Cool heads, open minds: Living together after Roe
With the question of abortion rights returned to the states, Pennsylvania is poised to be a model of compromise on one of the most contentious moral-political issues in American history. It’s up to the state’s leaders, and everyday people, to keep cool heads and open minds — and to iron out a sustainable settlement that respects abortion rights and the interests of the unborn.
That should include passing a state constitutional amendment to protect Roe v. Wade-style abortion rights, on which the people can vote.
In 1973, seven justices of the Supreme Court thought they had solved the abortion question once and for all. The next five decades showed that they had not.
In fact, the issue only became more and more prominent, and the discourse around it more and more heated. Abortion politics influenced and corrupted nearly every aspect of American public life. It became a litmus test for judges and a vehicle for fringe candidates to achieve electoral success. It politicized American foreign aid and exacerbated domestic racial tensions.
Rather than converging on the compromise of Roe (and, later, Planned Parenthood v. Casey), activists on both sides diverged, staking out increasingly extreme positions. Some would have abortion on demand until birth. Others would criminalize birth control that interrupts the implantation of fertilized zygotes. Neither can plausibly claim to speak for more than a tiny minority of Americans, or to represent a workable solution to the political question.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito argued for the Court that the solution to this impasse is to return the issue to the states. Removing limitations on states’ ability to legislate abortion will allow a greater diversity of policy options to flourish, and will let more Americans on all sides of the issue feel their voices are heard and respected.
At least, that’s the theory. In practice, some states will adopt extreme positions on one side, and others on the opposite side. A few, such as Pennsylvania, will be in the middle, and it will be up to them to set a tone of mutual respect and goodwill by hammering out sustainable compromises.
In Pennsylvania, that should include letting the people vote on a state constitutional amendment recognizing the right to an abortion. A majority of Americans still supported keeping Roe. Pennsylvania can give the people — rather than the courts — the chance to enshrine Roestyle abortion rights in the state constitution. Then the legislature can debate the details, within those bounds.
At a time when polarization is rapidly expanding, one of the most contentious moral-political issues in American history is about to be unleashed on the states, with no limits on their ability to legislate. It is time for cool heads and open minds. Anything else could lead to disaster.