By Dave Andrusko
When you delve into the legislation about or the politics of abortion, you always follows two tracks: what happens in the Congress and in the 50 states. (For our purposes here, we’ll not address the courts which are obviously a huge but separate component.)
With regard to Congress, NRL News Today steadfastly follows Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer, working in tandem with the Biden-Harris administration, to gut as many protections as possible for unborn babies and to assault the consciences of medical personnel who want no part of abortion.
The most visible, by far from the only initiative, is to sabotage a 40+ year rapprochement in which Republicans and Democrats agreed that the taxpayer ought not be compelled to pay for abortions—The protection afforded by the Hyde Amendment. This from a president who insisted his very “soul” was committed to bringing us together.
Politico, a haven for pro-abortion Democrats, published two pieces today that are hugely instruction. The first more or less frankly acknowledged they are facing potential disaster in 2022 because of the policies they are espousing. But, as so often is the case, the second piece lapses into paranoia about nefarious plots allegedly hatched by various Republican-led state legislatures.
Neither addressed the Hyde Amendment. I understand the authors were focusing on other stupendously controversial initiatives but that is the point, isn’t it? It’s one thing to wade into new controversies. It is quite another to unsettle an issue—abortion funding—the legitimacy of which was resolved by the Supreme Court in 1980!
It’s not like merely tearing a band-aid off a minor scratch. Eliminating the Hyde Amendment would be like ripping a limb off.
In tennis they talk about “unforced errors.” Trashing this consensus understanding, supporting by Republican and Democrat presidents alike, would be the ultimate unforced error.
I was going to also talk about “How Red States Got Their Groove Back” in which Alan Greenblatt writes about how “after years of relative quiet,” Republican lawmakers “successfully pushed abortion bans” and other issues. It’s a fascinating read and we’ll tackle that separately tomorrow.