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Conservative offensive in the Republican fiefdoms of the United States

2021-08-25T13:04:02.465Z


The party promotes norms on abortion and education in the states where it governs The State of Arkansas has passed a law this year that prohibits practically any abortion, except that necessary to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency, and does not provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest. It has also become the first to prevent hormonal or gender reassignment treatments for minors. And the second to ban transgender students from women's sports teams. Missi


The State of Arkansas has passed a law this year that prohibits practically any abortion, except that necessary to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency, and does not provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest. It has also become the first to prevent hormonal or gender reassignment treatments for minors. And the second to ban transgender students from women's sports teams. Mississippi had done it before, which also has its own battle against abortion pending in the Supreme Court, and Texas is pending to do the same. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has given the green light to a rule to guarantee immunity to drivers who kill or injure a protester if they allege they were fleeing a riot. And Montana, Iowa and Tennessee, among others,They have launched another to carry weapons without a license.

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In the elections last November, the Democrats regained the White House and the factual control of the Senate, despite the numerical tie, thanks to the tiebreaker vote that corresponds to the vice presidency, which in this case is occupied by Kamala Harris.

Also, although they lost seats, they kept the majority of the House of Representatives.

And they launched the most progressive agenda in decades.

At the same time, in those same elections, Republicans strengthened their power in the state chambers and have since launched a legislative offensive that can reverse social rights that seemed consolidated.

In an eminently federal country like the United States, traveling from one territory to another is similar to changing galaxies in some areas. A total of 19 states have pushed abortion restrictions this year, according to a tally by the Guttmacher Institute; another dozen target the transgender group, essentially because of their participation in student sports; Almost twenty have introduced laws that toughen voting requirements and five have approved limits on the way of teaching the history of slavery in the United States, among other fronts.

Miles M. Coleman, an analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, notes that these are the kinds of issues that can mobilize the Republican electorate no matter what time the economy is going through. "For Republicans, with Democrats ruling [in Washington], it's a way to show voters that they can get things done," he says. Much of what happened at the polls in 2020 reminds him of Barack Obama's victory in 2008 and the Republican revenge in the 2010 legislative elections. In his opinion, “the Democrats became complacent, they believed they had defeated the Republicans forever. . This time, Republicans may be disappointed in the defeats at the national level but they have regained lower house seats and increased their power in the states. "

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The Democrats failed to change the political color of any of the state legislatures.

Republicans control both the high and the low in 30 of them (compared to 18 Democrats) and in 23 they rule the three legs of power (the government, the assembly and the Senate), according to data from Ballotpedia, a database reference.

Before November they had two fewer of these

tridents

, while the Democrats stood at 15.

A good part of the laws are already born with a safe destination: the courts. The one in Arkansas against abortion has been blocked in a precautionary manner by a judge this July while the lawsuit over its constitutionality is resolved. The large organization in defense of civil rights and liberties in the United States (commonly known by its acronym in English, ACLU) has promoted countless lawsuits in different states to try to stop this conservative wave, from voting restrictions in Georgia or Tennessee , the veto of transgender treatments in Arkansas and most of the laws that limit access to abortion.

Arizona, for example, has just passed a law that prohibits abortion when the reason is a malformation or genetic problem, such as Down syndrome, and Texas after 20 weeks of gestation.

The politicians who promote the most radical norms are aware that they will end up being answered before the judges and the underlying objective is to get the Supreme Court to rule on this right again.

She blessed him for the first time in 1973, with the famous decision in the Roe v. Wade case, but under an argument, that of the right of women to "privacy", which opens the door to discuss it again.

The highest judicial authority has agreed to analyze the constitutionality of the Mississippi law, which prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, and the decision may alter almost 50 years of jurisprudence on the matter.

The script is repeated on multiple fronts. States of one-color legislature pass laws detested by the opposition with the roll of their majority and these end up being resolved before the judges. Rick Tyler, Republican analyst and former strategist for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, points out a fundamental change in electoral strategy: “Republicans believe it is easier to win elections by mobilizing their bases with force than by trying to win over the undecided or moderate of the opposing party. ”, He says. Hence the effervescence of the so-called culture wars, which sometimes consist in reopening the debate on acquired rights.

A Democratic governor - or simply a moderate Republican - may try to stop an initiative by conservative legislators in his state, as has happened in Louisiana. The governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards, in July vetoed his lawmakers 'bill to veto transgender girls on school girls' sports teams. In Arkansas the governor, Asa Hutchinson, is a Republican, but more moderate, and tried to prevent that same rule, but the Houses overrode his veto with a new vote.

The United States, which lives in a permanent electoral campaign, is already looking towards the so-called midterm elections, the legislative elections of November 2022, which are decisive for these battles. Rick Tyler warns that it is not clear who wins the bet: "These are issues that can greatly mobilize the conservative base, but also the reaction of the rest of the voters, in that dilemma things are decided."

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-08-25

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