# Re: Validity of positions in the topic: For those who are in favor of “abortion being left to the states” - why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-validity-of-positions-in-the-topic-for-those-who-are-in-favor-of-abortion-being-left-to-the-states-why/1027731>\
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**Created:** [February 17, 2026, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-validity-of-positions-in-the-topic-for-those-who-are-in-favor-of-abortion-being-left-to-the-states-why/1027731 "2026-02-17T01:05:46Z")\
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**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-validity-of-positions-in-the-topic-for-those-who-are-in-favor-of-abortion-being-left-to-the-states-why/1027731/9 "2026-02-17T03:20:18Z")

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Close - what I’m asking is why anybody would actually want the issue to go to the states.

I don’t understand how that could be someone’s desire. If you believe abortion is murder, you would want it to be illegal in the whole country - why would you want murder to be legal in New York but not New Jersey? If you believe a woman has a right to have an abortion (whether a privacy right or an equal protection right ) you wouldn’t want it to be illegal anywhere in the country. I cannot figure out what belief about abortion results in “I don’t believe it’s murder, nor do I believe a woman has a right to have an abortion, so let’s leave it up to the states”. I suppose someone might have that belief - but I’ve never heard anyone profess it. Talking about “state’s rights” or the Tenth amendment doesn’t answer the underlying “why”.

I can understand either side going along with leaving it to the states as a compromise - that sort of thing happens all the time. But there are just some issues that I don’t understand anyone actually wanting to leave to the states , not as a compromise, but as their first choice. I’m pretty sure that those in favor of slavery would have actually preferred that they could move to a free state and keep people enslaved but the best they could get was the Fugitive Slave Act.

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