I’ve been hearing a lot of debate recently over the role Federalism plays in the abortion issue. Many conservatives seem to think that the Federalists would be appalled by our attempts outlaw gay marriage and abortion on the federal level. I find myself hesitantly agreeing with the first claim—I’m still waiting on a convincing argument why D.C. should get involved with marriage despite my stated objections to same-sex unions—but completely baffled by the second.
There has been a pronounced paradigm shift between the Federalists of the 18th Century and the Federalists of today. The former sought an energetic federal government with several hedges—divided power, popular sovereignty, and frequent elections, to name a few—to prevent tyranny. The latter seem to think the Federal government should be a largely-impotent caretaker of the system they have been given, and that all issues which directly affect the people should be dealt with by the states and the states alone. (Ironically, I’d say that the Federalists of now more closely resemble the Anti-Federalists of then.) The battle over abortion presents a clear example of where modern Federalisms departs from Constitutional Federalism.
