CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – As settlers pushed into Wisconsin Territory in the early 1800s, murder was illegal. The accused would be hunted by a posse, and either turned over to the U.S. Marshall, or face a citizen trial. When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, our laws against killing were enshrined in our constitution. “Thou shalt not kill”, the biblical commandment, is one of Wisconsin’s oldest laws.
It was understood, generations ago, that abortion was murder. That’s why states enacted laws that banned terminating a pregnancy. Wisconsin’s abortion ban is from 1849; our state was one year old. It has never been repealed, although it was unenforceable after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade ruling. Roe has been struck down. The law remains.
And pro-abortion activists have gone to court, hoping that the law will be struck down because of its old-ness. Wrong.
The way to repeal or change laws is through the legislative process. But the activist crowd knows that the Republican-controlled legislature would not repeal it. They are trying to accomplish through the courts what they cannot accomplish through the ballot box.
Michigan’s abortion law is much newer compared to Wisconsin’s. It was enacted in 1931. And yet, in an outrageous moment of judicial activism, has been blocked from being enforced by the courts. Michigan also has a Republican-controlled legislature that will not send a repeal bill to the governor. There is a push to change the state’s constitution. But until that happens, the law is valid.
The U.S. Supreme Court, correctly, returned the abortion debates to the individual states. We’ve quickly discovered that the courts, not elected officials, will be the latest to distort the issue.
Old law used to be considered wisdom. The “old-ness” of a law in no way makes it invalid.
Chris Conley
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