The reality is setting in among pro-abortion zealots that they don’t have the power to simply override the landmark Supreme Court ruling to overrule Roe v. WadeThat dropped to Friday. This means that the big brains have come up with new ideas in order to attempt to reduce and circumvent it.
One such idea is rising to the top of the discussion, and it’s as insanely stupid as you’d imagine. You’ll also be less than shocked to learn it’s being pushed by intellectual titans like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Daniel Goldman, the latter of which was the main Democrat lawyer in Trump’s first impeachment.
AOC just called on Biden to open abortion clinics on federal lands “right now” pic.twitter.com/J1usul4XuU
— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) June 25, 2022
The federal government may provide abortions in the United States if Congress amends or eliminates the Hyde Amendment. This includes Veterans Hospitals.
This creative thinking is essential for Congress. #DG4NY
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) June 25, 2022
The “creative” idea here is to have the federal government, which currently has no legal mandate to provide abortions, provide them on federal property, including in places like VA hospitals. But I don’t think you need to be a lawyer to see the obvious flaws in that plan.
The Hyde Amendment, which allows abortions to be performed with federal funding, is clearly a concern, Goldman says. Yet, even if we assume Democrats could get the votes to repeal the provision, a big stretch given Sen. Joe Manchin’s position on the issue, the idea of tasking the feds with running baby killing rings in states that outlaw the procedure is asinine.
How federal and state laws interact is the real issue. It seems that Joe Biden might authorize abortions at federal enclaves. These could be military bases, national parks or other locations. This would violate state laws. At the very least, that’s an extremely complicated issue, but given that federal law doesn’t address a range of criminal activity, including performing abortions, it appears that state laws would then apply.
There’s also the issue of jurisdiction over any individual person getting an abortion on federal property. Obviously, all military personnel who are stationed on a military base must comply with the UCMJ. It includes a number of federal laws that could override any state laws. However, what happens if doctors perform abortions at VA hospitals? Is there any federal law that allows VA hospitals (i.e. veterans) to care for people not within their scope of practice? veterans) anyway?
“VA hospitals are able to offer abortions to anybody who comes in from the street, if Joe Biden says so” is not something that actually exists. It amazes me that people think that it does.
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) June 25, 2022
Lastly, there’s a litany of issues regarding the reserve rights of states over various lands they’ve sold to the government. These big issues are preventing Biden from signing an order or providing abortions on federal property.
But putting all that aside, and assuming I’m wrong about how things would play out legally, any plan to provide abortions in states that outlaw them is incredibly dangerous on a societal level. The fabric of the nation still matters, and having the federal government use taxpayer money to violate state law, giving the middle finger to that state’s residents on abortion, would be a huge pressure point. The United States does not need the temperature to increase among political factions.
These kinds of desperate attempts at destroying the Supreme Court should be discarded. These are dangerous and stupid. If someone wants to have an abortion they can drive to any state that allows them. What we don’t need is the federal government spitting in the face of states that have made a different choice. That would not be good for anyone.
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