Thursday, September 26, 2024

On Harris and the filibuster

Further cementing her position as a "lawyer where nobody can quite figure out how she passed the bar", Vice President Kamala Harris has endorsed an end of the filibuster "just for abortion rights."  She figures she can get 50 Senators plus a Vice President to vote for a federal law protecting abortion.

Beyond the reality that ending the filibuster in any number of areas increases the temptation to do so in others--making things easy is a genuine temptation for any legislator--you have the reality that the reversal of Roe is a return of abortion law to the states, and hence a federal law that would override state laws prohibiting certain aspects of abortion would run into the exact same Constitutional issue that led to the overturning of Roe.  It is the 10th Amendment, noting that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved by the states.

Really, by the logic Harris uses, the federal government could produce a law that would legalize all murder.  Hopefully we have jurists who are ethical and smart enough to stand against these stands of Harris that ought to have kept her off the bar. 

No comments: