Is abortion even an issue in the election?
This presidential election will have a direct effect on many issues we care about such as the economy and illegal immigration; however, abortion is not one of them. We need to stop lying to women!
Here are the facts:
It takes a super-majority to get any law through Congress because of a rule in the Senate often referred to as the “filibuster.” The filibuster essentially is the art of endlessly debating an issue to keep from getting down to a vote. The filibuster has been around informally since the Senate began. The rule to end debate is called “cloture” and requires 60 votes, not a simple majority, to actually pass the measure. That has been the rule since 1970. From 1916 through 1969, it took a two-thirds vote to end debate.
The cloture rule in the Senate makes it impossible for anything without broad popular support from becoming a law. In other words, it is a safeguard against the party in power to keep it from ramming through a piece of legislation before “we the people” have time to weigh in on it. It only takes a simple majority to change a Senate rule, but it takes a super-majority to get down to a vote to change the rules.
Yes, there is a way to get around cloture. It’s highly controversial and has only happened a couple of times. It’s commonly referred to as the “nuclear option,” for good reason.
Bottom line: With the country so divided over this issue, the Senate has not, and is not likely, to have a vote on anything to do with this question until there is a popular consensus. To pretend that either party is going to pass a national law on abortion is irresponsible. It’s an obvious ploy to keep us from focusing on the real issues in this election, and that’s a shame!
It’s true that some have threatened to end the cloture rule and/or pack the Supreme Court to have their way, but this would be political suicide. Most Americans are unwilling to allow either party to unravel the pillars of our democratic republic!
Abortion is now up to the states, as it was before Roe v. Wade, and that is where it is likely to stay. If you are still unsure where the two presidential candidates stand, read their platforms. Despite all the rhetoric here are their bottom lines:
Republican Platform: “Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life.” It goes on to reiterate: “We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”
Democratic Platform: “President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are committed to restoring the reproductive rights Trump ripped away. With a Democratic Congress, we will pass national legislation to make Roe the law of the land again.”
Roe v. Wade is one of the most misunderstood rulings ever handed down by the Supreme Court. It is generally presumed to have given women a right to abortion with reasonable restrictions after viability. This simply is not the case. It gave us the most extreme abortion law of any country in the civilized world. Under Roe, abortions were legal for any reason up to viability. After viability, states could ban abortions only if the mother’s “life or health” was affected. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Here’s the catch. There was a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, which still stands. It defines “health” as “psychological, physical, emotional or familial.”
Defining one’s emotional health is difficult at best, but the term “familial” means anything relating to the family. In other words, any excuse will do such as “I don’t have a spare bedroom.”
While abortion activists try to tell us that late-term abortions only occur in heartbreaking cases related to serious physical problems, this simply is not the case. Only about 1% of abortions occur after viability. However, this amounts to some 12,000 per year.
There is no law that requires states to report abortion statistics or the reasons for which they are done. The information we do have comes from the abortionists themselves. One of the few who do late-term abortions, Warren Hern of Colorado, told The Atlantic that half, and sometimes more, of those he has done over the years are purely elective – with no medical reason.
Don’t be misled: Abortion is not a real issue in this presidential election. Should it ever become one, are you really ready to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again?