Naw, If We Let Them Vote on Abortion, We Will Lose

NY Times: Based on the Pro-Choice Kansas Vote

Naw, If We Let Them Vote on Abortion, We Will Lose

It’s a consistent theme in red state legislatures, Republicans in Congress and courts controlled by MAGA-leaning judges: stop those who oppose our MAGA tsunami from voting or having their votes counted. The memes – “stop the steal,” “they shall not replace us,” “it’s rigged,” “illegals are voting,” “we need poll watchers,” etc. – have become embedded in MAGA psyche. “It’s so obvious we represent America, that our votes have long since established our vast majority rule that any election or vote we may lose is obviously fraudulent.” Trump’s reignited refrain.

So much of MAGA doctrine is based on the belief that their values are mandated by God, so anything that negates “God’s directive” must be false, the devil’s manipulation. And now, that theme has been extended to referenda from the people themselves: God opposes pro-choice, so obviously any vote in support of that belief cannot possibly be true… and even attempting to posit such choices directly to the voters is contrary to God’s will. Just like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, MAGAns feel the call of God to “do what must be done.” That the NRA and MAGA zealots view the Second Amendment as a clear “enforcement” tool to purge government that contradicts this “Christian” mandate tells you the danger that lurks..

Since an open right to seek an abortion with no or very narrow limitations is the overwhelming value of somewhere between 60%-70% of American voters (depending on the poll), a trend that transcends the red-blue divide, passionate opponents to abortion know that they must not let the voters decide the issue… that their quest to preserve the zygote… er “child”… is their sacred duty by and all means without restriction. God is on their side?! Indeed, in red states, citizen referenda have repeatedly rejected state legislation banning abortion.

As Donald Trump tries to walk the line on a very unpopular MAGA initiative – abortion bans, which spill over into so many aspects of women’s reproductive medical issues – he takes credit for his judges’ reversal of Roe v Wade but shrugs his shoulders at the issue itself: I just made a state rights choice, nothing more, he claims. He does not want a repeat of the 2022 midterms where abortion bans cost the GOP the congressional mandate they expected. Trump enabled the anti-abortion state laws, but he did not force that to happen? Plausible deniability?

The June 24th Associated Press (from writers Kimberlee Kruesi, Christine Fernando and Leah Willingham) note that even bringing this issue to a direct referendum is not possible in most red states: “Let voters decide on abortion? Not an option in 25 states… Republican-majority legislatures block citizen initiatives from putting reproductive rights on the ballot… West Virginia is among the 25 states that do not allow citizen initiatives or constitutional amendments on the ballot, an avenue of direct democracy that has allowed voters to circumvent their legislatures and preserve abortion and other reproductive rights in a number of states over the last two years.

“Republicans in the state have repeatedly dismissed the idea of placing an abortion-rights measure before voters, which in West Virginia is a step only lawmakers can take… ‘It makes you wonder what they’re so afraid of,’ said Democratic state Delegate Kayla Young, one of only 16 women in the West Virginia Legislature. ‘If they feel so strongly that this is what people believe, prove it.’…

“Former President Trump, who named three of the justices who overturned Roe, has repeatedly claimed that ‘the people’ are now the ones deciding abortion access… ‘The people are deciding,’ he said during a recent interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. ‘And in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.’… But that’s not true everywhere. In states that allow the citizen initiative, and where abortion access has been on the ballot, voters have resoundingly affirmed the right to the procedure.

“Voters in seven states, including conservative ones such as [Kansas,] Kentucky, Montana and Ohio, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to curtail them in votes over the last two years. Supporters of reproductive rights are trying to put citizen initiatives on the ballot in several states this year.

“But voters don’t have a direct say in half the states… This is particularly true for those in the South. Republican-controlled legislatures, many of which have been heavily gerrymandered to give the GOP disproportionate power, have enacted some of the strictest abortion bans since the Supreme Court ruling while shunning efforts to expand direct democracy.

“States began adopting the initiative process during the Progressive Era more than a century ago, giving citizens a way to make or repeal laws through a direct vote of the people. Between 1898 and 1918, nearly 20 states approved the citizen initiative. Since then, just five have done so… ‘It was a different time,” said John Matsusaka, professor of business and law at USC. “There was a political movement across the whole country when people were trying to do what they saw as good government.’”

If you believe God has clear mandates that political choice might negate, those with evangelical religious passion also believe that they too have that moral mandate, that mere mortals cannot reverse God’s will. They know they must fight to preserve their perception of God’s directive by any and all means possible. Read the preceding sentence but replace the reference to evangelical passion with “Allah’s directives of Shiia faith in the Koran,” and perhaps you can see how democracy has no place in the United States any more than it does in Iran. Hard to picture Donald Trump as a religious leader, a man of few moral guidelines, but then he might like the title Ayatollah (or a Christian equivalent) Donald John Trump. But I do not!

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you love the move to ban abortions, you will absolutely be ecstatic as we repeal democracy, do away with true representative elections, add a state religion and welcome the new American theocracy.