I as a minority pro-life libertarian who doesn't relish having to write about abortion. It's a really difficult issue to discuss. It seems counter-intuitive to suggest the State should intervene in family planning decisions. But contrary to the propaganda of ideological feminists, I am not suggesting that there should be birth quotas for fertile women, that the state restrict elective surgeries preventative against future impregnation, that the state should meddle in/regulate voluntary sexual behavior. The issue I fundamentally have is the Non-Aggression Principle being violated against innocent preborn children Keep in mind many abortions are performed after 12 weeks/3 months: when the baby is fully recognizable, has all organs intact and functional, including brain and heart. We are no longer talking abstract principles of liberty here, but the rights of another human being worthy of respect and protection.
Does that mean we pro-lifers want to sanction pregnant women who abort, as Donald Trump seems to think in his transparent pandering for the pro-life vote? No. We know Trump ran for the Reform Party in 2000 as strongly pro-abortion choice. He similarly dodged questions on whether he ever donated to Planned Parenthood, the largest US abortion provider. We are empathetic to any woman who has .lost her child. We realize that the deternined pregnant woman will find abortifacients or services in a different jurisdiction or the black market. Our focus is on moral persuasion of providers who at one time honored the Hippocratic Oath and its prohibition against dispensing abortifacients.
I had no doubt a deep blue state like Maryland (despite historical ties to Roman Catholicism) is unambiguously pro-abortion choice. I am well-aware of how the pro-aborts have seized on the offense since the Dobbs decision, which simply returned abortion regulation to the states which traditionally held the police and health regulatory authority. Some states, like California. had liberalized abortion before Roe.
The pro-aborts have engaged on 2 fronts since Dobbs: (1) codification of Roe v Wade at the federal level and (2) propagating atate abortion rights particularly at the state constitutional level. The latter has been more successful as pro-life goups have issues with pragmatic lines over restrictions
The former point is in complete denial of the Dobbs decision. SCOTUS determined there was nothing in the Constitution enabling the federal government to encroach on the rights of the states in relevant policies. This includes pro-life restrictions or pro-abort liberalizations/ The only thing that would enable federal action is an amendment. For all practical purposes a constitutional amendment requires a super-majority of both the House and Senate to pass, then a supermajority of states to ratify. This is essentially impossible in the Congress alone, never mind the fact that there are enough red states to block it.
I knew when the pro-aborts pushed codification, inevitably the pro-life side, led by people like former VP Pence, would push restrictions. And of course, the self-righteous pro-aborts would fearmonnger on the natural response to their codification efforts.
This sets the stage for the current Maryland race to succeed retiring US Senator Cardin.Two prominent Democrats, Congressman Trone (MD-6) /and Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland county executive. I don't even watch that much local TV, and I've been swamped with countless pro-abort ads from federal and other Dem candidates. Trone in particularly has promoted himself as someone who self-righteously shouts down those nefarious protestors at clinics. Both prominent Senate Den candidates are fearmongering former Gov. Hogan helping Trump take over the Senate, kill the welfare state and senior entitlements, and "throwing away our legal rights.
To date, I've seen only one Hogan ad:tough on Southern border immigration, poining out as governor he had no support for sanctuary cities. He is facing some Trumpkin I've never heard of. There has been no love lost between Hogan and Trump, with Hogan at one point seriously considering challenging Trump for the nomination. I was actually surprised to hear Hogan running for the office after hearing him rule it out earlier. Let's be clear: if any Republican can win the seat, it's Hogan, a popular two-term governor. I haven't heard Hogan address abortion but he seems to understand the political reality of permissive MD laws and opposes federal bans (contrary to Dodds).
I've seen varying polls on Trone or Alsobrooks vs. Hogan flipping high single-digit leads.It's hard to say because Hogan-bashing ads by Trone and Alsobrooks have been saturating the airwaves.
I have to publish this post now with the Senate primary Tuesday. As I write, Trone seems to have an edge over Alsobrooks but she seems to have some late momentum, possibly a statistical tie going into Tuesday. I'll just be glad when they stop talking about abortion, which isn't a federal issue. Oh, I know they'll try to use it this fall: it's been their one-trick pony since Dobbs. Planned Parenthood says Hogan has a record of opposing abortion. But I suspect Hogan is going to force the Dems to address the economy and immigration. Difficult to say who I'll vote gor this fall--Hogan or the LP nominee, but I could see myself voting for Hogan over the Dems
