Often When Political Support Looks Broad and Deep, It Isn't


Prohibition was so popular in 1920 it passed almost without opposition. By 1933 it was overturned with a big celebration. A future without legal alcohol seemed certain in 1920 but did not last long.

Does anyone remember "three strikes you're out?" It was a very popular anti-illegal drug law. It, too, had bipartisan support. A third drug offense and it was life in prison. The thinking was this would finally end illegal drug use in the U.S. When all drug offenders were finally locked up, no more illegal drugs. This widely supported legislation lasted about as long as prohibition. Drug use is slowly being made legal. It seems none of the politicians who bragged about their support for "three strikes" remember it.

Slavery and segregation seem like practices far back in our historical memory. But they were legal in the U.S. for 400 years. How could practices that had existed for such a long time be subject to political failure? They failed. 

Politics of the recent past in Ireland continue to fascinate me. Abortions have been illegal in Ireland for decades. The Catholic Church and Catholic politicians kept the hammer down. Except, abortion medicine was widely available since 1963. It was called (wink-wink) a "cycle regulator." Women who taught at Catholic schools mostly had small numbers of babies at time. They had their careers and other children to consider. As a popular author said about Ireland, "Anti-abortion law was not defied, it was dodged."

The Catholic Church in Ireland was so popular it could operate what was in fact a private penal system. Pregnant women were kept in institutions and required to do demanding labor. After births, some children were turned over to adoptive parents for a fee. However, large numbers of them died. Mass graves have been discovered.

This hatred of women by both the church and Catholic politicians piled up over generations. In 2015 Ireland citizens voted in favor of gay marriage. In 2018 voters approved abortion in Ireland.

I've discussed previously the countries in Central and South America which have legalized abortion after decades of support for anti abortion. All this brings up what is portrayed as political steam roller support to outlaw abortion in the U.S. Certainly there is the appearance of political will and support.

All of the failures listed above had one thing in common. They put down and hurt some group in society or took away something the majority wanted. Voters eventually disapproved. Anti-abortion will fail in time for all the reasons it failed in other countries. It is anti women.

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