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Even if Dobbs had never been decided -Can you think of any other instance where a constitutional amendment recognizing the right of the people to be “free from” government intervention has created a congressional power to regulate in that area?

What does an amendment have to do with anything? That question is incomprehensible given the actual discussion/subject at hand.

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SCOTUS may be in the mood to declare life begins at conception

This is LITERALLY the type of judicial decision-making the court invalidated yesterday. The USSC declared federal courts are out of the business of making these types of decisions.

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SlowFlo corrected me on the Pub Accommodations law - I was relying on my law school recollection from legit sitting in Con Law II, and there was debate in Congress about whether to use the 14A itself, but then they apparently rolled with commerce clause instead.

They did both.

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I concede and agree with him that the commerce clause should not apply to abortions,

You concede but disagree with me, actually.

And it raises questions.

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Abortions are a state issue related to health and welfare.

Is it an economic activity?

Are the instruments used in that economic activity part of interstate commerce?

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Posted by Wednesday

Member since Aug 2017

15534 posts

Posted on 6/25/22 at 9:22 am to SlowFlowPro

Why you so angry? I think elastic commerce clause is the Devil. We agree. If this were a basis for Congress to pass a law making abortion legal nationwide, Congress’s statute (in either direction- permitting or denying abortions) would be unconstitutional.

The holding in Dobbs was based almost entirely about history of individual states regulating abortions. It found that the issue should be decided by the individual states. The only federal substantive authority involved was an invented right with no basis in Federal Law- or history of it.

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Is it an economic activity? Are the instruments used in that economic activity part of interstate commerce?

I do not believe that an abortion procedure is economic activity between two states despite that the instruments to do it are sold in interstate commerce. Therefore, I don’t think Congress has authority to regulate abortions under the commerce clause.

I don’t believe states can ban, for example, abortion tourism. Maybe Congress could give $$ for abortion trips to Planned Parenthood, but I don’t know how they get around other prevailing Fed law preventing Gvt $$$ to be used to fund abortions (their idiocy about funding Planned Parenthood aside)

I guess Congress could permit or require the selling of abortion equipment to Louisiana, or Medicare laws could require hospitals to purchase- bc apparently ObamaCare is cool with the commerce clause and it can force ppl to buy things. I frankly don’t know enough about the mechanics of the procedure to know whether there are any instruments exclusive to performing abortions as opposed to other legit obstetric procedures. Regardless, Louisiana can criminalize the use of these instruments for abortions - so who cares?

I think abortion is an issue like Lopez and VAW Act in that these are all regulations regarding - public safety/welfare. They are not the SAME subject matter. But if the Fed Gvt can’t pass specific gun regulations or regulations regarding domestic violence, I’m not precisely sure how they can pass abortion laws.

I’m not saying that Congress won’t try to regulate abortions, or at least make noise about it - but I think that it exceeds their authority because it’s a public safety / health and welfare issue. And if they try to do it, they need to know Their audience - ie that Alito is in it.

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Posted by udtiger