[thechat] US Elections

[Ben Dyer]

At 03:32 PM 11/7/2002, you wrote:
>Today, the cows mooved Ben Dyer to write that Republicans are :
> >    - Against abortion (although this is a moot point as it would take a
> > constitutional amendment to override it)
>
>Nope, just a Supreme Court decision.  But it's not just the threat of
>making the act itself illegal -- Republicans oppose laws prohibiting
>protesters from preventing access to clinics, or protecting doctors and
>clinic workers.  Additionally, Republicans have reinstated policy requiring
>NGOs which receive US Federal funds from "perform[ing] or actively
>promot[ing] abortion"
>(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20010123-5.html).

True.  I did say I was overgeneralizing. :)  The only thing that can
override a Supreme Court decision is another Supreme Court decision (rare)
or a constitutional amendment.

But you're right, the government does that sort of nonsense all the time: I
can't make it illegal, so I'll dance around the issue, make parts of it
illegal, make the methods illegal, zone the places where it happens out of
my city, etc.

--Ben