Pence Blows Some Political Smoke

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

One way to "resolve" our nation's deep split over the issue of abortion would be to enshrine the right to abortion access in the US Constitution through an amendment, or, conversely, to deny the right to abortion in the Constitution, also through an amendment.  But even a constitutional amendment - one way or the other - would not be an absolute guarantee.  Our nation outlawed the production and consumption of most alcohol with "prohibition" which was brought about by the 18th Amendment, but when that proved to be an unwieldily disaster that fostered a steep rise in organized crime, the 18th was repealed by the 21st Amendment.

But, the question of permanence aside, both pro-and-anti-abortion forces seem intent on solidifying their positions either through some sort of national legislation or a constitutional amendment.

One route to amending the US Constitution is for Congress to pass a "proposed" amendment in both chambers of Congress - the House and the Senate - by a two-thirds vote, and then submit that proposed amendment to the state legislatures for ratification - a process that would take the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures - or 38 of the fifty.*

Former Vice President Mike Pence seemed to be threatening the use of that procedure when he issued the following "tweet" this past Tuesday evening:

"I’ve got news for President Biden. Come January 22nd, we will have Pro-Life majorities in the House and Senate and we’ll be taking the cause of the right to Life to every state house in America!"

There is a possibility that Republicans could control both the US House and Senate as a result of next month's election, but, as of now, it can't be regarded as a foregone conclusion.  What is not a possibility, however, is that either party would capture a two-thirds majority in either chamber.   

Clearly Mr. Pence, a presidential wannabe without a measurable or even a definable constituency, is just blowing smoke and hoping it ignites into a political fire.

But that ain't a-gonna happen, Mikey.  Americans don't like Bible-thumping hypocrites telling them what they can and cannot do.  They learned that lesson with prohibition.  If abortion impacts the upcoming election - and I, for one, think that it will - the impact will be one which you do not like.

(*The other route to amending the Constitution is for two-thirds of the state legislatures (34) to call for a constitutional convention - but that would open a can of worms that neither party could be assured of controlling and could result in many other changes to our nation's governing document.)