But moving forward, there will be unwanted kids, so it becomes a non-time-limited effect.
Heavens to murgatroyd! Susan Collins says Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch may have been untruthful with her during their confirmation process! Why, I never would’ve thought that was possible!
Countdown to a sternly worded statement of concern in 5, 4, 3…
They’re going to need to invent a whole new line of moisturizer for her brow.
Here’s a funnier take on it:
I’m sure she will wring her hands, gnash her teeth, and be very disappointed.
And then get back in line.
I don’t really know my take on Collins–she has continued to be technically pro-choice in a party where you can win as a pro-life candidate pretty much anywhere that the party is viable, even Maine–and the former Maine Governor who was far right was very pro-life. The fact she has never officially flipped to pro-life makes me suspect her genuine convictions are pro-choice, the fact she simply chose not to care about those convictions at all in voting for Kavanaugh and Gorsuch makes me wonder if she really was stupid enough to think they would hold to their word.
There’s no ninth amendment in your Constitution?
The people who wrote the Constitution did not intend for the list of rights they enumerated to be seen as a complete list. They explicitly acknowledged that people have other constitutional rights that aren’t stated in the text.
The Supreme Court declared that the right to abortions existed in 1973. I’ve already pointed to the historical basis that justified that decision. While people may disagree with that decision, the Supreme Court has the authority to make such decisions.
The current court is apparently trying to take away a constitutional right from people.
A good comparison would be if the President pardoned some terrorist. People might think it was a terrible decision. But disagreeing with the decision doesn’t make the pardon invalid. The President has the authority to issue pardons and once they’re issued the person has been pardoned. A future President (or Congress or Supreme Court) does not have the authority to overturn the pardon because they didn’t like it and put the terrorist back in prison.
This may be an opportunity to finally make political change. There should easily be enough voters that can send pro-choice candidates to Congress. That would allow for new legislation.
The end of Roe v. Wade should be a rallying cry for Women’s reproductive rights.
This may turn things around for Democrats in 2022 elections.
Some Republicans may decide its in their interest to support pro-choice.
The thing is that they weren’t untruthful in their testimony— they made some bland statements about how precedents are important without giving any specifics on how they would rule on a Roe challenge. Collins chose to interpret that as a commitment to upholding Roe because it was politically expedient for her to do so.
Being disingenuous and weasely without technically lying is clearly something Collins is so unfamiliar with that she can’t comprehend what Kavanagh and Gorsuch could have done.
Nah, Collins met privately with both, and at least claimed to her voters that they considered Roe settled law. These were not on the record conversations like their official testimony, so we don’t know exactly what was said, but we do know what Collins believes she heard, or chose to say she heard.
“I can’t believe the leopard lied when I asked him if he’d eat my face!”
Collins’s (alleged) read on Kavanaugh reminds me a bit of the disparity between GW Bush’s take, and McCain’s take, on Putin:
Bush 43:
I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.
McCain:
When I looked at Putin’s eyes I saw 3 letters: K G B.
People will often see and hear what they want to see and hear. And that goes for Presidents and Senators and their voters.
At the very least the Democrats need to do everything they can to make 2022 and 2024 a national referendum on women’s right to choose. I think that’s a good issue, nationally and in state races, but I don’t know for sure if it will lead to wins. But they damn sure ought to try – this is a chance to turn a potentially very unpopular court decision into Democratic gains.
Collins has a history of hearing what she wants to hear. I remember during the Trump tax cut debate she said she was voting yes because she had a promise from Republican leadership to pass legislation funding the health care exchanges. The “promise” turned out to amount to “we’re really gonna give that idea a good look, Susan” and no bill was passed.
I think this was pretty well covered upthread, but …
My concern (I haven’t looked to find the data) is that this might represent much more of a push strategy than a pull:
https://www.williamjoseph.com/understanding-push-pull-strategies/
If the Democrats start with the supposition that this is The Single Most Animating Issue among their voters … and they’re wrong (see: inflation, health care, education, ‘kitchen table’ issues), then they effectively abdicate the election.
I think it’s far more likely they will secretly get abortions of they feel they need one.
My mother was pregnant with her fourth child in the late 60s, when abortion was illegal. She was married, a stay at home mom, with no health risks. Her doctor also knew she’d been using birth control as she didn’t want another baby at that time.
And the doctor told my mother that he could “take care of” the pregnancy.
My mother was so shocked that she changed obstetricians, and hired on who said he’d favor the baby over here if it came down to that.
But she could have had a safe illegal abortion for the asking. It would have been billed and recorded as an exploratory procedure.
I really don’t think abortion is going to be unavailable for wealthy women with connections, or their daughters. Just for everyone else.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha