The whole issue around abortion for conservatives is that it's not considered felony manslaughter by the Supreme Court. Hasn't been for close to 50 years now.
It can be considered a life, maybe in some hypothetical argument, but nobody actually can make that argument.
Because it's hard. There's implications of autonomy here. If an unborn baby is a life and has rights, which rights does it have? Is it an American Citizen? It must, at least, have personhood - what are the guardrails around that? Can I, for example, say that the unborn fetus is a person and is inside me, and is therefore bound by "stand your ground" laws, meaning I am free to kill it for self-defense, much like I would a grown person?
See, the Supreme Court never actually asked that question. As it stands, unborn babies are not people, they are not citizens. We, instead, said "fuck it this is hard to argue" and made exactly 1 exception for unborn fetuses - abortion.
If you want to argue an unborn fetus is alive, there are implications and consequences of that. Evidently, conservatives are too cowardly to address any of them. Ever. So, here we are, with our broken laws that make no sense.
It is not so much about what the govt can’t do. It is more about what it should not do. It is the philosophy of govt that is in the MAGA political discourse.
I am not of the opinion that govt should not be placing restrictions. That is literally the definition of laws. I am of the opinion that govt should not regulate how someone can do something.
Loosening a ban on menthol, not because it was harmful, but because it was causing addictions, was an overreach. It should have banned the Tobacco and nicotine instead.
There is no consistent agreement about what the government can or cannot do within MAGA. That's why it's not a framework for global discourse. It is a joke even within conservative circles.
"Let me control my own health" up until abortion is mentioned.
"We need better surveillance measures" up until that surveillance is used against them.
"Law enforcement needs more privileges" until they harass your daughter with the bodycam turned off.
"Don't regulate Apple/Google" up until they become politicized and collude with the government for warrantless surveillance.
"Foreign policy is too globalist!" up until Israel insists Iran has a nuke. And so on. There isn't a single neocon value that can't be forsaken by ideologues, I challenge you to name just one.
That is not inconsistency. That is double standards. They are willing to uphold a rule until it bites back against them. This is mob mentality. And a reason for why democracy does not work (unless the mob is diffused).
