Abortion Rights Bye Bye

One of the big stories yesterday was the Supreme's deciding that "partial birth abortion" was illegal.

In practical terms, this is really kind of a non-story. There are alternatives for doctors to the particular procedure that is banned. As everyone notes, the bigger danger is the regulatory effect and opening the doors to other legislation preventing other abortion procedures. Abortion is de facto illegal in much of the country already, the "red" states, due to regulations, opposition to clinics and harrassment.

Of course none of this was unpredictable nor should it be surprising. When Bush won in 2004 it was fati accompli. As others point out, the bigger story may be how the Democratic party is slowly abandoning the issue, much like they've abandoned gun control and the death penalty. Medical technology is making abortion a less critical issue as well.

The only solution will be to continue the liberal movement. It will take years to swing the Supreme's back to some sort of reasonable place and I'm afraid we're in for a generation of a very conservative court.