Conservatives’ Latest Attack on Mifepristone Is a Constitutional Cover for Eugenics

October 23, 2024:

This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout.

Conservatives are floating an outrageous and dangerous new legal theory in their crusade against medication abortion. It’s one that, if embraced, would dramatically expand state power to regulate pregnancy and birth.

In their proposed amended complaint, three conservative attorneys general argue that the state has a right to future pregnancies and babies and the availability of medication abortion is interfering with that right. According to the amended complaint, the attorneys general from Kansas, Missouri, and Idaho claim that decreased births, which they attribute to the availability of abortion pills, create a “sovereign injury to the state in itself,” which in turn leads to other potential injuries like the “losing a seat in Congress or qualifying for less federal funding if their populations are reduced.”

“Each abortion represents at least one lost potential or actual birth,” the amended complaint states.

Yup, you read that correctly. For the first time ever, the conservative legal movement is explicitly claiming the state has a right to your future pregnancies—because without them, their political power will be reduced.

These “population interests,” as articulated by the attorneys general, target pregnant teens, but there’s nothing in the states’ argument that would limit its reach to minors only. Nor is there anything about these arguments that would be limited to policing abortion. If a state truly has a constitutional interest in future pregnancies, it could arguably enact a whole host of policies that don’t just prioritize birth, but mandate it.

In other words, these “population interests” are nothing more than constitutional cover for conservative eugenics. And it’s very likely that a federal judiciary stacked with Donald Trump appointees will be eager to embrace them.

Source link

tags

Abkhazia Afghanistan Africa Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Northern Cyprus Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Lucia Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay USA Uzbekistan Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe