Texas Abortion Law Debate

The Texas abortion law debate has begun, and both sides of that debate are digging in for what will likely be a long and bitter battle. Political psychologist Dr. Brat Rossu., Ph.D. joins ABC affiliate Wink News to discuss.

In the wake over the fight over the pandemic vs. liberty, abortion has now taken center stage with the Texas abortion law taking effect. Abortion long been a hot political topic in America. But while there are fierce camps on both sides.  the majority of American people (including many Republicans) as a whole have long supported Roe Vs. Wade.

The new Texas abortion law debate is two-pronged. Firstly, the law itself has some draconian provisions. And secondly, could this being the law of the land in Texas be mimicked by other states?

There is certainly a fear among abortion advocates that the Texas law was intended as a first step to undermine and erode Roe vs. Wade.

The re was outrage on Twitter that the Supreme Court refused to weigh in and block the Texas law from going into effect. To be clear, though, that doesn’t mean the Supreme Court has ruled on the law; they simply sidestepped ruling on the legality of the law and allowed it to take effect in the state of Texas. No doubt that at some time in the future this will be an actual case argued before the Supreme Court in which they will have to provide a ruling, as opposed to simply not ruling.

And while the larger gernral abortion topic has arguments on both sides, the specific Texas law moves into uncharted territory. For example, this Texas abortion law gives everyday citizens the right to sue one another over abortion; a suit can be brought by anyone against a woman seeking an abortion, or anyone who “intends” or has helped in that effort.  So does mean someone can sue an Uber driver that drops a woman off at a clinic?.  It summons up images of neighbors turning on one another remisent of days of the  Nazi Gestapo or the Russian Stasi during and after WWII.

The White House condemed the nee Texas law, while conservtive talk show host says “Texas abortion law demonstrates democracy still exists.

Abortion is and always has been a very divisive topic in the national dialogue. But Texas pulled off a ‘street con’ with its move according to Chris Hayes. Abortion supporters however noted on his show that they have legal options. 

Texas Abortion Law Debate

There have been early supporter the new law too, including far-right Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated publically that Tesla CEO Elon Musk supported his social policies. However, when responding to CNBC for comment, Mr. Musk gave generalized statements that didn’t clearly clarify whether he supported the Texas abortion law or not. This may, in part, be due to his company and foundation are both growing their operations in Texas. His response included:

In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness. 

That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics 

Here are the six states that could be eying the law and looking to adopt the same apporach.

In this Wink News episode

Dr. Bart Rossi dives into the politial psychology of the news law, and some of the driving factos behind supporters and opponents.

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