Texas, New York locked in legal dispute over abortion pill
kxan.comI thought federalism was the answer to all of our problems, because then states could have local laws and we could all live together peacefully. How can a lawmaker in Texas know what’s best for someone in New York.
The problem is red state legislators are fond of denying rights to their residents (Missouri, Ohio, and Florida as specific recent examples as it relates to either ignoring voters on this topic, or raising the bar on democratic mechanisms to intentionally sabotage), so federalism breaks down. It works when you're experimenting with markets, social safety nets (Canada's universal healthcare started at the provincial level, for example), but not so much in this context.
California is about to pass legislation (AB 260) to allow healthcare providers in CA to mail these products anonymously to other states, so it’s mostly a moot point; red states barely have enough resources for their own states, it’s unlikely they put up any material effort in this regard (chasing providers in other states at scale, especially now that shield laws aren't just attempting to shield against liability, but it's enabling provider anonymity).
New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington have passed similar laws that allow doctors to prescribe abortion pills anonymously, and Pennsylvania is considering similar legislation [1].
[1] https://www.jezebel.com/california-law-will-let-providers-ma...
"The closest analogy really goes all the way back to slavery, when you began to have northern states passing law saying we’re not going to comply with fugitive slave statutes"