Gap grows between abortion laws and public opinion

+ neoreactionaries in mainstream; why dereliction of duty can't be applied to former president US Edition - Today's top story: Overturning Roe is not making laws reflect what people want -- new survey highlights flaws in Supreme Court's reasoning in returning abortion authority to states [View in browser]( US Edition | 28 July 2022 [The Conversation]( More than a month after the Supreme Court issued its explosive Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the protests and celebrations that followed the court’s taking away the constitutional right to abortion have slowed. But as states take up the task of deciding policies to ban, restrict or permit abortion – as the court instructed – residents of states pursuing more restrictive rules aren’t necessarily falling in line. In fact, the opposite appears to be happening. Public polling and research conducted earlier this month by Harvard Kennedy School public policy and communications scholars Matthew Baum, Alauna Safarpour and Kristin Lunz Trujillo find that the Dobbs ruling has widened the gap between “public preferences and public policy.” (See chart below.) “Not only are state-level policies currently unaligned with state-level public opinion, but, since the Dobbs decision was announced, Americans also [increasingly appear to prefer fewer restrictions on abortion](, even as many states are moving to enact more restrictions,” the scholars write in this week’s top story. Amy Lieberman Politics + Society Editor The Savannah Medical Clinic, which provided abortions for four decades in Savannah, Ga., is closed now. AP Photo/Russ Bynum [Overturning Roe is not making laws reflect what people want – new survey highlights flaws in Supreme Court’s reasoning in returning abortion authority to states]( Matthew A Baum, Harvard Kennedy School; Alauna Safarpour, Harvard Kennedy School; Kristin Lunz Trujillo, Harvard Kennedy School Justice Samuel Alito said that abortion policy crafted by elected representatives in the states would be more responsive to what constituents want than federal protection of the right. He was wrong. Activists including Myanmar citizens protest in Tokyo on July 26, 2022, against Myanmar’s recent execution of four prisoners Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images [Top democracy activists were executed in Myanmar – 4 key things to know]( Tharaphi Than, Northern Illinois University Myanmar’s military junta is losing some control over the country, but its execution of four high-profile leaders and prisoners sends a warning to Myanmar citizens and the rest of the world. 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But the UK persists, and Rwanda is all too willing. --------------------------------------------------------------- [A chart showing results from a survey asking Americans if they would support abortion under different criteria.]( From the story, [Overturning Roe is not making laws reflect what people want – new survey highlights flaws in Supreme Court’s reasoning in returning abortion authority to states]( Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Weekly Highlights]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](