I generally don't like to discuss the abortion issue because there is so much emotion around it that logic goes out the window, but let's try:
Ever since the horribly decided Roe v. Wade (which arguably kicked off the "social conservative" movement) there has been a campaign to reverse it one way or the other. In 1976 Ford wanted to pass an amendment or Law that would leave it to the states; Reagan wanted a constitutional amendment to ban it outright.
I think it is fair to say that the constitutional amendment to ban it is politically hopeless. If it wasn't, though, it would be decided by 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the states. In other words, no involvement by the President.
There have been other laws passed by Congress and signed or vetoed by Presidents (Hyde Amendment, PBA), but these tend to be around the edges only and don't address Roe.
Meanwhile SCOTUS has addressed the issue a few times since but Roe has not been reversed, although the margin is closer than in Roe.
So the next couple of SCOTUS appointments are crucial. And yet, the Roe issue legally is really not so much about abortion per se but about judicial usurpation of power. Regardless of how one feels about abortion, the legal case for Roe is incredibly weak. Many honest legal scholars on Left have conceded as much.
For me the SCOTUS issue is not abortion per se but about judicial restraint, as CJ Roberts has mentioned. We need a President who will nominate Justices who have a proper view of the role of the Court and a Senate that will confirm such Justices. And here, I have doubts about Rudy. I am not sure he will do this.
I AM sure, however, that Hillary or Obama or any other 'rat will nominate Justices who will decide cases as they want and cite any reason they feel like citing, including Eurocourts. THIS near-certainty, combined with the negative impact on national security and the WOT, is why the 'rats must lose in '08.
Back to abortion. If Roe is overturned that in and of itself will only have a MINOR impact on the number of abortions in this country. Most states that have large numbers of abortions also are quite liberal and won't pass laws against it.
The REAL issue with abortion is WHY? The decision to have an abortion rests with a young woman who is pregnant. WHY is there such a cavalier attitude about life? WHY are some new mothers discarding babies in dumpsters? WHY are there some creepy people like the woman I once met from Planned Parenthood who fit the Limbaugh definition of feminazi -- women who cheer every time a baby is aborted like it is some kind of victory?
Until the question of the hearts of those young women is addressed, the legal issues surrounding her won't mean a thing -- and that doesn't matter WHO is President. After over thirty years of legal struggle, I just do not believe that is where this issue will be decided. It is decided every day -- right now in fact -- all across the country by young women.
In fact, I do not believe politics is where most social and/or cultural issues will be decided.
Exactly! I agree with you completely. Hope your flame suit is on -- mine is on permanently now!
No, they aren't.
There is one thing I am sure of, and that is that if liberals don't get what they demand, regardless of the mechanism of justification for it, they will rebel against any authority.
Until we have someone who will hammer them into abiding by the rule of law, and I mean the real, original intent, able to predict prosecution, rule of law, not what judicial activists say it is; quibling about judicial appointments is nothing but rearranging deck chairs.