Circumventing voters

Dear editor:

In the past few weeks, I’ve read or viewed at least a half dozen stories and articles about Republican attempts to supersede or nullify the Supreme Court decision to leave abortion laws to the states.

Apparently, many state legislatures don’t like the outcome when the issue is put forth to all voters. Our own attorney general (or Sarah Huckabee’s lackey, whichever title you prefer) Tim Griffin has twice rejected petitions that would put the vote straight to Arkansas voters. A lot of these state attorneys general, governors, and legislatures obviously did not like the outcome when voters in Kansas and Ohio were presented with the option of making their own decisions regarding women’s rights and medical decisions.

So an effort is being made right now by dozens of states to circumvent the court’s decision through various draconian means: Making it harder to secure ballot initiatives, criminalizing interstate travel to obtain an abortion, etc.

I’m reminded of the intro to one of television’s longest-running and most popular shows, “Law & Order.” Perhaps the Republican Party should adopt it when it comes to abortion, with slight modifications. I can imagine it going something like this: “The current Republican Party is made up of two separate, but equally important groups: The GOP politicians and legislators who wish to gain control over every aspect of women’s bodies and their medical decisions, and the mistresses of those same lawmakers and politicians, for whom abortions are still readily available and easily accessible. These are their stories. Dun … Dun.”

Anthony Lloyd Hot Springs