[original title redacted]

To follow up on the point made in the post below: Abortion as an issue to be debated and discussed ad infinitum among candidates for public office is largely a load of bullshit.

Abortion itself is, clearly, a thing of importance to many people. Specifically, women who have become pregnant without intending to, and who very much do not wish to give birth for whatever reason. To a lesser extent, it is a thing of importance to identifiable male persons who have impregnated those women.

But a campaign issue? No. Here's why:

1. The U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, grants, with certain limited exceptions, the right of a woman to abort a pregnancy. Here follows a list of elected offices which have the power to change this:

[...]

[sound of crickets chirping]

2. Only the Supreme Court (a body of unelected persons) might change this. To do so, they would need to reverse a well-established precedent (something even very "activist" members of the judiciary are loathe to do).

3. While it is true that Presidents nominate persons for service on the Supreme Court, history has shown us that Presidents do not (and cannot, in realistic terms) nominate persons to the Supreme Court with a view to changing one specific part of the Constitution.

4. Even if you believe it is important to have a President who will do everything within his or her power to nominate persons who will either change or uphold this one specific part of the Constitution, then you, whichever side of this "issue" you are on, should read the post below very carefully and rank the abortion "issue" and the issue discussed below according to their actual relative importance. And if you need a further hint in this respect, here's one: if the President can arrest a citizen, without a warrant, and hold that citizen indefinitely, in secret, without charge and without access to the courts or to legal counsel, then the president can most certainly abrogate your right to abort a pregnancy (or, for all of you very young and tiny little children out there, with souls, abrogate your right not to be aborted. As the case may be.), along with any other rights you may have or think you have.