I'll admit upfront that taking down NRO's KLo isn't particularly difficult, but still... this is pretty brilliant.
The moral incoherence underpinning the "let's leave abortion laws to the states" has always astonished me. But in all of the times I've tried to write about it, I've never come close to writing it this well:
"leaving it to the states" makes no sense given Lopez's moral premises, not only because it's ridiculous to consider a fetus human life in Mississippi but to have this status disappear entirely when the future mother gets on a plane to New York, but the availability in abortion in some state would mean that you're just banning abortion for women who can't afford to travel, which makes no sense at all...What Lopez is practically advocating, combining her two arguments, is our old friend abortion-on-demand for affluent urban women and more dangerous black market abortions or self-abortions for poor women. This is a ridiculous position no matter what your underlying moral position on abortion, and one completely inconsistent with basic democratic principles.
It's the "gets on a plane" bit that really got me. That, at its core, is what a pro-life federalist position is advocating. Personhood can be won or lost through the magic of flight. How is that the answer to a profound moral question?
I can't wait to read KLo's response.
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