Texas law SB8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, has gone into effect banning abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, which is often before someone knows that they are pregnant. I have to admit that I feel stunned by the degree to which parts of the United States are backsliding on what I believe are basic accomplishments of social and political progress. And to add more damage to the mix, the right of action here is vested in individuals as opposed to in the state, thus deputizing a minority of people to enforce their views on the majority of citizens (only one third of the population was in favor of stricter laws).
It is a scary thought that the Supreme Court with its new constellation might let this law stand, because it would lead other states to adopt similar measures. Now some might argue that this is an example of subsidiarity, that abortion should be entirely regulated at the state level. While I believe we are regulating far too many things at the federal level, the right to an abortion isn’t one of them. Why? Because forcing someone to carry a baby interferes with bodily integrity, which is a well established constitutional right emanating from the Fourth Amendment.
The counter to the bodily integrity argument has been the rights of the unborn. To prioritize these over the right of the person carrying the baby has always struck me as strange. After all, we clearly prioritize the rights of parents over the rights of children who are born and fully alive.
Now I have been writing some blog posts about using consistency to challenge one’s views. If I believe in bodily integrity as a constitutional right, how can I possibly support a government vaccine mandate? Wouldn’t the government forcing me to take a vaccine interfere with my bodily integrity? And I actually happen to agree. I don’t believe that the government should be able to force people to get vaccinated. But that happens to be all the more reason why I support the rights of businesses and other groups (e.g., schools) to exclude anyone who is not vaccinated.
In summary, I believe the right to bodily integrity is constitutional and supports a right to abortion that should not be allowed to be overridden at the state level. The Texas law is an abomination and needs to be overturned.
