Yesterday in my conflict of laws class I taught South Dakota v. Wayfair, the 2018 case which lets states force out-of-state sellers to collect and remit use taxes. This morning I wondered why it hasn't been invoked more in the debates over interstate restrictions on abortion. Wayfair involved a South Dakota requirement that businesses pay sales taxes on the products they sell into the state. If they don't, their customers are supposed to pay a use tax at the same rate, which of course they rarely do. The Court held that South Dakota could, under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause an ..read more

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman contextualize Iran's retaliatory strike against Israel before bemoaning the recent vote in Congress on the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). 02:20—Iran's retaliatory strike on Israel 13:05—House votes to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA. 29:21—Weekly Listener Question 42:00—Arizona Supreme Court rules on law that would ban nearly all abortions. 47:23—This week's cultural recommendations Mentioned in this podcast: "Iran Attacks Is ..read more

A funny thing happens when you leave abortion access up to each state: Voters start to show politicians how they actually feel. The loudest and most persistent voices are no longer the ones most able to influence policy. And—perhaps surprisingly to some—this has resulted in a wave of successful pro-choice ballot initiatives. Since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights side has come out on top every time the matter has been up for a vote on state ballots (even in states such as Kansas, Ohio, and Kentucky). It looks like the great protector of abortion access might be d ..read more

When the Arizona Supreme Court resurrected a sweeping 19th-century abortion ban on Tuesday, the four justices in the majority did not endorse the policy embodied in that 1864 statute. The issue before the court in Planned Parenthood v. Mayes was whether subsequent legislation—in particular, a 2022 law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks of gestation—had overridden the 160-year-old ban. That is not the impression left by critics of the decision. "This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women's freedom," President Joe Biden ..read more

No more legal abortion in Arizona: Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Arizona upheld a 19th-century law that bans all abortions, except in cases where the mother's life is in peril, with no exceptions made for rape or incest. The law stipulates two to five years in prison for those who aid abortions. But it's not all cut and dried: "The court, whose justices are all Republican appointees, also put its ruling on hold for the moment and sent the matter back to a lower court for additional arguments about the law's constitutionality," reports The New York Times. "Abortion providers said they e ..read more

"On abortion," The New York Times claims, former President Donald Trump "chose politics over principles." In reality, Trump's recent clarification of his abortion position is one of those rare instances when political expedience coincides with constitutional principles. In a Truth Social video posted on Monday, Trump said each state should be free to regulate abortion as its legislators and voters see fit. The result, he conceded, would be a wide range of policies, including liberal regimes that allow nearly all abortions as well as strict bans. Through his Supreme Court appointments, Trump b ..read more

Handouts to voters: Though his first attempt at student loan forgiveness was struck down by the Supreme Court in June of last year (Biden v. Nebraska), President Joe Biden apparently feels called to try again. If this attempt went through, it would—to his mind—not only lift the shackles of decades of debt from a chunk of the voting public, but also possibly compel people, filled with newly grateful spirits, to vote for him. So you can understand why he'd be so persistent. That doesn't make it good policy. The new plan, which would affect roughly 30 million, uses a different mechanism than las ..read more

Biden may sink abortion in Florida: Each year, one in 12 American abortions are performed in Florida. Up until 2022, the state had allowed abortion up to 24 weeks, making the red state far more abortion-permissive than almost every European country (something many people don't realize). All the way back in 1989, the Florida Supreme Court "ruled unanimously that Florida's constitution—which guarantees a right to privacy—protected access to abortion," per The 19th. But then conservative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis started running for president, and so in 2022, he set his sights on rolli ..read more

Texas woman charged with murder: Near the border, a Texas woman, Lizelle Gonzalez, faced a murder charge (and two nights in jail) for self-inducing an abortion in 2022. The charges were dropped. Now Gonzalez is suing the prosecutors in federal court, seeking $1 million in damages due to the harm she suffered from both the initial arrest and the media coverage of the matter. "Under the abortion restrictions in Texas and other states, women who seek abortion are exempt from criminal charges," reports the Associated Press. The State Bar of Texas already disciplined the Starr County district ..read more

Oral arguments in abortion pill case: Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the abortion pill case it's currently considering, involving access to mifepristone, which is used in medical abortions up until 10 weeks gestation. "The justices are examining rule changes in 2016 and 2021 that, among other things, made the drug available by mail and from a medical provider other than a doctor," reports The Washington Post.  The majority of justices seemed skeptical "that the plaintiffs, who do not prescribe abortion pills or regularly treat abortion patients, even ..read more