Americans shocked to learn that laws can be enforced

This is not the Babylon Bee, but why is Arizona's 1864 law such a surprise?

American voters were shocked today that the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a law that has been on their books since 1864 can – get  this – ACTUALLY BE ENFORCED!

Photo by Tadeusz Lakota on Unsplash

I’m trying to find a way to write about this without sounding like a Babylon Bee satire.

If you’ve heard about this court ruling, you are aware that the ruling involves abortion. For 50 years, Roe V. Wade prevented individual U.S. States from enforcing abortion laws that had been passed prior to the court’s ruling. Some states, such as New York and California, nonetheless passed actual legislation to allow the procedure. Others, such as Wisconsin, chose to avoid controversy by refusing to repeal these laws. This allowed Republicans to appeal to pro-life voters while actually doing nothing and using the Supreme Court as an excuse. “Yeah, we’re profoundly pro-life. We would just LOVE to outlaw abortion. It’s just that darn court. Nothing we can do. Our hands are tied. Vote for us!” In recent years, other states, mostly in the South, have raced to pass legislation outlawing abortion that they KNEW (or thought at the time of passage) could not be enforced. Governors with presidential aspirations raced to prove they could pass the most draconian law imaginable. 8 week fetal heartbeat bill you say? I’ll see your 8 week ban and raise you a SIX week ban! No exceptions for rape! Take that you liberal RINO!

Then in 2022, a NEW Supreme Court did what most Americans (on either side) ever actually believed they would: they overturned Roe v Wade in the Dobbs v Jackson decision. Suddenly, those new abortion laws COULD be enforced. And so could the pre 1973 legislation that states never bothered to repeal.

The Arizona State Supreme Court has ruled that "Absent the federal constitutional abortion right, and because [the 15-week abortion ban] does not independently authorize abortion, there is no provision in federal or state law prohibiting [the 1864 abortion ban's] operation. Accordingly, [the 1864 ban] is now enforceable.” In other words, a law that’s still on the books can in fact be enforced. Imagine our shock.

Ironically, Arizona DID pass a new law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks way back in 2022 that was signed by then Republican Governor Doug Ducey. But this new law didn’t bother to repeal the 1864 law first. Gee, I would have thought that you would repeal the old law before passing the new one. But what do I know? I’m just an amateur pundit, not a lawyer. Or a state legislator.

Now, all hell is breaking loose. Pro choice Democrats are demanding the immediate repeal of the 1864 law. And Arizona’s Republican “Freedom Caucus” is refusing. The former president who brags that his personally appointed Supreme Court brought conservatives their silver tuna of a Roe reversal stated that the Arizona ruling went too far. This statement was made while the former president was buying milkshakes for patrons at an Atlanta Chik-Fil-A while he was campaigning to get his old job back.

Arizona, y’all had plenty of opportunity  to repeal this law. You chose not to, not even when passing a 15 week abortion ban (that seems really reasonable compared to that 1864 total ban now, doesn’t it?) Don’t blame all the courts. It’s been 160 years since this law was written (Arizona wasn’t even a STATE at that time!), 50 years since Roe v Wade was decided, and almost 2 years since Dobbs. You should have known this was a possibility. Don’t act shocked now.

Why is this even a big deal? Just because a law can be enforceable doesn’t mean it will be enforced. Some states still have antiquated blue laws, but no competent prosecutor is going to waste a court’s time going after someone for hunting on Sunday. In Gwinnett County, possession of weed is illegal, just like everywhere in Georgia. But local prosecutors haven’t prosecuted that crime for years. In fact, they dropped all the active cases of less than an ounce. The only reason any prosecutor has to touch this law is to make political points. Being shocked is the whole point why it’s in the news.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Democrats who never got around to repealing THEIR 1849 law against abortion remain confident that because their state Supreme Court is comprised of a majority of Democrats, that such a ruling can’t possibly affect them and therefore they will continue to ignore the problem.

Voters in Arizona and Florida may have the opportunity to decide for themselves to repeal abortion restrictions via direct ballot initiatives in November, as voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio have all done since the Dobbs decision in 2022.

In totally unrelated news, no gay marriage proponents called for codifying marriage equality as they all remain confident that the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v Hodges can never, ever possibly be reversed to it’s all hunky dorey for now.