Two recent sets of legal cases highlight the limitations of our current governance system. Both cases involve abortion bans, but that’s not the issue here—the wrangling produced by the laws is.
Earlier this month, the Arizona Senate repealed a Civil War-era near-total ban on abortion. In April, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled the law was still in effect since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Arizona House repealed the law later that month, and with the Senate vote and subsequent gubernatorial signature, the law will be removed from Arizona’s legal code 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Similarly, in March, the US Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the 1873 Comstock Act is still in effect. It prohibits mailing abortion drugs through the mail, which would prohibit mailing Mifepristone into states with abortion bans. The Biden Administrative has declared the law obsolete since it hasn’t been enforced in a century, but the conservative justices seemed to reject that idea.
These laws illustrate a limitation in our system of governance. When laws become obsolete but remain on the books, or when laws contradict each other, or when new laws are passed without considering existing laws, confusion arises, and that confusion takes time to resolve. While this may seem like a minor issue now, it becomes a bigger issue when considering the future. A coherent legal code is necessary for managing more resources without expanding the size of the government. A well-aligned legal code enables a society to function without continuous intervention from legislators or the judiciary. Such a legal code is almost within reach: it requires a digital legal infrastructure to replace the print-based one we’ve had for centuries. The technology for this is almost here, and the society that figures this out first will put itself on a new trajectory for building leadership power, positioning itself as the future world leader.
In the meantime, Arizona may have a total abortion ban from June through October, until the repeal takes effect. Likewise, while it is unlikely the Supreme Court will undermine the FDA by invoking the Comstock Act, it is likely that a couple of justices will admonish the court in dissenting opinions that highlight how our government is supposed to run by rule-of-law, not by ignoring law.
Source:
Dan Diamond, “An 1973 Law Could Threaten Abortion Access in High Court,” Washington Post, 27 March 2024, A6; see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/05/16/comstock-act-abortion-access/
Wayne Schutsky, “Arizona Lawmakers Vote by a Narrow Margin to Repeal Civil War-era Abortion Ban,” NPR, 1 May 2024; accessed from https://www.npr.org/2024/05/02/1248634069/arizona-legislature-votes-to-repeal-the-state-s-civil-war-era-ban-on-abortion
Photo: Jerod MacDonald-Evoy (Arizona Mirror)
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