The Usual Suspects Are Trying To Suppress Abortion In States Where It’s Legal*

R.VanWagoner
7 min readJul 26, 2023

They’ll Use The Same Ploy To Deter Gender-Affirming Care

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

In Dobbs, the Supreme Court redefined substantive due process and liberty not to include a woman’s right to choose, purporting to leave access to such reproductive healthcare to the individual states. See ‘Liberty’ May Not Mean What You Think It Means.

For 19 Republican attorneys general, Dobbs does not go far enough. Despite overwhelming public opposition, many seek a nationwide ban on abortion through one of three means: a congressional ban signed into law by a GOP president after a Republican senate majority leader suspends the filibuster for that specific purpose; a Supreme Court declaration that embryonic cells are constitutionally protected from the moment of conception; or, if neither of these works, a constitutional amendment.

In the interim, they will do what they can to disrupt reproductive healthcare in states where abortion is legal. Defying principles of federalism to which they give lip service, these attorneys general want to preserve the ability to suppress such reproductive healthcare across their borders into states where such care is legal. They want that same overreach into gender-affirming healthcare.

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R.VanWagoner

Exercising my right not to remain silent. Criminal defense and First Amendment attorney.