Democracy For Me, But Not For Thee

Instead of leaving the question of abortion access up to the states, imagine if we left it up those who can get pregnant…

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 7, 2022

My daughter writes (texts) to say she has realized if abortions are criminalized again, women guilty of a miscarriage (let no one aver; it was only massive public pressure that turned that south Texas DA away from prosecuting one recently. It will return when Roe falls.) would become felons unable to vote.  There could also be criminal prosecutions of women who go to, say, New Mexico, for an abortion that's legal there, but not in Texas (given SB8, you think that wouldn't happen?  You want to be the poor person charged with that crime (it won't be a rich white girl living in a major metro area) to take that one to the Supreme Court?  If you do, do you like your odds?).  Consider that, too, in what follows:

It would be more convincing if the same folks insisting that we leave contentious issues "to the democratic process" showed any interest in ensuring that such a process actually *be* democratic.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 7, 2022

Here in Texas, leaving things "to the democratic process" means leaving it to a state legislature that has been severely gerrymandered to disproportionately favor Republicans, and that has barred the state's more diverse cities from adopting many of their own social policies.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 7, 2022

Of course, some people will disagree because women are such emotional creatures, amirite?

“Why would you give women the vote when they’re all just going to burn in Hell for eternity anyway?” pic.twitter.com/UMJM94S3TE

— FindACrimeHat (@Popehat) May 7, 2022

And a reminder that “hysterectomy” was so named because it was thought to remove the source of hysteria. In this context especially it’s an extremely loaded term, and entirely inappropriate. Of course the whole comment is inappropriate.