“Sorry to disagree, but I think Cicero is right that the first thing we need to do is reverse Roe v. Wade and return the life issue back to the states, where the Constitution originally vested it. I gave some reasons for my view earlier, at Post 187.”
I agree! REVERSE Roe/Wade at the United States Supreme Court level BUT amke it include the STATE level otherwise you will NEVER, EVER ban it with all states. Forget giving it to the states. Yes, I know, I am violating core ideology but I consider the life of a baby to TRUMP that.
Two questions, nmh: (1) How are you going to effect a reversal of Roe v. Wade at the state level without going to the states?
If SCOTUS reverses, the abortion issue goes to the sovereign states, each of which is constitutionally competent to address such matters in ways consistent with the beliefs and values of the people who live in their communities. SCOTUS is constitutionally incompetent to directly declare state law, in this sense: If a state passes a law that someone runs afoul of, and the defendent is convicted by a jury of his peers, but believes his constitutional rights have been violated, he can sue in federal court, and maybe wind his way up through the appeals process to the Supreme Court. Only then can SCOTUS weigh in on the constitutionality of the state law the defendent has been convicted of violating. The Supremes are not the court of original jurisdiction when it comes to state law. And don't forget the several states have their own constitutions. Mine was written by John Adams.
(2) How does the sacrosanct life of a baby trump the "core ideology" of the Constitution, which is the baby's own best security that its God-given life and liberty will not be violated by government action? You want to "save babies" by killing their major legal protection? This seems to be a false, or at least faulty dichotomy....
When it comes to life issues, we are living in a slough of near total barbarism these days. Passing laws won't help this, for you can't legislate morality —especially in a time when there is no public agreement on what morality is, or even whether there is such a thing. Our challenge is somehow to extricate ourselves from this morass, to stand up on God's firm ground, in His Light and, by His help, to reestablish, to renew the commitment of the Framers of the federal Constitution to the moral values and ideals implicit in the very design of the Constitution they built, for the purpose of establishing a "new order for the ages," a novus ordo seclorum dedicated to the full promulgation of human life and liberty by constraining the power and authority of civil government.
Time to roll up our sleeves. The work will be difficult and results will not come overnight. It took a long time for the American people to fall into the disordered, amoral slough that America has fallen into (thanks to the tireless efforts of radical "progressives" over the past century, and more specifically to the degraded state of public education); it'll take a while to extricate the culture from it — God willing.
Thank you so much for writing, nmh!