Wednesday 15 May 2019

Don't Take Too Much Heart

The new abortion law in Alabama would be superb. Not least, having been written by veterans of the pro-life movement, it criminalises the abortionist but not the woman. We experienced pro-lifers never advocate that one. We leave that to erstwhile donors to Planned Parenthood such as Donald Trump. But this would never survive the Supreme Court. Something less pro-life might have done, although probably not. But this? No chance.

Place not your trust in Brett Kavanaugh. He was unknown to the pro-life movement, which had submitted the names of dozens of potential nominees, all of which were rejected by a President who, say it again, had previously been a major donor to Planned Parenthood. Republican Senators voted to confirm Kavanaugh after he had promised Susan Collins that he would uphold Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Obergefell v. Hodges. They gave Collins's speech a standing ovation.

Thus did they secure a Justice with the most egregious record on torture, Guantánamo Bay, mass surveillance, workers' rights, consumer protection, environmental responsibility, treaties with Native Americans tribes, and healthcare for people with preexisting conditions. On any one of those issues, Kavanaugh could have been blocked, with all Democrats and enough Republicans voting against him. But the Democrats chose to make it about #MeToo instead.

The confirmation of Kavanaugh will be the only lasting legacy of the #MeToo phenomenon. But that is another story. Or at any rate, it is a different chapter in the story of the baleful decline of both main political parties in the United States. Neither of them deserves a free pass. Or very much else at all.

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