Regarding Alito's draft and the response of Republican politicians who hold federal office—senators and US representatives—the metaphor of the dog who caught up to the car seems apt. For example, Sen. Ron Johnson, the MAGA Republican seeking re-election in Wisconsin this fall, said earlier this week that, while overturning Roe might be "messy," it wouldn't be "that big a change." From an article at madison.com:
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said he doesn't expect abortion to be an issue in his campaign and said if Roe v. Wade is overturned "it's not going to be that big a change" in Wisconsin despite a law on the books that would ban abortion in almost every instance.
"It might be a little messy for some people, but abortion is not going away," he told the Wall Street Journal, adding that people would be able to still drive to Illinois for an abortion if Roe is overturned. . .
Johnson has supported federal abortion bans in the past and praised the leaked draft Roe opinion but said the matter is best handled by each state. Still, Johnson's spokesperson, Alexa Henning, would not say whether Johnson still supports a federal ban.
Pity poor Alexa. I can well understand that she's at a loss about what to say, considering that her boss has taken the "position" that overturning Roe is great, but not that big a deal (though admittedly "messy"), since his constituents will be able to drive to Illinois for an abortion, thank goodness. Before, he was for a federal abortion ban; now, just drive to Illinois, no problem! Dog, meet car.
I wonder who Johnson thinks this message will appeal to.
Meanwhile, back home in the states, where Johnson thinks abortion policy should be set, Republican legislatures are busy drafting laws that would extinguish his talking points. A legislator in Missouri, which is a trigger law state, recently introduced a bill that would make it illegal to leave Missouri in order to have an abortion. A right to travel has long been regarded as inviolable, but the Missouri bill isn't by a long shot the most extreme. I think that honor goes to Louisiana, where the legislature is poised to pass a law that includes these provisions:
I've read it over a few times and feel sure there's only one way to understand this. Louisiana will ban abortion. If a federal law is passed purporting to nullify its state law, Louisiana will ignore the federal law. If a state judge rules that the federal law must be obeyed, Louisiana will get rid of that judge. It appears the bill is unlikely to become law only because the governor, a pro-life Democrat, has described it as "problematic." But it's just by blind luck that the governor of Louisiana isn't a complete lunatic.
A month ago, I couldn't have imagined anything crazier than Texas allowing private citizens to receive a $10,000 bounty for squealing on someone who performed or abetted an abortion.
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