Avoiding Civil War

According to Ryan McMaken in his article To Avoid Civil War, Learn to Tolerate Different Laws in Different States, the “Dobbs decision’s effect on political decentralization in the United States is a far bigger deal” than this latest abortion ruling.

The Feds have been trying more and more to make their rulings apply to all states, for example they told some states years ago that they wanted their help to enforce the feds new marijuana laws. (When it comes to maintaining law and order, the Feds resources are skimpy compared to those of the states.) States told them to enforce the marijuana laws themselves. After all, these new laws were the Fed’s laws and they had more important issues like protecting their citizens against dangerous criminals.

As McMaken says in his second paragraph, “…the ruling isn’t so much about abortion as it is about the federal government’s role in abortion. State governments are free to make abortion 100% legal within their own borders. Some states have already done so. The court’s ruling limits only the federal government’s prerogatives over abortion law, and this has the potential to lead to many other limitations on federal power as well. In this way, Dobbs is a victory for those seeking to limit federal power.”

McMaken goes on to say, “Policy makers in Massachusetts have moved to protect the state’s citizens from extradition to antiabortion states for anti-abortion crimes. The state’s governor also signed an executive order prohibiting the state’s agencies “from assisting another state’s investigation into a person or entity” for abortion-related activities. New York’s governor has signed legislation “that shields (abortion) providers and patients from civil liability” in abortion related claims.

Canada, the United State’s northern neighbour, is the only county that has no criminal restrictions on abortion. In 1982, a ruling found that Canada’s 1969 abortion law violated a woman’s right to “life, liberty and security of the person” guaranteed under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms established in 1982. American readers may be aware of this but this is not to suggest a Canadian abortion would solve their unwanted pregnancy. This is Canadian law for Canadians. Further, Americans with both American and Canadian citizenship should absolutely consult American legal authorities as to their own situation before contemplating any such action.

McMaken concludes “if Americans can’t shake the idea that the regime must force one way of life on everyone, we can expect national political divides to grow ever more bitter.”