A Reason Why It Matters

It is pretty rare I disagree with George Will on something (although not unheard of), but I was hit by his recent stunner that, while considering it to be a reasonable proxy for a candidate's "sensibilities and sympathies," regarding abortion itself, what a candidate thinks about abortion rights is not especially important. This because even if a presidentially stacked pro-life Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, which he considers unlikely, it would only throw the question back to the states. Many states were already beginning to liberalize their abortion laws before Roe, and places like California would never go pro-life. Holy non-sequitir, Batman!

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Undeniable scientific fact: Abortion is the murder of a unique, individual human being. Per the Constitution, adjudicating murder is a police power reserved to the states. Ought not the question be decided at the state level?

Oh yeah, federalism is just a word we use at parties.

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Judd at hangingontonothing offers this retort:

Will’s point is ridiculously errant. First, there are many states that
would have no trouble bringing back their ban on abortion, even if California
doesn’t join them in good company. While one murder is a problem none of us can
come close to understanding in our humanity, any decrease in abortions is
paramount, and any dent that Truth can put in the armor of evil is vitally
important to a revolution. Second, if local politicians are ultimately going to
be responsible for the legality of abortion and other life issues (which they
really aren’t right now), it makes local politics a whole new ballgame. As it
stands right now, people mark ballots based on the issues they feel the
candidates would have some control over. That is why we don’t ask the candidates
for City Council about their stance on the Iraq war.

To be sure there would be a long row to hoe, but isn't this where and how a true conservative, ostensibly like George Will, wants to fight this kind of battle?