Idaho’s new law criminalizing anyone who helps an Idaho minor get an abortion in another state recalls America’s Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, (“Idaho passes 1st in nation bill to make it a crime to help a minor get an abortion,” Mar. 30).
Perhaps this did not occur to Idaho Gov. Brad Little? In any case, if Idaho inspires other states to enact similar laws, then America could be headed for a fundamental conflict that engenders a new kind of civil war. Clearly, most Americans do not agree with extremism on abortion, but the extremism of the U.S. Supreme Court could prompt a response.
But Democrats in America are not lacking in extremism. Many want to nullify the Second Amendment because they believe citizens ought not be armed, though they’re careful not to say that. Most Americans do not accept this, as evidenced by the rise in gun purchases. In addition, Dems want to qualify the First Amendment, criminalizing “hate” speech. Of course, the term eludes any non-arbitrary definition though, like all totalitarians, they see it as a weapon against those they disagree with.
What is behind these expressions of rising intolerance? What happened to our pragmatism and compromise? Political polarization in America has roughly risen with increasing economic inequality since the late 1970s. Perhaps the polarization is a surrogate expression of the inequality? Perhaps the advent of social media facilitates the impression that society is changing too much, too fast, in ways that leave many people alienated, abandoned culturally as well as economically?
Tom Shillock, Portland
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