Yesterday, former president Trump released a video celebrating state control over abortion; today, a judicial decision in Arizona illuminated just what such state control means.
How revealing it is to read the historical context for this decision, which is abominable. It makes a mockery of not just Arizona but the nation and what it’s become.
On the bright side, the decision makes it more likely that democracy will win in November.
Yes I agree. We had to take two steps back in order to take two steps forward in coming victory. I hasten to add that had we not lost Roe verses Wade, we might not have been able to win in November. And this point is pathetic.
The natural order of things is change - to improve for the better, not to regress but to progress … democrats - many, most, in general - are progressive by nature!
Then we must realize we are out to evolve our Democratic Party to become the worthy change-agent we need. That’s why I got involved. What the dem party WAS is not the Dem Party we need going forward to secure the changes We The People need. I have been encouraged by the actions we have taken.
This is good. My mantra has always been to move to the center because it’s the center that governs best, in my opinion. But my longtime observation is that we won’t make this move and political movements often suffer self-inflicted wounds. My contribution has been to rise a mirror to the shenanigans of TFG in book form and through my blog. We all contribute in our own way.
Great point. I sadly recall how I felt when there was no Blue wave in 2016. There is no excuse for that pathetic performance for which the country has been paying dearl;y and permitting SCOTUS to elect Dubya in 2000 cost us even more. We should never have lost those two major elections but Democrats found way to hand the country pover to horrible administrations.
To be philosophical, representative democracy is messy in general our version is particularly messy. Poorly written as we have come to witness. Example: 2nd amendment was never ever giving the people the right it gave organized militias or state guard but the NRA has successfully bastardized and twisted the meaning and well we know about Joseph Goebbels and his truth serum. So there is a decent change that Robert Kennedy Jr pulled off a Ralph Nader. And then I either become a radical militant and go down in a blaze of glory. Or I return to Europe when I once lived for two blessed years. Europeans are much more civilized than we are.
Then it becomes you to get involved and out from behind your keyboard and work hard to keep the Democratic Party from stepping on their own shoestrings.
What we have to hope for is that these atavistic, Talabanic and antediluvian laws and impulses by the MAGA/KKK supporters will cause a tsunami of votes crushing these inhumane laws.
Women who are unregistered? Given the horrific climate we have been living in for years now, to be unregistered is like accepting a wishbone to guide you instead of a backbone.
Made me chuckle , well put.Having worked in protective services and being a woman I know the second class status and how many women are under the thumb by their/the male family members/society at large. It’s far more than people think , but in the same breath …also a choice. It isn’t the males (except of color) losing ground. Says a lot. Always brings me back to..
I’ve signed up to attend the town hall with Field Team 6 on Wednesday, Apr 10, 2024. Are you free to join me? Use this link to sign up: https://mobilize.us/s/E5DAXt
There’s a sickness in America which seems to cling so much more to those people who tend to populate the wrong - conservative [or right] - side of the political aisle … and I hope that it’s not a byproduct of the Covid pandemic and the resulting lockdown ???
Why anyone would vote for a republican at this time is beyond me. I know we're pretty much all thinking that on a daily basis. But really, have they no sense at all? I listen to several never-trumper conservatives every week and I hear intelligent conservatives. We can work with them. But right now, there doesn't seem to be a brain cell between them in the current gop. If it wasn't for the harm they are doing to the rest of the country, it would just be funny. But even though I do laugh a lot, I am also very worried about our future. I think that a lot will be revealed when the the Nov. election is over and the dust has settled. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the good news about Biden's victories. I hope it keeps improving and the word gets out to the voters. Vote Blue and vote to reelect Biden. He's far from perfect, but which presidents were? Trump fell to "Worst President in US history" for many reasons. Why can't everyone see that?
The answer to your own question is observable if you allow it. The answer is “what the hell are w doing wrong?” Answer that question and you reach nirvana. Because this shit didn’t start out of thin air.
Obviously, I'm expressing frustration. I know I can only do what I can and then let go. I can't control the world, nor would I really want to. And I don't envy those who do. Even if we lost our democracy to d.t. and his minions, life would go on. It would nott be the end of the world. Not likely anyway. I'm not sure my life would even be directly impacted. But I do care about all the people who would suffer. And like most of us, I know a lot of people who would be harmed. Not to mention future generations. And I know this has been a long time in the making. I used to hear people say "Don't take democracy for granted." But I did. And that's possibly the gift donald gave us - he caused a whole lot of us to wake up and pay attention. And in reply to my last question, people see what they see for all kinds of reasons and we're all doing our best. But the self destruction is hard to watch.
I just saw John Bolton who said on MSNBC's Nicole Wallace that if trump won it would be catastrophic. She asked him who would he vote for and he said neither--that both candidates were unfit for the office and that he would do a write-in! It's Bolton who is dangerous--how can someone so influential spew about throwing votes away so that a dangerous ex would win??
He is an idiot. If he does a write-in that is like a vote for Trump. I think a lot of Republicans will do write-ins. They will be the blame for taking away our democracy. I believe Nicole was pretty upset with him after that statement!
I just attended a social security for expats webinar put on by Democrats Abroad. There are a huge number of reasons right there for everyone who is not a millionaire or billionaire to vote. Apparently most Republicans agree on this issue too. I learned a lot. When they send us a video of the session they suggested we share it, so I will do that.
looking forward to it ! I'm not sure I want to rip up my roots at the age of 77, but I'm also quite sure I don't want to live under a Fascist Theocracy, either.
Yet Biden has faced a lot of challenges during his time in office. Gaza, Israel, & Hamas along with border issues and inflation don’t make it easy. The Republicans welcoming Russian interference as well as Fox and other media are as much a threat to our democracy as is Trump and the Federalist Society.
We can take nothing for granted and get out the vote big time.
"We defer, as we are constitutionally obligated to do, to the legislature’s judgment, which is accountable to, and thus reflects, the mutable will of our citizens."
*The mutable will of our citizens.*
The recognition of mutability is a rebuke of the Federalist Society ouija board game of 'originalism'. In which jurists divine the spectral hand of Founders long dead now authorizing antidemocratic decisions.
The Founders' intent was to have their agreed legal framework for good governance facilitate progress towards their aspirational assertion of radical equality. By coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Even providing the procedure by which we can amend the Constitution itself.
The Constitution - an ever evolving document that is alive and available for modification as the world changes around it. Not an iron clad impenetrable jumble of words from men 200+ years dead - who would be incredulous that their descendants wouldn't want to adjust to the times.
"Originalism" feels like a religious attitude. Something set in stone that doesn't age well. In fact, it becomes antique, irrelevant and potentially dangerous. Even religions evolve. They adapt or they are discarded.
"Originalism" feels like a religious attitude. Something set in stone that doesn't age well. . . Even religions evolve. They adapt or they are discarded."
Exactly. Originalism is a scheme without legal precedent or authority. Pushed by Catholic extremist Leonard Leo who must've taken a intro to literature class where someone mentioned 'author's intent' - a strategy long debunked by those involved in interpreting historic and literary texts - and decided to use it for his own political and mercenary purposes.
Yes, religious law is always in dispute by religious authorities. The extremists who claim it is fixed violate their own traditions. In Judaism as Hillel said "Don't do to others what you don't want done to yourself. The rest is commentary. Go study." Even the Sabbath liturgy includes a section on protocols for interpretation. But in extremist circles it's primarily rote memorization /repetition.
lin-, here in Southern Baptist Texas (and Oklahoma), all Southern Baptist children have Bible memorization competitions called Bible Drills. There are multiple levels of competition.
My favorite episode of The West Wing show the danger of rote application of ancient laws to today’s people.
Memorization is a good start. But only a start. When we moved from NYC to Carlinville, Illinois (where public school children were given Bibles and taken to an infamously antisemitic Oberammergau passion play) my partner, who taught Milton's Paradise Lost thought, at least they'll have a good grounding in the Bible. Nope. Back in NYC, at Fordham, he hoped the same of lock step parochial school students. No luck. The Jesuits would be ashamed.
lin-, I was raised on Teilhard de Chardin’s discussions of theology. My mom, who introduced me to them, once attended Oklahoma Baptist University, which required 2 religion classes for graduation (she was Catholic and St. Gregory’s university didn’t offer a Biology degree). After she converted the professor to Catholicism, the allowed her to take her second course at St. Gregory’s—the Jesuits would have been proud.
lin! -- Thanks for the link to one of my favorite (maybe my favorite) scenes in "West Wing". WW was and still is my favorite all-time television series. If you or anyone knows how it can be watched now, please advise. (But I'll investigate.)
One of my All-Time Favorites, too. Try Googling West Wing. There are lots of choices, some free like on youtube.
Also, try your local libraries. If they don't have it in their collection or via streaming, they should be able to get it for you on Inter-Library Loan.
There are DVD's of the series around, for purchase on amazon and on ebay - some fairly inexpensive.
Martin Sheen is a Dayton, OH guy and a big supporter of Sherrod Brown. I heard Brown tell a story on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC program the night he won the Primary that Sheen was fired from his first job at a Dayton golf course for trying to unionize his fellow caddies. My kind of guy!
Originalism is only a ploy to gain or remain in power and control. If Scotus truly believes in originalism the Thomas couple's marriage would be nullified and they would be in jail. If you believe in originalism then the insurrectionist and his sycophants would receive the same treatment as Guy Fawkes. You would think originalism and controlling women are anachronisms but a reminder - more people of color (men in particular) are joining the Maga Party and white women by a slight majority voted Trump. You get what you vote for...until you no longer have a vote.
Putin is everywhere. We ignore the Ukraine connection to Gaza at our peril. Doesn’t anyone remember Stalin? Doesn’t anyone think of the Koch family fortune coming from work for both Hitler and Stalin in the 1930’s? Is MTG ready for the police state she is heading toward? Is she capable of reading “Moscow 1937”? Where are the photos of the Politburo in session that show bodies whose heads have been airbrushed off when the owner of the body was “eliminated” from the Politburo?
Yet……doesn’t the old law the AZ Supreme Court harken back to hold the key?: “Provided, that no physician shall be affected by the last clause of this section, who in the discharge of his professional duties deems it necessary to produce the miscarriage of any woman in order to save her life.” I repeat: “In order to SAVE HER LIFE”. Okay, that could encompass a lot of interpretation. Do not doctors performing abortions believe they are “Saving” the Woman’s Life? I could see that as YES. If a woman is forced to have an unwanted child it will indeed “kill her life”, mostly because it kills her choice to decide absolutely what happens to HER OWN body. It makes her NOT a free and equal member of society. Time for the ERA Amendment to pass.
What of the woman who looks in her doctor’s eyes and states “I will kill myself if I can’t have an abortion.” Is the doctor then to make the determination that this abortion will be done to save her life? What would the court have to say in this scenario? There are still no clear guidelines. and . . .
What/who in the world designates a woman as a second class citizen such that an amendment needs to be passed to make her “equal” to men?!?! (envision me shouting this question). I agree that this amendment needs to be passed ASAP, should have been passed eons ago, but its passage never should be necessary to make women “equal”. Indeed, IMHO women are actually superior to men in most ways.
And a forced pregnancy, in a situation where a woman knows she does not have the necessary resources to raise that child, results in a child growing up without their basic physical and emotional needs met. That child is at risk for dropping out of school and becoming involved in antisocial behaviors. That child becomes our future.
As we are hearing from physicians and patients across the country. The courts and legislatures have not provided any legal guidance or definition for identifying exactly when a woman is on the verge of death and so when an abortion becomes legal. Of course they can't, which is why it is very bad law.
I think I understand your point and there is no end of evidence to support it. And the hypocrisy. ie Jim Crow voter registration literacy tests. Registration is supposed to facilitate voting but White Supremacists used it to deny Black persons their constitutional right to equal representation.
But laws cannot be written so as to effectively legislate and adjudicate all existing circumstances, let alone potential circumstances. I think The Founders translated The Scientific Method into an agreed legal framework for good governance. The laws as hypotheses to be tested, observed, and revised. I think they were sincere in their aspirations.
I think the Republican Party has become entirely insincere. Since at least Newt Gingrich's emphasis on rhetoric unmoored from reality. And with the advent of such as Rand Paul and Taylor Greene, the party has become dangerously frivolous. Using the protocols of government, only to obstruct government.
Leonard Leo's Becket Law speech and William Barr's Notre Dame speech exemplify the fallacious rhetoric of American religious extremism. And the extremists working to repurpose a democratic republic as a clerical fascist state.
Lin, this is a good point, and I appreciate you making it. It is easy to fall into cynicism about the vagueness of rule making. A component of rule making is that the parties are intended to act in good faith. Yet humans fall into goalpost-moving behavior when they are not acting in good faith, but righteously insist they are. We, again, are in such a moment.
The solution is to pass better laws and not rely on the court. The Arizona legislature can and should fix the law. In the meantime, Arizona residents are already gearing up to pass a constitutional amendment to grant abortion freedom.
You cannot entirely separate the legislature and the judiciary. Whether state or federal the courts decide whether the laws passed by the legislature are constitutional.
“The Founders' intent was to have their agreed legal framework for good governance facilitate progress towards their aspirational assertion of radical equality. By coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Even providing the procedure by which we can amend the Constitution itself.”
This is a beautifully stated, straightforward and clear statement of the essence of our constitution. It should be read out loud at the opening of every day in both houses of congress. It should be read out loud before the Justices at the opening of every day of decision-making. It should be incorporated into the oath of office taken by POTUS and every elected official.
To be fair, this wasn’t SCOTUS, but rather the Arizona Supreme Court. The SCOTUS Dobbs decision paved the way for the Arizona decision. But Arizona isn’t alone. In most of the Southern US, plus a swath of states in the center, abortion is now essentially illegal. And as we know, that has dire consequences for women’s health, especially for poor women for whom travel to another state to obtain health care is a very large barrier to access.
..there aren’t tests for how much one actually knows about the constitution or laws , I doubt I could pass it either if there was..two ways to look at this all for sure but mind control has always been and you’re absolutely correct. I just wonder if TFG wins how quickly if at all people will revolt or if they even can.
That 1864 AZ law sounds a lot like the current Republican Party platform. Some of those things are what the Trump supporters are threatening to do to the Capitol Police. Did the AZ court clarify which of the other provisions they restored — like the 10 year-old age of consent?
Yes , I agree. Because no woman in their right mind would allow a government to control her reproductive care. We will prevail because the majority of us in this country believe in Democracy.
I suspect, and hope that the 2 Justices up for reelection and any Republican not campaign against this tragedy are going to find out in November what the dog who finally caught and bit into the spinning tire on a moving car found out.
I thought I’d leave this here. Why doesn’t this surprise me?
Via @ daveryder on X/Twitter:
“Here's William Jones who authored the 1864 Arizona abortion bill.
Some fun facts:
He abandoned his first wife and their children in Missouri.
His second wife was a 12 year old Mexican girl. He abducted her and after a complaint submitted his resignation to President Buchanan before he was fired.
In 1864 (age 49) he married his 3rd wife, a 15 year old girl he abandoned in 1865 when he moved to Hawaii.
This is the guy who wrote the law that millions of Arizona women will be forced to obey.
His life is a series of grifts, and he was known for being a "pursuer of nubile females".”
I had thoughts about Republicans after hearing them talking about how they represent the “real America”, as those who started this country meant it to be.
To me, America is a Democracy (in progress) with an ever-growing process of immigrants coming in, starting small, and gradually moving upwards in the socioeconomic hierarchy, as we work towards a country that is better for all.
Then I read the following quote from a book by Ilona Andrews and thought about America’s core.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.”
It came to me that those Republicans were absolutely right. They DO represent the original Americans.
The original Americans were White men of European ancestry who lied, cheated, stole, and murdered countless indigenous peoples in order to have access to this land.
THEY are the rotten core of America. They felt then and now that “might makes right.”
The wealthy Aristos and wealthy upper class businessmen began the early “progress” by sending explorers, then chasing boatloads of people away from their homelands due to their unfair treatment of the poor and working class, and then eventually sending people to establish industries and create a railway across the country. They funded a supply chain of slave labor and used those slaves in horrific ways. They hired and abused Asian laborers. They used child labor. Also, unlike the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples they destroyed, the “real Americans” Bibles made little mention of the natural world and of humans seeking harmony with it, and so nature too was conquered and destroyed by the progress of each generation of “real Americans”.
This is why William Jones seems so similar in nature to the people currently running the Republican Party. Jones, like others before him carry “rotten core of America” DNA. Since that DNA keeps finding success, it remains a part of us.
Heather, your writing here is exceptional! I especially appreciate the detailed research you've judiciously set forth regarding the background of these primitive "laws." How the highest court in Arizona could hold that these "laws" could in any way be relevant to or representative of the wishes of the people of Arizona is beyond my comprehension.
The USA suffers from chronic racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and a founding document (our amazing, venerable and oft misinterpreted Constitution) in serious need of modernization.
Change and improvement has happened under both Democratic and Republican administrations, but our chronic social ills keep returning, like untreated malaria, to screw us up just as it seems the time is finally right for us to do the right things and secure both freedom and justice for all Americans, save ourselves from endless war and eco-degradation, and live up to our as yet unjustified sense of "specialness".
Trump and the zillionaires have helped us see all this more clearly, and the coming elections give us one last chance to do the right thing. Arizona's choice of resuscitating their ancient and barbaric anti-abortion law could finally get us over the hump with a landslide Democratic victory.
David -- The Florida Supreme Court upholding the 6 week abortion ban also was a "getting us over the hump" moment. Yesterday, Kari Lake even came out against the AZ SC decision and she'e as far right as MTG.
The Republicans are 0-10 in abortion ballot initiatives and many of those losses have been in Red states.
In the Dodd decision Alito quoted laws from England like those were pertinent to US abortion law. He didn't quote any law written by a single woman either. The Republicans on SCOTUS are totally above the law and they know it. Leonard Leo knows it. Donald Trump knows it. That's why the Republicans go to SCOTUS as often as they possibly can. And SCOTUS obliges by hearing every case they can ASAP.
On the other hand, no matter the severity or urgency of the case, if the Democrats bring a case, it is NEVER considered an emergency--e.g. Presidential Immunity.
Too much law is being made from the bench in the US.
Thomas and Alito have broken laws since being in SCOTUS with totally immunity. They need to tread very lightly with their decision on Presidential immunity especially if Biden wins.
Thomas and Alito need to be impeached and removed for bribery. Scalia, who died on a fancy hunting trip, should have been included in that group. Roberts and Kavanaugh need to be thoroughly investigated to bring their actions into the light of day and see if they can withstand scrutiny. But that won't happen.
Kari Lake only came out against the Supreme Court ruling for political advantage. In the past she supported that position. Following Trump's lead, she's been all over the place with her stance on abortion, depending on the political winds.
They are not "above the law". They are outlaws, every one, and have earned and so deserve our contempt and disdain for their wrongful, disruptive, and deadly attempts to pervert our democracy. And, FGS, it's their democracy, too, which makes their actions even more incomprehensible. Emphatically NOT above the law.
"The USA suffers from chronic racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and a founding document (our amazing, venerable and oft misinterpreted Constitution) in serious need of modernization."
Many in the USA embrace racism, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia. Some, including the Founders, have used the Constitution to institute their prejudices and perpetuate inequality. However, the Founders also wrote into the Constitution procedures by which we can make progress towards establishing their revolutionary declaration of radical equality. And invited us to do so.
". . . . our as yet unjustified sense of "specialness". That phrase lands with huge discomfort in me and may also signal a fear in others that's a driving force that stands in the way of progress. We humans have a lot to learn about power and participation (not domination) and that can be a daily practice. How 'special' am I, how 'special' are we? Here, the power of words and ideas are influencers, I find hope in that.
4 hours ago I apparently suffered a "senior moment" and wrote "resuscitating their ancient and barbaric VOTING LAW", meaning to say "ANTI-ABORTION LAW". I have corrected my original comment, assuming anyone cares. Not sure if Arizona has a voting law problem or not. Hope it swings left this time in any case.
Can you say originalist? Judicial decisions can be made either by strict interpretation of the law as written or with an understanding of the time it was written and whether it would apply given the changes in society. A perfect example is how the 2nd Amendment is misinterpreted.
B. "with an understanding of the time it was written and whether it would apply given the changes in society"
Harvey, I queried the term "originalist" online and it seems to have a meaning not quite captured by either of your choices for judicial decisions. Wikipedia says "Originalists assert that legal text should be interpreted based on the original understanding at the time of adoption. Originalists object to the idea of the significant legal evolution being driven by judges in a common law framework and instead favor modifications of laws through the Legislature or through Constitutional amendment."
A. Your "as written" option misses the requirement of "the original understanding at the time of adoption".
B. Your "and whether it would apply given the changes in society" option allows a rational flexibility that seems to be explicitly rejected by originalism.
Unless, Vincent, their high court was thereby rebuking their legislature for taking so little action toward updating their laws to reflect a new millenium! ...nahhh...
I’m wondering how the AZ SC could legitimately find that 19th century law written before AZ was a state would supercede over a more recently passed law in the state of Arizona.
LFAA, and Dr. Richardson herself, are treasures. Today's post provides detailed, reliable, fully cited information concerning the origin of the 1864 law that the AZ Supreme Court just brought back from the dead. Dr. Richardson places this information in its contemporary historical context and makes relevant connections to our current situation. All done in one day. This is very impressive work. It fills the holes in the MSM accounts of this decision that I've been reading on and off all day. It becomes clearer to me with every passing day that my subscription to this substack represents the best value I have received for my money in years. Well done, Dr. Richardson, and thank you.
Ditto James. In fact this formerly small seeming amount of money represented a sacrifice for my finances; Yet, as I considered it, money well invested considering how much our Dr. labors, not to mention education provided. Well spent indeed.
Note: One does not need to pay to subscribe to getting these letters. One only needs to pay the small subscription cost to be able to comment. The letters come to our Inbox for free.
Absolutely agree! Where else would we find such historical background? I thought that AZ adopting a piece of a very old law was absurd already. But this explanation knocks it out of the park. Talk about cherry picking from antique documents! Reminds me of the creativity of Extremist Bible Thumpers. (No offense intended for those who use old books for inspiration. I have my own :)
In 1864, Semmelweis was ridiculed by fellow doctors when he washed his hands between the morgue and delivering babies to prevent fatal “childbirth fever”. We didn’t understand mitoses and mitochondria or the placenta then. Doctors didn’t wear sterile surgical gloves or sterilize instruments either. This is where Republicans want us to be medically for women’s health. I wonder if they feel that way about their “limp dick” and their boner pills they get through the mail (Comstock law)? This is insanity. A true WTF time if there ever was one. Also remember the one man who wrote this law was making it up as he went. Vote Democratic for everything. Vote these fruitcakes out of office.
Religious extremists are averse to learning anything scientific, most especially if it involves lady parts. It’s all just left to god’s magic and god’s will after the man gets his rocks off.
Intelligent and knowledgeable people aren’t easily manipulated, which thwart the will of many religious leaders. Religion & Elite have long worked together by controlling the social order which keeps them in power.
Let’s hope that “we” the intelligent and knowledgeable people will make our way to the polls! If only we would approach voting with the vigor and enthusiasm that we demonstrated on April 8th —including accurate MEDIA coverage.
That same kind of condescension was what killed President Garfield nearly two decades later. It wasn’t the assassin’s bullet that did him in but the infections his doctors introduced during their treatment.
I wonder how long it would take to have Roe V Wade codified into law if women simply withheld the "fruits of their gender"? (attribution: Robert Penn Warren)
Molly, the plain language you used in your comment suits me just fine! WTF is right! Women can’t protect themselves from getting pregnant but men can certainly make sure that all is in working order…and all via mail order in discreet packaging!
And as far as abortion bans go, where there are exceptions “to save the life of the mother” clearly doesn’t work either. Recent events support that by some of the horrific experiences women have had to go through. It is ALL disgusting.
Hold Arizona Republicans accountable for their abortion ban: Start with this interactive map of the AZ Congressional races, the two State Supreme Court justices up for re-election and details on the Arizona ballot measure to enshrine the right to an abortion in the constitution.
A lesson in history that I will share with many friends. Already, many AZ Republicans have spoken in opposition to this ruling by their Supreme Court. The writing on the wall is very clear. This ballot measure will be an easy "get out the vote" rallying cry for the Dems in AZ. I hope that a resounding win for the ballot initiative will prompt other states denying women's reproductive rights will be a. catalyst for similar ballot initiatives in red states around the country.
Good point Steve. Even the far-right election denying Kari Lake spoke out against the AZ SC decision.
One of the many things I don't understand is, why so many men are anti-abortion. Do they not understand that if they get a woman pregnant, they are on the hook for at least 18 years financially?
I have a co-worker who had affairs with two different women both of whom became pregnant. Both women had their babies and sued him for 1) child support and 2) full custody. They were both granted child support and full custody. His wife divorced him requiring him to pay child support and alimony for her and their four children plus he had to pay child support on the other two kids for 18 years.
The judges were all merciless with his financial situation and rightfully so.
And did I mention he is anti-abortion?
Thank goodness for all of the judges out there that make the sperm providers pay for their fleeting moments of bliss. May they all for the good of the children and their mothers.
I was thinking the same thing Jen. There are men who will do anything to shirk their responsibility for their children. Some even disappear, running away to a new life.
A national DNA registration bank and an iron clad law to enforce the support is required.
I tend to agree, but beware... the collecting of DNA data has a very real potential dark side. Unless there is a gigantic firewall protecting such information, I can imagine a Big Brother 1984-style nefarious use of that very personal information. Insurance companies could deny health insurance for preexisting conditions, car insurance could be denied for those with a genetic predisposition to epilepsy, etc. The ACLU would be all over this.
I'm thinking any legislator or judge who in any way tries to limit women's health care be registered to be an adoptive parent or at least foster parent. If they truly believe women don't have a choice, they must step up to take care of those children. THEY don't get a choice in the matter either!
A “get out the vote” rallying cry not just for Arizona voters but for the whole nation, coming as it did just a day after one candidate for the presidency (who shall remain nameless) announced that his abortion stand is now “let the states decide”. The Arizona Supreme Court may have just inadvertently saved our democracy. A girl can hope.
There is no other area of medical care as understood in the 1860s that would (let alone should) be acceptable to anyone. Germ theory was in its infancy, genetics was unknown, anesthesia consisted of ether or chloroform, there were no blood transfusions, antibiotics, radiography, or electrocardiography, etc. To apply this zombie law in the 21st century has nothing to do with health care. It is about control and subjugation of women.
Heather, warm thanks for your insightful history lesson of how one man, in 1864, crafted a plethora of laws in Arizona (decades before statehood) that are now being used to block abortions in 2024.
This is such an absurd image that it clearly fits into Trump’s bizarre world of unChristianity.
1864 was also the year that the North dominated the South in the Civil War. This led to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the reunification of our country.
I consider 2024 another watershed year in American history. There are various issues that trigger this political Armageddon:
1) Abortion—this basic women’s right is a federal issue that is being challenged in a number of states;
2) Justice and the Constitution—if we are not a constitutional democracy in which justice is meted out equally on all citizens, what are we?
3) The soul of America in which the decency that has evolved over nearly 250 years is reaffirmed;
4) Core principles by which we support, with like-minded countries, the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine that have been invaded;
5). A country dedicated to serving the needs of a great majority of its citizens rather than a few fat cats; and
6) A country in which we celebrate rather than denigrate diversity.
At 90, I find my country in its greatest crisis in my lifetime—far greater than World War II and the Cold War.
My instinct is that the goodness of America will prevail and that Biden will Trump his predecessor in November. This clearly is not a certainty.
With Heather’s banner to inspire us, let’s make this happen.
Keith, an eloquently summarized wish-list for what is, or used to be, or should be America's true strengths! You have gleaned American essentials from your 90 years! Despite being 15 years younger your instincts speak as loudly to me as the Bible.
Keith, I take comfort in your instinct. I do believe that, given modern communications, the speed at which the goodness will triumph can be accelerated. I agree that in the last 100 years, this crisis is the worst this country has thus far experienced and again, due to modern communications. I firmly believe that the divide we see in our nation today has been exacerbated by disinformation and propaganda from within our country and from foreign actors; I say exacerbated because there sure as heck was fertile ground for the propaganda.
Truly sad that yet another small group of extremist partisan hacks choose to inflict their warped worldview on the people of Az. In the style of the partisan hacks in the majority in the Robert’s kangaroo court, they invented excuses to ignore the 2022 law in favor of one from 1864.
Az. needs an epic turnout to not only overwhelming approve the initiative protecting reproductive care, but also throwing out the GQP scum in the state legislature. They will have to overcome both aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression.
It's worth considering that overcoming the gerrymandering will require republicans, independents, etc., of good will to join dems, etc. This requires meetings of the mind, heart, etc. - not in-kind belligerence.
Let's not be too quick to malign and condemn the members of the Arizona Supreme Court. For one thing, they have just done the cause of reproductive rights a tremendous boon.
Further, I am not so sure that the decision is wrong! Given the Dobbs decision and no contrary current legislative declaration of the will of the people in 160 years, what other choice did the justices have?
Surely, you do not advocate judges usurping legislative authority.
The long-ago AZ legislature that forbid abortions for women also okayed sex for 10-year-old-girls?
That's about the logical relationship between power-hungry bodies of mostly men or all men.
Any time you get certain types of people in control, categorical thinking prevails. Thus, that all-male Arizona legislature of 1864 would stiff women to control their personal lives -- but leave doors open for luscious pre-teens to be available to sugar daddies. But these same men (all white) of course are going to stiff all non-whites, too.
In our time, when the medieval Clarence court wants to let states anew control women, and wants to let states gerrymander or otherwise cut off people of color from voting, of course, too, they look with favor upon anything that will bulk up the billionaire classes.
When medieval courts like Clarence's rule for the rich, and against women, and against people of color, they're not just letting obtuse, categorical abstractions dominate -- they're killing democracy.
Democracy depends on a society whose free press and free public schools uphold all the ways we might have to see and respect others as individuals all different in different ways from us. A national government can guarantee freedoms and rights -- and do that, as Lincoln saw, also by public programs to level playing fields. Public programs in transportation, health, worker safety, and environmental protections highly included.
Heather's "How the South Won the Civil War" reminds us how the worst attitudes from 1864 have come to the fore again. No longer "This land is your land, this land is my land."
Yes, Steve, let's go to Florence, Mary, and Diana:
"You Can't Hurry Love," "Stop! in the Name of Love," "Baby Love," "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Come See About Me," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," & more, more.
He calls it Broken Truth ( and has another song about Woody Guthry called " woodys Landlord--apparently when he lived in NYC it was Fred Trump), but I call it Damn That Man
Jen, came across this link posted (here or another SubStack) a few days ago & shared it with family/friends. One fellow, a singer/songwriter by hobby (most are poticially themed), was jazzed to hear it.
Phil & progwoman, DEFINITELY great playlist! ...straight out of the 60's, 70's & 80's I'm thinking without even mentioning the Beatles, the greatest music generation I'm thinking, ...probably because I can't remember much music thereafter.
Tangential comment here: as our music platforms changed, so did our shared music experiences. When we lost music radio and the record albums that followed, we lost that common ground. I think that there are most likely some Rap artists that were as in touch with people's hearts as were some of the artists of the 60's and 70's. The 50's and the 80's feel (to me) more like the views of teens rather than those that could reach across generations.
I spent each of the last two weekends at my in-laws. My brother-in-law is my age (we are both "Generation Jones" as the eldest kids born in 58 and 60). Several years ago, he bought a record player so as to listen to "vinyl" as records are now named; his youngest daughter and her fiance (both Gen Z) absolutely love it. I love that they are listening to whatever genre the rap of the 90's has become on a record player.
I miss the artists of the "Protest Era" of the 50's-70's. As I said the other day, I miss John Prine.
Yes, Ally, indeed true, that "we lost that common ground."
But it was no accident. For the rich fully to rule, the far right groups that came out of the 1971 Powell memo knew they first had to gut humanities at all levels of education, from K-12 through higher.
It's a sorry history of what followed, Ally, but massively, as you say, "we lost that common ground." Nice, though that some (as you describe in your family) have kept in touch with earlier sources.
"It seems likely that voters will turn out in November to elect lawmakers who will represent the actual will of the people in the twenty-first century."
My hope is that such a revolution will finally happen on many issues, once the rights of women to choose break open the gates.
The Arizona laws written by only one man, Howell, and adopted in 1864 by just 27 men were barbaric then, but 4 members of the current AZ Supreme Court decided that those laws are just wonderful and should remain in effect. Absolutely disgusting. Thank you, Heather, for providing the full context of the origin of this decision.
Lucy, I think those 27 men were not barbaric but may have been just the opposite, trying to bring some semblance of order to a barbaric time via the only guy who had some kind of a blueprint for what a body of laws should look like in a time of violent chaos and "frontier justice." My fantasy of possibilities for the motivations behind the "better angels of our nature" of the current Arizona high court's decision is that it is serving up a rebuke to their legislature for having never updated their currently archaic legal structure and a powerful stimulus to DO something about it!
John, I agree with you about the intentions of those 27 men, but not the idea that the current law makers were trying to do anything good. They just kept going back in time until they found a law that met their needs. I do believe that they have given us a “gift” in their eager desire to impose their will on women. Feeling threatened brings out hysteria in some.
JohnM, what part of forbidding abortion and allowing sex with girls as young as 10 would "bring some semblance of order to a barbaric time"? We should all rebuke the members of every AZ legislative session since Arizona was admitted to the Union for failing to remove those original laws. Is some man now going to use that same 1864 law to claim that women have no right to vote, or that he can have sex with any female child under the age of consent?
What more can they possibly do to piss off every reasonably self-aware woman in the US?
I applaud those brave women who decide to remain in Arizona long enough to cast their votes en masse, but if it was me I'd vote with my feet and get out of there just as fast as I could.
I hear that desire but if taken to its logical conclusion, eventually there would be nowhere else to run to. So stay and vote as if your lives and futures are at stake.
This is yet another treasure writing of Professor. She must publish a book on HCR Moments of American Democracy. The book will educate informed voters to sustain and enhance Democracy in America and the World. Thank you Professor.
Hi Gary, thank you for the link to Professor's profile. I am wondering if she might offer a course on History of American Democracy from her university for public. I would like to say that I learned the American history from Professor.
There may be other lectures available as well. In case you weren't aware she is now recording her newsletter to listen to each day. I am not sure of the link.
While Heritage Foundation didn't exist in 1864 and the 27 men comprising the Arizona legislature didn't have the 'benefit' of Project 2025 I'm certain some of the extremists who contributed to Project 2025 are inspired and envious of the Arizona law.
Well, that's what happens when you pull too hard on the thread of democracy. If there's anything that I've learned in 45 years of marriage, it's that you should never argue with an angry woman. Guys, we are now surrounded by women filled with righteous anger. My advice is to listen to them, and understand their wisdom, and resist the urge to judge them. Don't make excuses. Find your understanding and kindness. Cooperate with them, and we can rebuild what has been lost. We will all be better for it.
"Find your understanding and kindness."???? Quit thinking through your lude male progenitor pea brain. Freedom and justice is the prism to find for your moral compass.
How revealing it is to read the historical context for this decision, which is abominable. It makes a mockery of not just Arizona but the nation and what it’s become.
On the bright side, the decision makes it more likely that democracy will win in November.
Yes I agree. We had to take two steps back in order to take two steps forward in coming victory. I hasten to add that had we not lost Roe verses Wade, we might not have been able to win in November. And this point is pathetic.
Millions of unregistered women nationally trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save Democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission
The natural order of things is change - to improve for the better, not to regress but to progress … democrats - many, most, in general - are progressive by nature!
Oh really? Don’t get me started. We will find a way to gum this up somehow. The day is long.
Then we must realize we are out to evolve our Democratic Party to become the worthy change-agent we need. That’s why I got involved. What the dem party WAS is not the Dem Party we need going forward to secure the changes We The People need. I have been encouraged by the actions we have taken.
This is good. My mantra has always been to move to the center because it’s the center that governs best, in my opinion. But my longtime observation is that we won’t make this move and political movements often suffer self-inflicted wounds. My contribution has been to rise a mirror to the shenanigans of TFG in book form and through my blog. We all contribute in our own way.
Great point. I sadly recall how I felt when there was no Blue wave in 2016. There is no excuse for that pathetic performance for which the country has been paying dearl;y and permitting SCOTUS to elect Dubya in 2000 cost us even more. We should never have lost those two major elections but Democrats found way to hand the country pover to horrible administrations.
To be philosophical, representative democracy is messy in general our version is particularly messy. Poorly written as we have come to witness. Example: 2nd amendment was never ever giving the people the right it gave organized militias or state guard but the NRA has successfully bastardized and twisted the meaning and well we know about Joseph Goebbels and his truth serum. So there is a decent change that Robert Kennedy Jr pulled off a Ralph Nader. And then I either become a radical militant and go down in a blaze of glory. Or I return to Europe when I once lived for two blessed years. Europeans are much more civilized than we are.
Then it becomes you to get involved and out from behind your keyboard and work hard to keep the Democratic Party from stepping on their own shoestrings.
HA!
lol Bill !
What we have to hope for is that these atavistic, Talabanic and antediluvian laws and impulses by the MAGA/KKK supporters will cause a tsunami of votes crushing these inhumane laws.
@ Richard -- post on your Substack-- start the tsunami.
Women who are unregistered? Given the horrific climate we have been living in for years now, to be unregistered is like accepting a wishbone to guide you instead of a backbone.
Made me chuckle , well put.Having worked in protective services and being a woman I know the second class status and how many women are under the thumb by their/the male family members/society at large. It’s far more than people think , but in the same breath …also a choice. It isn’t the males (except of color) losing ground. Says a lot. Always brings me back to..
..so apparently ‘they’ are threatened somehow?
I just saw this on Joyce Vance. We travel the same circles, my friend.
Thanks. Spreading the word.
I’ve signed up to attend the town hall with Field Team 6 on Wednesday, Apr 10, 2024. Are you free to join me? Use this link to sign up: https://mobilize.us/s/E5DAXt
Not this one but I'll find one. Thanks
I have postcards ready to go
There’s a sickness in America which seems to cling so much more to those people who tend to populate the wrong - conservative [or right] - side of the political aisle … and I hope that it’s not a byproduct of the Covid pandemic and the resulting lockdown ???
Why anyone would vote for a republican at this time is beyond me. I know we're pretty much all thinking that on a daily basis. But really, have they no sense at all? I listen to several never-trumper conservatives every week and I hear intelligent conservatives. We can work with them. But right now, there doesn't seem to be a brain cell between them in the current gop. If it wasn't for the harm they are doing to the rest of the country, it would just be funny. But even though I do laugh a lot, I am also very worried about our future. I think that a lot will be revealed when the the Nov. election is over and the dust has settled. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the good news about Biden's victories. I hope it keeps improving and the word gets out to the voters. Vote Blue and vote to reelect Biden. He's far from perfect, but which presidents were? Trump fell to "Worst President in US history" for many reasons. Why can't everyone see that?
One problem is that he is telling them he was the best president ever......they believe that crap!
As mentioned earlier, trump was rated in the bottom 5 presidents.
The answer to your own question is observable if you allow it. The answer is “what the hell are w doing wrong?” Answer that question and you reach nirvana. Because this shit didn’t start out of thin air.
Obviously, I'm expressing frustration. I know I can only do what I can and then let go. I can't control the world, nor would I really want to. And I don't envy those who do. Even if we lost our democracy to d.t. and his minions, life would go on. It would nott be the end of the world. Not likely anyway. I'm not sure my life would even be directly impacted. But I do care about all the people who would suffer. And like most of us, I know a lot of people who would be harmed. Not to mention future generations. And I know this has been a long time in the making. I used to hear people say "Don't take democracy for granted." But I did. And that's possibly the gift donald gave us - he caused a whole lot of us to wake up and pay attention. And in reply to my last question, people see what they see for all kinds of reasons and we're all doing our best. But the self destruction is hard to watch.
I just saw John Bolton who said on MSNBC's Nicole Wallace that if trump won it would be catastrophic. She asked him who would he vote for and he said neither--that both candidates were unfit for the office and that he would do a write-in! It's Bolton who is dangerous--how can someone so influential spew about throwing votes away so that a dangerous ex would win??
He is an idiot. If he does a write-in that is like a vote for Trump. I think a lot of Republicans will do write-ins. They will be the blame for taking away our democracy. I believe Nicole was pretty upset with him after that statement!
🌻
I just attended a social security for expats webinar put on by Democrats Abroad. There are a huge number of reasons right there for everyone who is not a millionaire or billionaire to vote. Apparently most Republicans agree on this issue too. I learned a lot. When they send us a video of the session they suggested we share it, so I will do that.
looking forward to it ! I'm not sure I want to rip up my roots at the age of 77, but I'm also quite sure I don't want to live under a Fascist Theocracy, either.
Agreed.
Sacrifice
Yet Biden has faced a lot of challenges during his time in office. Gaza, Israel, & Hamas along with border issues and inflation don’t make it easy. The Republicans welcoming Russian interference as well as Fox and other media are as much a threat to our democracy as is Trump and the Federalist Society.
We can take nothing for granted and get out the vote big time.
"We defer, as we are constitutionally obligated to do, to the legislature’s judgment, which is accountable to, and thus reflects, the mutable will of our citizens."
*The mutable will of our citizens.*
The recognition of mutability is a rebuke of the Federalist Society ouija board game of 'originalism'. In which jurists divine the spectral hand of Founders long dead now authorizing antidemocratic decisions.
The Founders' intent was to have their agreed legal framework for good governance facilitate progress towards their aspirational assertion of radical equality. By coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Even providing the procedure by which we can amend the Constitution itself.
Yes lin*!
The Constitution - an ever evolving document that is alive and available for modification as the world changes around it. Not an iron clad impenetrable jumble of words from men 200+ years dead - who would be incredulous that their descendants wouldn't want to adjust to the times.
"Originalism" feels like a religious attitude. Something set in stone that doesn't age well. In fact, it becomes antique, irrelevant and potentially dangerous. Even religions evolve. They adapt or they are discarded.
"Originalism" feels like a religious attitude. Something set in stone that doesn't age well. . . Even religions evolve. They adapt or they are discarded."
Exactly. Originalism is a scheme without legal precedent or authority. Pushed by Catholic extremist Leonard Leo who must've taken a intro to literature class where someone mentioned 'author's intent' - a strategy long debunked by those involved in interpreting historic and literary texts - and decided to use it for his own political and mercenary purposes.
Yes, religious law is always in dispute by religious authorities. The extremists who claim it is fixed violate their own traditions. In Judaism as Hillel said "Don't do to others what you don't want done to yourself. The rest is commentary. Go study." Even the Sabbath liturgy includes a section on protocols for interpretation. But in extremist circles it's primarily rote memorization /repetition.
lin-, here in Southern Baptist Texas (and Oklahoma), all Southern Baptist children have Bible memorization competitions called Bible Drills. There are multiple levels of competition.
My favorite episode of The West Wing show the danger of rote application of ancient laws to today’s people.
https://sbtexas.com/event/national-bible-drill-dallas/
https://youtu.be/S1-ip47WYWc?si=a08DpzDNRkJS784u
Memorization is a good start. But only a start. When we moved from NYC to Carlinville, Illinois (where public school children were given Bibles and taken to an infamously antisemitic Oberammergau passion play) my partner, who taught Milton's Paradise Lost thought, at least they'll have a good grounding in the Bible. Nope. Back in NYC, at Fordham, he hoped the same of lock step parochial school students. No luck. The Jesuits would be ashamed.
lin-, I was raised on Teilhard de Chardin’s discussions of theology. My mom, who introduced me to them, once attended Oklahoma Baptist University, which required 2 religion classes for graduation (she was Catholic and St. Gregory’s university didn’t offer a Biology degree). After she converted the professor to Catholicism, the allowed her to take her second course at St. Gregory’s—the Jesuits would have been proud.
lin! -- Thanks for the link to one of my favorite (maybe my favorite) scenes in "West Wing". WW was and still is my favorite all-time television series. If you or anyone knows how it can be watched now, please advise. (But I'll investigate.)
One of my All-Time Favorites, too. Try Googling West Wing. There are lots of choices, some free like on youtube.
Also, try your local libraries. If they don't have it in their collection or via streaming, they should be able to get it for you on Inter-Library Loan.
There are DVD's of the series around, for purchase on amazon and on ebay - some fairly inexpensive.
Martin Sheen is a Dayton, OH guy and a big supporter of Sherrod Brown. I heard Brown tell a story on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC program the night he won the Primary that Sheen was fired from his first job at a Dayton golf course for trying to unionize his fellow caddies. My kind of guy!
The West Wing is on Prime Video, but regretfully not available for us in Canada to watch.
Originalism is only a ploy to gain or remain in power and control. If Scotus truly believes in originalism the Thomas couple's marriage would be nullified and they would be in jail. If you believe in originalism then the insurrectionist and his sycophants would receive the same treatment as Guy Fawkes. You would think originalism and controlling women are anachronisms but a reminder - more people of color (men in particular) are joining the Maga Party and white women by a slight majority voted Trump. You get what you vote for...until you no longer have a vote.
Thank you for the reminder of what a Trump vote means in addition to more Putin in Congress.
The Putin Maga alliance in the halls of congress is there for all to see, but unlike you, few choose to see it. Lemmings anyone?
Putin is everywhere. We ignore the Ukraine connection to Gaza at our peril. Doesn’t anyone remember Stalin? Doesn’t anyone think of the Koch family fortune coming from work for both Hitler and Stalin in the 1930’s? Is MTG ready for the police state she is heading toward? Is she capable of reading “Moscow 1937”? Where are the photos of the Politburo in session that show bodies whose heads have been airbrushed off when the owner of the body was “eliminated” from the Politburo?
Thank you, Steve. I am centered on Trump/Putin.
Well stated. Change with the times. What a strange idea. Anyone want to buy an AK 47?
Yet……doesn’t the old law the AZ Supreme Court harken back to hold the key?: “Provided, that no physician shall be affected by the last clause of this section, who in the discharge of his professional duties deems it necessary to produce the miscarriage of any woman in order to save her life.” I repeat: “In order to SAVE HER LIFE”. Okay, that could encompass a lot of interpretation. Do not doctors performing abortions believe they are “Saving” the Woman’s Life? I could see that as YES. If a woman is forced to have an unwanted child it will indeed “kill her life”, mostly because it kills her choice to decide absolutely what happens to HER OWN body. It makes her NOT a free and equal member of society. Time for the ERA Amendment to pass.
Two thoughts:
What of the woman who looks in her doctor’s eyes and states “I will kill myself if I can’t have an abortion.” Is the doctor then to make the determination that this abortion will be done to save her life? What would the court have to say in this scenario? There are still no clear guidelines. and . . .
What/who in the world designates a woman as a second class citizen such that an amendment needs to be passed to make her “equal” to men?!?! (envision me shouting this question). I agree that this amendment needs to be passed ASAP, should have been passed eons ago, but its passage never should be necessary to make women “equal”. Indeed, IMHO women are actually superior to men in most ways.
And a forced pregnancy, in a situation where a woman knows she does not have the necessary resources to raise that child, results in a child growing up without their basic physical and emotional needs met. That child is at risk for dropping out of school and becoming involved in antisocial behaviors. That child becomes our future.
As we are hearing from physicians and patients across the country. The courts and legislatures have not provided any legal guidance or definition for identifying exactly when a woman is on the verge of death and so when an abortion becomes legal. Of course they can't, which is why it is very bad law.
Lin…same for any of the other “exceptions” such as rape and incest…..too many barriers to “prove” the offense was committed.
Intentional vagueness to allow the goalpost to keep moving.
I think I understand your point and there is no end of evidence to support it. And the hypocrisy. ie Jim Crow voter registration literacy tests. Registration is supposed to facilitate voting but White Supremacists used it to deny Black persons their constitutional right to equal representation.
But laws cannot be written so as to effectively legislate and adjudicate all existing circumstances, let alone potential circumstances. I think The Founders translated The Scientific Method into an agreed legal framework for good governance. The laws as hypotheses to be tested, observed, and revised. I think they were sincere in their aspirations.
I think the Republican Party has become entirely insincere. Since at least Newt Gingrich's emphasis on rhetoric unmoored from reality. And with the advent of such as Rand Paul and Taylor Greene, the party has become dangerously frivolous. Using the protocols of government, only to obstruct government.
Leonard Leo's Becket Law speech and William Barr's Notre Dame speech exemplify the fallacious rhetoric of American religious extremism. And the extremists working to repurpose a democratic republic as a clerical fascist state.
https://www.becketlaw.org/leonard-leo-speech-2017-canterbury-medal-gala/
https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-delivers-remarks-law-school-and-de-nicola-center-ethics
Lin, this is a good point, and I appreciate you making it. It is easy to fall into cynicism about the vagueness of rule making. A component of rule making is that the parties are intended to act in good faith. Yet humans fall into goalpost-moving behavior when they are not acting in good faith, but righteously insist they are. We, again, are in such a moment.
The solution is to pass better laws and not rely on the court. The Arizona legislature can and should fix the law. In the meantime, Arizona residents are already gearing up to pass a constitutional amendment to grant abortion freedom.
The Arizona legislators should remove/kill the old 1864 law so it can never be used again.
Check Robert Hubbell today the AZ legislature recodified the law in the 1970’s
Thanks for this info. Much appreciated.
🤯🤯🤯
You cannot entirely separate the legislature and the judiciary. Whether state or federal the courts decide whether the laws passed by the legislature are constitutional.
That is great. However, the Arizona legislators must be voted out of office in November.
The moral consequences of public law dont depend on God.
Once again a prerequisite is a morally sound and well educated populace.
Lin- VERY eloquently parsed!
“The Founders' intent was to have their agreed legal framework for good governance facilitate progress towards their aspirational assertion of radical equality. By coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Even providing the procedure by which we can amend the Constitution itself.”
This is a beautifully stated, straightforward and clear statement of the essence of our constitution. It should be read out loud at the opening of every day in both houses of congress. It should be read out loud before the Justices at the opening of every day of decision-making. It should be incorporated into the oath of office taken by POTUS and every elected official.
HaHa. Blush.
ThankYou.
I wonder if any SCOTUS members knew the context surrounding the 1864 Arizona law?
To be fair, this wasn’t SCOTUS, but rather the Arizona Supreme Court. The SCOTUS Dobbs decision paved the way for the Arizona decision. But Arizona isn’t alone. In most of the Southern US, plus a swath of states in the center, abortion is now essentially illegal. And as we know, that has dire consequences for women’s health, especially for poor women for whom travel to another state to obtain health care is a very large barrier to access.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/09/abortion-laws-by-state-where-abortions-are-illegal-00151228
I've come to view pro-life as essentially pro-rich. Anyone serious about reducing the incidence of abortion would advocate for universal health care.
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-judge.html
Among all the many other reasons to advocate for universal health care!
I would guess that someone researched old laws to cherry pick from.
Pretty sure 4 of the 6 that voted to overturn Roe are very much ok with the 1864 law
Only if we save it
I hope you’re correct. Far too many ‘representatives’ have been asleep at the wheel , it’s not just Az!
Maybe or...far too many 'representatives' are getting what they wanted - control and power.
..there aren’t tests for how much one actually knows about the constitution or laws , I doubt I could pass it either if there was..two ways to look at this all for sure but mind control has always been and you’re absolutely correct. I just wonder if TFG wins how quickly if at all people will revolt or if they even can.
I have family who think I’m the one brainwashed.
That 1864 AZ law sounds a lot like the current Republican Party platform. Some of those things are what the Trump supporters are threatening to do to the Capitol Police. Did the AZ court clarify which of the other provisions they restored — like the 10 year-old age of consent?
Yes , I agree. Because no woman in their right mind would allow a government to control her reproductive care. We will prevail because the majority of us in this country believe in Democracy.
I suspect, and hope that the 2 Justices up for reelection and any Republican not campaign against this tragedy are going to find out in November what the dog who finally caught and bit into the spinning tire on a moving car found out.
The current Governor of Arizona is a woman and a Democrat.
The Attorney General is also a woman who has said she will not prosecute doctors for doing abortions.
I heard the governor make that pledge. Will be fascinating to see how this plays out.
I sure hope so!
I sure hope so. I have a 10 year old daughter that thankfully lives in California.
Arizona turning blue from outrage, I would love that!
Reminds me again, of why I am so glad I live now and not then. Just another reason.
I thought I’d leave this here. Why doesn’t this surprise me?
Via @ daveryder on X/Twitter:
“Here's William Jones who authored the 1864 Arizona abortion bill.
Some fun facts:
He abandoned his first wife and their children in Missouri.
His second wife was a 12 year old Mexican girl. He abducted her and after a complaint submitted his resignation to President Buchanan before he was fired.
In 1864 (age 49) he married his 3rd wife, a 15 year old girl he abandoned in 1865 when he moved to Hawaii.
This is the guy who wrote the law that millions of Arizona women will be forced to obey.
His life is a series of grifts, and he was known for being a "pursuer of nubile females".”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Claude_Jones
Incredible. Was Jones related to Trump?
That wouldn’t surprise me either.
**Ramble Alert**
I had thoughts about Republicans after hearing them talking about how they represent the “real America”, as those who started this country meant it to be.
To me, America is a Democracy (in progress) with an ever-growing process of immigrants coming in, starting small, and gradually moving upwards in the socioeconomic hierarchy, as we work towards a country that is better for all.
Then I read the following quote from a book by Ilona Andrews and thought about America’s core.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.”
It came to me that those Republicans were absolutely right. They DO represent the original Americans.
The original Americans were White men of European ancestry who lied, cheated, stole, and murdered countless indigenous peoples in order to have access to this land.
THEY are the rotten core of America. They felt then and now that “might makes right.”
The wealthy Aristos and wealthy upper class businessmen began the early “progress” by sending explorers, then chasing boatloads of people away from their homelands due to their unfair treatment of the poor and working class, and then eventually sending people to establish industries and create a railway across the country. They funded a supply chain of slave labor and used those slaves in horrific ways. They hired and abused Asian laborers. They used child labor. Also, unlike the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples they destroyed, the “real Americans” Bibles made little mention of the natural world and of humans seeking harmony with it, and so nature too was conquered and destroyed by the progress of each generation of “real Americans”.
This is why William Jones seems so similar in nature to the people currently running the Republican Party. Jones, like others before him carry “rotten core of America” DNA. Since that DNA keeps finding success, it remains a part of us.
One must hope that the latter conclusion is correct, Michael.
Heather, your writing here is exceptional! I especially appreciate the detailed research you've judiciously set forth regarding the background of these primitive "laws." How the highest court in Arizona could hold that these "laws" could in any way be relevant to or representative of the wishes of the people of Arizona is beyond my comprehension.
The USA suffers from chronic racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and a founding document (our amazing, venerable and oft misinterpreted Constitution) in serious need of modernization.
Change and improvement has happened under both Democratic and Republican administrations, but our chronic social ills keep returning, like untreated malaria, to screw us up just as it seems the time is finally right for us to do the right things and secure both freedom and justice for all Americans, save ourselves from endless war and eco-degradation, and live up to our as yet unjustified sense of "specialness".
Trump and the zillionaires have helped us see all this more clearly, and the coming elections give us one last chance to do the right thing. Arizona's choice of resuscitating their ancient and barbaric anti-abortion law could finally get us over the hump with a landslide Democratic victory.
Anything less may not suffice.
I have waited my entire life for this moment.
David -- The Florida Supreme Court upholding the 6 week abortion ban also was a "getting us over the hump" moment. Yesterday, Kari Lake even came out against the AZ SC decision and she'e as far right as MTG.
The Republicans are 0-10 in abortion ballot initiatives and many of those losses have been in Red states.
In the Dodd decision Alito quoted laws from England like those were pertinent to US abortion law. He didn't quote any law written by a single woman either. The Republicans on SCOTUS are totally above the law and they know it. Leonard Leo knows it. Donald Trump knows it. That's why the Republicans go to SCOTUS as often as they possibly can. And SCOTUS obliges by hearing every case they can ASAP.
On the other hand, no matter the severity or urgency of the case, if the Democrats bring a case, it is NEVER considered an emergency--e.g. Presidential Immunity.
Too much law is being made from the bench in the US.
Thomas and Alito have broken laws since being in SCOTUS with totally immunity. They need to tread very lightly with their decision on Presidential immunity especially if Biden wins.
Thomas and Alito need to be impeached and removed for bribery. Scalia, who died on a fancy hunting trip, should have been included in that group. Roberts and Kavanaugh need to be thoroughly investigated to bring their actions into the light of day and see if they can withstand scrutiny. But that won't happen.
And like a reader here regularly asks 'Who paid Kavanaugh's credit card debt'?
And why did Kennedy suddenly retire?
Kari Lake only came out against the Supreme Court ruling for political advantage. In the past she supported that position. Following Trump's lead, she's been all over the place with her stance on abortion, depending on the political winds.
Guillotines were very effective
They are not "above the law". They are outlaws, every one, and have earned and so deserve our contempt and disdain for their wrongful, disruptive, and deadly attempts to pervert our democracy. And, FGS, it's their democracy, too, which makes their actions even more incomprehensible. Emphatically NOT above the law.
"The USA suffers from chronic racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and a founding document (our amazing, venerable and oft misinterpreted Constitution) in serious need of modernization."
Many in the USA embrace racism, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia. Some, including the Founders, have used the Constitution to institute their prejudices and perpetuate inequality. However, the Founders also wrote into the Constitution procedures by which we can make progress towards establishing their revolutionary declaration of radical equality. And invited us to do so.
And so we should accept the invitation.
Until Scalia, Leonard Leo et al came on the scene, we had.
Now even some others who should know better have gotten sucked into asserting we are all originalists.
". . . . our as yet unjustified sense of "specialness". That phrase lands with huge discomfort in me and may also signal a fear in others that's a driving force that stands in the way of progress. We humans have a lot to learn about power and participation (not domination) and that can be a daily practice. How 'special' am I, how 'special' are we? Here, the power of words and ideas are influencers, I find hope in that.
4 hours ago I apparently suffered a "senior moment" and wrote "resuscitating their ancient and barbaric VOTING LAW", meaning to say "ANTI-ABORTION LAW". I have corrected my original comment, assuming anyone cares. Not sure if Arizona has a voting law problem or not. Hope it swings left this time in any case.
Donate to Gallego's campaign.
Can you say originalist? Judicial decisions can be made either by strict interpretation of the law as written or with an understanding of the time it was written and whether it would apply given the changes in society. A perfect example is how the 2nd Amendment is misinterpreted.
A. "strict interpretation of the law as written"
B. "with an understanding of the time it was written and whether it would apply given the changes in society"
Harvey, I queried the term "originalist" online and it seems to have a meaning not quite captured by either of your choices for judicial decisions. Wikipedia says "Originalists assert that legal text should be interpreted based on the original understanding at the time of adoption. Originalists object to the idea of the significant legal evolution being driven by judges in a common law framework and instead favor modifications of laws through the Legislature or through Constitutional amendment."
A. Your "as written" option misses the requirement of "the original understanding at the time of adoption".
B. Your "and whether it would apply given the changes in society" option allows a rational flexibility that seems to be explicitly rejected by originalism.
You forget that some of the judges on today's Arizona Supreme Court were probably practicing lawyers in 1864. :)
Unless, Vincent, their high court was thereby rebuking their legislature for taking so little action toward updating their laws to reflect a new millenium! ...nahhh...
I’m wondering how the AZ SC could legitimately find that 19th century law written before AZ was a state would supercede over a more recently passed law in the state of Arizona.
LFAA, and Dr. Richardson herself, are treasures. Today's post provides detailed, reliable, fully cited information concerning the origin of the 1864 law that the AZ Supreme Court just brought back from the dead. Dr. Richardson places this information in its contemporary historical context and makes relevant connections to our current situation. All done in one day. This is very impressive work. It fills the holes in the MSM accounts of this decision that I've been reading on and off all day. It becomes clearer to me with every passing day that my subscription to this substack represents the best value I have received for my money in years. Well done, Dr. Richardson, and thank you.
Ditto James. In fact this formerly small seeming amount of money represented a sacrifice for my finances; Yet, as I considered it, money well invested considering how much our Dr. labors, not to mention education provided. Well spent indeed.
Perfectly stated, James M. Coyle!!!
Note: One does not need to pay to subscribe to getting these letters. One only needs to pay the small subscription cost to be able to comment. The letters come to our Inbox for free.
Thanks for commenting, D4N.
Absolutely agree! Where else would we find such historical background? I thought that AZ adopting a piece of a very old law was absurd already. But this explanation knocks it out of the park. Talk about cherry picking from antique documents! Reminds me of the creativity of Extremist Bible Thumpers. (No offense intended for those who use old books for inspiration. I have my own :)
Perhaps a lot of the ‘old laws’ which might fall into effect should be ‘taken off the books’ . Principle has long gone IMHO.
Enthusiastically concur again, Good Sir-
Good to hear from you!
DWC
And greetings again to you, Sir!
It just floors me that Dr. Richardson can get so much good work done in so little time. It's amazing. JC
I'm sure it helps that our history is her life's work. Let's honor that.
Well stated! She is a unique and most important person
In 1864, Semmelweis was ridiculed by fellow doctors when he washed his hands between the morgue and delivering babies to prevent fatal “childbirth fever”. We didn’t understand mitoses and mitochondria or the placenta then. Doctors didn’t wear sterile surgical gloves or sterilize instruments either. This is where Republicans want us to be medically for women’s health. I wonder if they feel that way about their “limp dick” and their boner pills they get through the mail (Comstock law)? This is insanity. A true WTF time if there ever was one. Also remember the one man who wrote this law was making it up as he went. Vote Democratic for everything. Vote these fruitcakes out of office.
Religious extremists are averse to learning anything scientific, most especially if it involves lady parts. It’s all just left to god’s magic and god’s will after the man gets his rocks off.
Intelligent and knowledgeable people aren’t easily manipulated, which thwart the will of many religious leaders. Religion & Elite have long worked together by controlling the social order which keeps them in power.
Let’s hope that “we” the intelligent and knowledgeable people will make our way to the polls! If only we would approach voting with the vigor and enthusiasm that we demonstrated on April 8th —including accurate MEDIA coverage.
That same kind of condescension was what killed President Garfield nearly two decades later. It wasn’t the assassin’s bullet that did him in but the infections his doctors introduced during their treatment.
Poking into the wound with their dirty hands… ugh!
I wonder how long it would take to have Roe V Wade codified into law if women simply withheld the "fruits of their gender"? (attribution: Robert Penn Warren)
Lysistrata.
an idea an old as the anti-war comedy, Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes in 411 BCE. Good thoughts never die!
I have also wondered the same.
Molly, the plain language you used in your comment suits me just fine! WTF is right! Women can’t protect themselves from getting pregnant but men can certainly make sure that all is in working order…and all via mail order in discreet packaging!
And as far as abortion bans go, where there are exceptions “to save the life of the mother” clearly doesn’t work either. Recent events support that by some of the horrific experiences women have had to go through. It is ALL disgusting.
Ma'am, you win the internet today: "limp dick boner pills" indeed.
🤗
Hold Arizona Republicans accountable for their abortion ban: Start with this interactive map of the AZ Congressional races, the two State Supreme Court justices up for re-election and details on the Arizona ballot measure to enshrine the right to an abortion in the constitution.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/04/09/hold-arizona-republicans-accountable-for-their-abortion-ban-start-with-this-map/
A lesson in history that I will share with many friends. Already, many AZ Republicans have spoken in opposition to this ruling by their Supreme Court. The writing on the wall is very clear. This ballot measure will be an easy "get out the vote" rallying cry for the Dems in AZ. I hope that a resounding win for the ballot initiative will prompt other states denying women's reproductive rights will be a. catalyst for similar ballot initiatives in red states around the country.
Good point Steve. Even the far-right election denying Kari Lake spoke out against the AZ SC decision.
One of the many things I don't understand is, why so many men are anti-abortion. Do they not understand that if they get a woman pregnant, they are on the hook for at least 18 years financially?
I have a co-worker who had affairs with two different women both of whom became pregnant. Both women had their babies and sued him for 1) child support and 2) full custody. They were both granted child support and full custody. His wife divorced him requiring him to pay child support and alimony for her and their four children plus he had to pay child support on the other two kids for 18 years.
The judges were all merciless with his financial situation and rightfully so.
And did I mention he is anti-abortion?
Thank goodness for all of the judges out there that make the sperm providers pay for their fleeting moments of bliss. May they all for the good of the children and their mothers.
One of the few men actually held accountable.
We need a national DNA registration bank for paternity testing, and ironclad law to enforce support.
I was thinking the same thing Jen. There are men who will do anything to shirk their responsibility for their children. Some even disappear, running away to a new life.
A national DNA registration bank and an iron clad law to enforce the support is required.
The national DNA registration bank would also facilitate the law's search for rapists--a very good thing!
If ever they get prosecuted
I tend to agree, but beware... the collecting of DNA data has a very real potential dark side. Unless there is a gigantic firewall protecting such information, I can imagine a Big Brother 1984-style nefarious use of that very personal information. Insurance companies could deny health insurance for preexisting conditions, car insurance could be denied for those with a genetic predisposition to epilepsy, etc. The ACLU would be all over this.
Yeah, Steve, the laws of “unintended consequences” & “be careful what you wish for”….otherwise, an interesting idea…..
He should be the poster child for choice!
I'm thinking any legislator or judge who in any way tries to limit women's health care be registered to be an adoptive parent or at least foster parent. If they truly believe women don't have a choice, they must step up to take care of those children. THEY don't get a choice in the matter either!
And then there’s our Republican candidate for Senator in California.
Wow! Karma bites back.
A “get out the vote” rallying cry not just for Arizona voters but for the whole nation, coming as it did just a day after one candidate for the presidency (who shall remain nameless) announced that his abortion stand is now “let the states decide”. The Arizona Supreme Court may have just inadvertently saved our democracy. A girl can hope.
Laughing.
Nice!
There is no other area of medical care as understood in the 1860s that would (let alone should) be acceptable to anyone. Germ theory was in its infancy, genetics was unknown, anesthesia consisted of ether or chloroform, there were no blood transfusions, antibiotics, radiography, or electrocardiography, etc. To apply this zombie law in the 21st century has nothing to do with health care. It is about control and subjugation of women.
BARBARIANS AT THE GATE OF AMERICA’S SOUL
Heather, warm thanks for your insightful history lesson of how one man, in 1864, crafted a plethora of laws in Arizona (decades before statehood) that are now being used to block abortions in 2024.
This is such an absurd image that it clearly fits into Trump’s bizarre world of unChristianity.
1864 was also the year that the North dominated the South in the Civil War. This led to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the reunification of our country.
I consider 2024 another watershed year in American history. There are various issues that trigger this political Armageddon:
1) Abortion—this basic women’s right is a federal issue that is being challenged in a number of states;
2) Justice and the Constitution—if we are not a constitutional democracy in which justice is meted out equally on all citizens, what are we?
3) The soul of America in which the decency that has evolved over nearly 250 years is reaffirmed;
4) Core principles by which we support, with like-minded countries, the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine that have been invaded;
5). A country dedicated to serving the needs of a great majority of its citizens rather than a few fat cats; and
6) A country in which we celebrate rather than denigrate diversity.
At 90, I find my country in its greatest crisis in my lifetime—far greater than World War II and the Cold War.
My instinct is that the goodness of America will prevail and that Biden will Trump his predecessor in November. This clearly is not a certainty.
With Heather’s banner to inspire us, let’s make this happen.
Keith, an eloquently summarized wish-list for what is, or used to be, or should be America's true strengths! You have gleaned American essentials from your 90 years! Despite being 15 years younger your instincts speak as loudly to me as the Bible.
You have seen, lived and triumphed
Thank you Mr Wheelock
Keith, I take comfort in your instinct. I do believe that, given modern communications, the speed at which the goodness will triumph can be accelerated. I agree that in the last 100 years, this crisis is the worst this country has thus far experienced and again, due to modern communications. I firmly believe that the divide we see in our nation today has been exacerbated by disinformation and propaganda from within our country and from foreign actors; I say exacerbated because there sure as heck was fertile ground for the propaganda.
Faithful to Prof Richardson and all readers, voters, educators, etc learning to tak Ed our constitutional rights to the polls!
Bravo!
Truly sad that yet another small group of extremist partisan hacks choose to inflict their warped worldview on the people of Az. In the style of the partisan hacks in the majority in the Robert’s kangaroo court, they invented excuses to ignore the 2022 law in favor of one from 1864.
Az. needs an epic turnout to not only overwhelming approve the initiative protecting reproductive care, but also throwing out the GQP scum in the state legislature. They will have to overcome both aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression.
It's worth considering that overcoming the gerrymandering will require republicans, independents, etc., of good will to join dems, etc. This requires meetings of the mind, heart, etc. - not in-kind belligerence.
Mr Cravens:
Let's not be too quick to malign and condemn the members of the Arizona Supreme Court. For one thing, they have just done the cause of reproductive rights a tremendous boon.
Further, I am not so sure that the decision is wrong! Given the Dobbs decision and no contrary current legislative declaration of the will of the people in 160 years, what other choice did the justices have?
Surely, you do not advocate judges usurping legislative authority.
\Vince S
Thank you. Clear brief retort.
I thought AZ had a more recent statute that permitted abortions up to 15 weeks. Why does this relic supersede the more recent statute?
My "Like" is for your sarcasm re. "originalism". You are being sarcastic, right? (The best sarcasm always has a bit of edgy ambiguity.) "Surely" :)
Mr K:
I'll admit to some "edgy ambiguity." Not so sure about the sarcasm. Let's just call it a probing inquiry, à la Socratic discovery.
Sarcasm is too often misused to end conversations. I like to keep conversations going.
\Vince S
that works!
There is a very clear law for. 2022 that they overrode. The choice was clear and they chose partisan hackery.
The long-ago AZ legislature that forbid abortions for women also okayed sex for 10-year-old-girls?
That's about the logical relationship between power-hungry bodies of mostly men or all men.
Any time you get certain types of people in control, categorical thinking prevails. Thus, that all-male Arizona legislature of 1864 would stiff women to control their personal lives -- but leave doors open for luscious pre-teens to be available to sugar daddies. But these same men (all white) of course are going to stiff all non-whites, too.
In our time, when the medieval Clarence court wants to let states anew control women, and wants to let states gerrymander or otherwise cut off people of color from voting, of course, too, they look with favor upon anything that will bulk up the billionaire classes.
When medieval courts like Clarence's rule for the rich, and against women, and against people of color, they're not just letting obtuse, categorical abstractions dominate -- they're killing democracy.
Democracy depends on a society whose free press and free public schools uphold all the ways we might have to see and respect others as individuals all different in different ways from us. A national government can guarantee freedoms and rights -- and do that, as Lincoln saw, also by public programs to level playing fields. Public programs in transportation, health, worker safety, and environmental protections highly included.
Heather's "How the South Won the Civil War" reminds us how the worst attitudes from 1864 have come to the fore again. No longer "This land is your land, this land is my land."
Ask Clarence.
Hey, watch what happens if this gets to the US Supremes on appeal! (Ask Clarence!!)
Yes, Steve, let's go to Florence, Mary, and Diana:
"You Can't Hurry Love," "Stop! in the Name of Love," "Baby Love," "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Come See About Me," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," & more, more.
Here's another for your playlist
He calls it Broken Truth ( and has another song about Woody Guthry called " woodys Landlord--apparently when he lived in NYC it was Fred Trump), but I call it Damn That Man
https://youtu.be/kRSNNrAfv3s?si=bi5nN0xjRZsKldfR
Jen, came across this link posted (here or another SubStack) a few days ago & shared it with family/friends. One fellow, a singer/songwriter by hobby (most are poticially themed), was jazzed to hear it.
Great playlist.
Phil & progwoman, DEFINITELY great playlist! ...straight out of the 60's, 70's & 80's I'm thinking without even mentioning the Beatles, the greatest music generation I'm thinking, ...probably because I can't remember much music thereafter.
Tangential comment here: as our music platforms changed, so did our shared music experiences. When we lost music radio and the record albums that followed, we lost that common ground. I think that there are most likely some Rap artists that were as in touch with people's hearts as were some of the artists of the 60's and 70's. The 50's and the 80's feel (to me) more like the views of teens rather than those that could reach across generations.
I spent each of the last two weekends at my in-laws. My brother-in-law is my age (we are both "Generation Jones" as the eldest kids born in 58 and 60). Several years ago, he bought a record player so as to listen to "vinyl" as records are now named; his youngest daughter and her fiance (both Gen Z) absolutely love it. I love that they are listening to whatever genre the rap of the 90's has become on a record player.
I miss the artists of the "Protest Era" of the 50's-70's. As I said the other day, I miss John Prine.
Yes, Ally, indeed true, that "we lost that common ground."
But it was no accident. For the rich fully to rule, the far right groups that came out of the 1971 Powell memo knew they first had to gut humanities at all levels of education, from K-12 through higher.
It's a sorry history of what followed, Ally, but massively, as you say, "we lost that common ground." Nice, though that some (as you describe in your family) have kept in touch with earlier sources.
First sentence proves your point.
"It seems likely that voters will turn out in November to elect lawmakers who will represent the actual will of the people in the twenty-first century."
My hope is that such a revolution will finally happen on many issues, once the rights of women to choose break open the gates.
At least one cartel party is finally recognizing their overreaching efforts have produced the issue that will break open the gate to salvaging the government from a partisan ruling class and returning power to the will of the people. It is encouraging now watching them trying to put that genie back in the bottle: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/arizona-republicans-against-state-abortion-ban?CMP=GTUS_email
The Arizona laws written by only one man, Howell, and adopted in 1864 by just 27 men were barbaric then, but 4 members of the current AZ Supreme Court decided that those laws are just wonderful and should remain in effect. Absolutely disgusting. Thank you, Heather, for providing the full context of the origin of this decision.
Lucy, I think those 27 men were not barbaric but may have been just the opposite, trying to bring some semblance of order to a barbaric time via the only guy who had some kind of a blueprint for what a body of laws should look like in a time of violent chaos and "frontier justice." My fantasy of possibilities for the motivations behind the "better angels of our nature" of the current Arizona high court's decision is that it is serving up a rebuke to their legislature for having never updated their currently archaic legal structure and a powerful stimulus to DO something about it!
John, I agree with you about the intentions of those 27 men, but not the idea that the current law makers were trying to do anything good. They just kept going back in time until they found a law that met their needs. I do believe that they have given us a “gift” in their eager desire to impose their will on women. Feeling threatened brings out hysteria in some.
JohnM, what part of forbidding abortion and allowing sex with girls as young as 10 would "bring some semblance of order to a barbaric time"? We should all rebuke the members of every AZ legislative session since Arizona was admitted to the Union for failing to remove those original laws. Is some man now going to use that same 1864 law to claim that women have no right to vote, or that he can have sex with any female child under the age of consent?
What more can they possibly do to piss off every reasonably self-aware woman in the US?
I applaud those brave women who decide to remain in Arizona long enough to cast their votes en masse, but if it was me I'd vote with my feet and get out of there just as fast as I could.
I hear that desire but if taken to its logical conclusion, eventually there would be nowhere else to run to. So stay and vote as if your lives and futures are at stake.
Gary, at a local rally after R v W was overturned I held my cardboard sign that read: “Big mistake (HUGE!*) to piss off so many women”.
*riff on dialog from the movie Pretty Woman
This is yet another treasure writing of Professor. She must publish a book on HCR Moments of American Democracy. The book will educate informed voters to sustain and enhance Democracy in America and the World. Thank you Professor.
Thank you for your comments Hira.
This is a good seque into a plug for Dr. Richardson's books. She has written several the most recent she dedicated to the readers of this newsletter.
Here is a link to her wikipedia page for anyone interested in reading about her or her book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson
Hi Gary, thank you for the link to Professor's profile. I am wondering if she might offer a course on History of American Democracy from her university for public. I would like to say that I learned the American history from Professor.
good day Hiro.
I looked at the Boston College website and discovered that C-Span is overing Dr. RIchardson's lecture(s). Here is a link.
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/humanities/history
There may be other lectures available as well. In case you weren't aware she is now recording her newsletter to listen to each day. I am not sure of the link.
Truly.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
While Heritage Foundation didn't exist in 1864 and the 27 men comprising the Arizona legislature didn't have the 'benefit' of Project 2025 I'm certain some of the extremists who contributed to Project 2025 are inspired and envious of the Arizona law.
I agree with you George!!👍They -the people that came up with Project 2025 were inspired by this law?
Women had no rights then-in 1864!They don’t want us to have them now!It’s ridiculous!!!!
I guess when they mean they want to "make America great again" -they mean before the civil war. It is truly disgusting.
That is the time they harken to. They will tell you it is the "fabulous 50's" but they well may mean the 1850's as well.
UGH!
Well, that's what happens when you pull too hard on the thread of democracy. If there's anything that I've learned in 45 years of marriage, it's that you should never argue with an angry woman. Guys, we are now surrounded by women filled with righteous anger. My advice is to listen to them, and understand their wisdom, and resist the urge to judge them. Don't make excuses. Find your understanding and kindness. Cooperate with them, and we can rebuild what has been lost. We will all be better for it.
A wise man. My husband was a wise man. Understanding and kindness defined him
Thank you Jeri ❤️
Nothing wrong with understanding and kindness, whatever the gender
"Find your understanding and kindness."???? Quit thinking through your lude male progenitor pea brain. Freedom and justice is the prism to find for your moral compass.