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Already we're supposed to start speculating about the Y2K presidential race, which may be why nobody is paying much attention to Jane Doe No. 5, although the inattention to the latter might be the result of a clever White House spin operation that keeps Hillary Clinton's possible senatorial ambitions in the foreground so that there's not room to notice much else.
Then again, who ever thought we'd know this much about the sex lives of presidents and contenders. The Starr Report told us more about Bill Clinton and cigars than I ever wanted to know. But as soon as that dropped off the screen, there's Bob Dole, talking about heroism and Erectile Dysfunction, at the same time that there's serious speculation that his wife, Liddy, might be seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency. Try as you might, you can't blame the Clinton White House for that.
What comes next? Candidates arranging for videos to be leaked to the Internet, thereby demonstrating their viability while maintaining some deniability?
At any rate, it seems safe to predict that the Republican litmus test next year will be abortion. There are, as always, many hopefuls who promise to satisfy the party's potent right-to-life wing by appointing Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, thereby making it possible to outlaw abortion.
This inspired some speculation. Before the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, it was a state matter.
Some states pretty much outlawed it, although prosecutions were rare. Other states, like Colorado and California, made it more or less legal.
If the anti-abortionists got their way, would abortion be removed from federal purview (the Supreme Court held that there is an implied right to privacy in the Constitution, and most state restrictions violate that right) and return to the states?
Or would it remain a federal matter, with strong federal laws to prohibit abortion? That seems to be what the right-to-life lobby wants.
And in that case, how would such prohibitions be enforced?
The only guidance that comes to mind is the current War on Drugs. If the right-to-lifers got their way, and followed this model, then we might see this someday:
· Testing. In theory, perhaps, all women of child-bearing age would have their blood or urine tested once a month, and if conception were indicated, then they would be closely monitored to insure that she did not procure an abortion or engage in activities that might lead to a miscarriage.
But that would be too expensive -- after all, we don't test everybody all the time for drugs.
So instead, the tests would be conducted only on applicants for employment at companies that do business with the government, motor vehicle drivers at the discretion of the officer who stopped the car, high-school girls who want to participate in extracurricular activities and similar people who fit the profile.
· Importing. Just as we go to great lengths to prevent the importation of certain substances, we would have to strengthen our customs screening to insure that analogous violations would not occur if there were strong anti-abortion laws.
A woman can't exactly import an abortion, but she could leave the country to procure one and thereby evade American law.
However, she could be tested for pregnancy before leaving the country, and if positive, similarly tested upon her return. If the return test was negative, then she would be charged with murder.
· Foreign sources. As we know from the War on Drugs, the Customs Service can't do it all by itself, especially when there are so many foreign sources of supply.
To that end, the United States enters into agreements with foreign countries, and sends in troops and aircraft to spray fields and demolish processing facilities. Sometimes we don't even bother with the agreement, as with the invasion of Panama.
Apply this to abortion, and the foreign clinics that served American women would be logical targets, perhaps for smart bombs or cruise missiles.
Granted, all this seems rather far-fetched now, but we already pursue this course in the War on Drugs, and I've yet to hear a right-to-life candidate explain just how the law would be enforced if he got his way and made abortion illegal.
Since it appears that we're going to be part of a Western regional primary next year, which means many anti-abortion candidates will be out on our hustings, maybe we should ask.
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