.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In this as in all issues, with this Supreme Court, states will have more power with this Supreme Court, with the federal government having less power. In many aspects of society, the people will need to understand that they elect their state legislatures and governors. If folks don't like what their leadership is doing, then they need to vote them out.
That being said, the federal government can pass and strength laws that effect voting rights and civil rights. But make no mistake, the Court is unlikely allow abortions after 13 weeks (or the current 8 for Texas) just because white folks are more likely to be able to cross state lines.
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