“What am I missing here?”
Rather than give you my interpretation, I’ll let Ron Paul speak for himself:
“Under the 9th and 10th amendments, all authority over matters not specifically addressed in the Constitution remains with state legislatures. Therefore the federal government has no authority whatsoever to involve itself in the abortion issue. So while Roe v. Wade is invalid, a federal law banning abortion across all 50 states would be equally invalid.” Ron Paul.
The link to this statement is:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul301.html
That’s a pretty clear statement that Ron Paul believes the states should decide if abortion should be legal. I simply don’t understand how he can take the position that an unborn is a person yet fail to see that the 14th Amendment protects the life of that person.
This is only one example of why I don’t consider Ron Paul to be a ‘staunch defender of the Constitution”. Any defense he offers is the defense of his rather peculiar views of the Constitution. His stances on ‘Declaring War’ and ‘Letters of Marque and Reprisal’ are others.
BTW, sorry to take so long to get back with you. I had some minor surgery yesterday.
Thanks for your reply, Dugway. Hope you are well soon.
It seems to me that Ron Paul is saying one thing in his articles, but proposing another in the actual law he put forth for consideration. Or at least another result.
He seems to oppose a federal law banning abortion, and he wants to take away the ability of the federal courts to stop states from banning or restricting abortions, but he does not want to take away the ability of the federal courts to force states to ban abortions. In other contexts, it might be called “legislating from the bench” that he is advocating. I think pro-abortion groups would hit the roof if they read that section of the law I just posted, because they can see as clearly as I can what is NOT mentioned.
I understand why many people feel strongly about abortion, but I am not one of them. I am more concerned with the overall size and power of government. We gave mainstream Republicans a chance to curb the growth, and wound up spending a trillion dollars more each year than we were when Bill Clinton left office. Supporting Ron Paul is my response to that growth in government.