Without DALL-E, this is the best I can do for a “waterfall of constitutions” image.
Roe v Wade was always a stop-gap. I’m glad we had it for as long as we did, it provided proof that abortion rights do no harm to a country, and actually make it stronger. But it is there to cover for the lack of abortion protections in the constitution. That grace period will soon be over.
Abortion rights should be protected by the law. These protections should be in the Constitution, to make them as durable as possible. They should, in fact, be in every country’s constitution, just like Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion should be.
Putting these protections into law for every person on Earth is both important, and currently impossible. It is an effort of generations. Putting these protections into law for American citizens is easier, maybe only a matter of years. But it is also difficult. Just like there are tens of millions of people in Iran who would literally take up arms to kill someone who tried to grant them freedom of religion, there are millions of people in Texas that will pay tremendous costs to stop someone trying to grant them abortion rights.
Fortunately, every state has its own constitution. California doesn’t need to invade Texas to protect its own citizens. Texas doesn’t need to invade California to ban abortions over there. Once Californians amend their constitution they will be safe within their own state, and will be free to begin (or continue) the work of slowly lifting anti-abortion communities out of their dark ages. We start with the fortresses we have, and we work outward from them.
It is possible there will always be a state or two with abortion bans, which the truely obstinate will retreat to. Much like it’s possible there will always be a few nations of theological absolutism, that the zealots can flock to and live in joyful misery. That’s a problem for a future day.
Today’s challenge is to secure abortion rights in your state. Get them in the constitution. Worry about other states after that.
Once that is done, help make others safe. Pre Civil War, some of the most meaningful good that a private citizen could do is helping slaves escape to free states. There is a similar importance in helping people escape to pro-abortion states. Per @yashkaf – “the best thing blue state democrats can do for abortion access is get rid of NIMBY zoning and occupational licensing so that poorer women can actually find jobs and move to blue states.”
If you live in a blue state, start removing obstacles to dense housing and employment.
3 Responses to “There’s More Than One Constitution ’round These Parts”
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“Fortunately, every state has its own constitution. California doesn’t need to invade Texas to protect its own citizens. Texas doesn’t need to invade California to ban abortions over there. Once Californians amend their constitution they will be safe within their own state, and will be free to begin (or continue) the work of slowly lifting anti-abortion communities out of their dark ages.”
State constitutions don’t get much press because the Federal Constitution supersedes them.
As for freedom to terminate pregnancies being guaranteed in certain states, this claim seems pretty dubious to me. Red states are racing to outdo each other in terms of deranged laws aimed to wielding their power against women beyond their state lines. Multiple red states have already declared any woman who goes out of state for an abortion will be arrested the moment they return. Missouri is trying to change the law so they can essentially arrest anyone in Missouri who has ever had an abortion at all even if they are simple at an airport on layover or driving from one state to another.
Even setting these laws aside, depending on the final SCOTUS ruling it could become as simple as a majority of Republicans in all three houses to pass a law banning abortion nationwide, with the right to choose becoming a piece of political football changing once to twice a decade.
I’d say we’re better off working to remove Republicans from as many positions of power at all levels of government regardless of where we live than voting for fewer occupational licenses.
Yes, absolutely true. Unfortunately, I can’t vote in all 50 states. So while I can vote for Democrats in my state, this doesn’t help women in Red states. My final point was that there IS something people in Blue states can do for women in Red states. Direct action we can take HERE, on our secured home-ground, without invading enemy territory. We can make it easier for them to flee to our state.
Can they really prosecute people for something they did in another state and that was legal there?
Could California pass a law that makes it illegal to arrest someone for having had an abortion and then arrest Texan policemen for doing that when they go visit Hawaii and change airplanes in LA?
Has there been a precedence for that?
I don’t doubt that they intend to do that (not the arresting a Texan policeman, I mean arresting a woman from California who had an abortion when she enters Texas) but could that have any success and how would other states react to their citizens getting arrested like that?
When stuff like that happens on an international level there’s ambassadors talking to governments and negotiating on behalf of their nation’s citizens but I don’t remember California having an embassy in Texas.