National

”In January, I joined 14 other state Attorneys General in urging the United States Supreme Court to invalidate provisions of a new Texas law that unduly burdened the rights of women to choose whether to have an otherwise legal abortion. I was pleased today to see that the Supreme Court – not just by a divided plurality decision, but by a clearly articulated majority decision – invalidated the Texas restrictions that were challenged. In so doing, the Court gave renewed confidence to those who believe in a woman’s right to choose that the Court would fairly and impartially apply its own precedents regarding state imposed restrictions of that right.”

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. One part of the law requires all clinics in the state to meet the standards for ambulatory surgical centers, including regulations concerning buildings, equipment and staffing. The other requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. “We conclude,” Justice Breyer wrote, “that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes. Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution.”

Let’s look at the voter demographics. The "Leave" vote was overwhelmingly carried by those over the age of 65, whereas according to pre-vote polling, 72 percent of those who were aged 18 to 24 favored "Remain." [...] Despite young people having to live with the decision of the referendum for an average of 69 years, it has been decided for them by people who will only have to live with it for an average of 16 years. Put simply: The long-term effects of Brexit will not be felt by those who overwhelmingly voted for it. Because they will be dead. This is a final middle-fingered salute to the young from the baby boomer generation. Not content with racking up insurmountable debt, not content with destroying any hopes of sustainable property prices or stable career paths, not content with enjoying the benefits of free education and generous pension schemes before burning down the ladder they climbed up, the baby boomers have given one last turd on the doorstep of the younger generation. My generation will not enjoy the free movement to 27 different countries and the workers’ rights that rescued Britain from the "sick man of Europe" era of the 1970s. For us, there will be no golden age of economic hope and glory. UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage’s sickening elation at "independence day for the United Kingdom" (surely a joke, given the context of violent colonialism that Britain herself exported to the world over the last centuries, yet sadly deadly serious) heralds nothing but a grim forecast of turmoil.