Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Administration for Children and Families, which were attempting to make toddlers wear masks and require staff and volunteers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 31. “This latest attempt by the Biden administration to centrally plan the daily lives of Americans in the name of mitigating COVID-19 is perhaps the most absurd so far,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said. “The federal government simply has no legal authority to order twoyear-olds to wear masks all day at preschool.” States involved in the suit where the mandate will now be blocked are: Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. “This is another victory for the rule of law,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said. “Yet another court has said no to this abuse of power and executive overreach. These mandates are garbage and we will continue to stand for the rule of law.” The lawsuit claims a mandate related to Head Start is beyond the authority of the Executive Branch and is against the law, violating the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) Notice-and-Comment Requirement, the Congressional Review Act, the Nondelegation Doctrine, the Tenth Amendment, the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, the Spending Clause and the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 1999. “Once again the federal executive branch has overstepped its legal authority to make laws and once again a federal court has agreed with the State of Alabama that such overreach is unconstitutional and should be stopped,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. “In a rare New Year’s Day order, the Western District Court of Louisiana enjoined the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine mandate for Head Start workers and its mask mandate for toddlers. The order affects 24 states, including Alabama, which brought suit against the mandate. This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children. And this win will forestall the nonsensical and damaging practice of forcing masks on 2-year-olds.” Jon Styf The Center Square The Sun Bay Paper Page 10 January 7, 2022 - January 13, 202 Federal Judge Blocks Head Start Vaccine, Mask Mandate in 24 States Roe V. Wade Hindges on Dobbs vs. Jackson Is abortion a legal issue or is it a moral issue? It’s both, and that’s why it’s almost impossible to resolve. I’ve always thought that abortion would divide us well into posterity, but perhaps not! Permit me to put an optimistic spin on the future of this issue. In December, the Supreme Court heard a Mississippi abortion law case, “Dobbs vs. Jackson.” The Court is being asked to validate the Mississippi ban on abortion after 15 weeks, allowing for certain exceptions. Validating “Dobbs” could be a death blow to Roe v. Wade, and many pundits predict that’s what will happen. The Constitution is silent on the issue of abortion and that automatically raises concern. And it’s been argued for decades that the Roe decision relied on an improper interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause. In the Roe ruling, SCOTUS took great liberty by applying a broad interpretation of “due process” that includes the “right to privacy.” And it somehow concluded that a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy before viability was protected by that right to privacy. Additionally, “Roe” and supporting Supreme Court decisions rely on “viability” as an important benchmark. But many argue that viability is too arbitrary because Constitutional rights can’t be tied to the status of everchanging technology, science, and life-saving procedures. How about the Founders’ intentions regarding abortion? James Wilson signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He was also an original Supreme Court Justice. His statements are commonly considered representative of the Founders’ collective intentions. Wilson explained: “In the contemplation of law, life begins when the infant is first able to stir in the womb.” Apparently, many Founders believed natural rights do attach to the unborn. More recently, the late liberal Justice Ginsburg supported proabortion policies but criticized the Supreme Court’s legal reasoning in Roe. The late conservative Justice Scalia agreed that Roe was a bad decision, and despite his personal beliefs, he stated he could agree to the constitutionality of states individually legalizing abortion. If “Dobbs” is upheld, Roe v. Wade would be irrelevant, and individual states would once again have the responsibility for abortion legislation. A common bipartisan criticism of Roe is reflected in this statement from Professor Kermit Roosevelt, a supporter of abortion being a constitutional right: “As constitutional argument, Roe is barely coherent…” Clearly, the Roe ruling is one of the most controversial in our history, even among those who support its conclusion. Most Americans aren’t comfortable with where Roe has taken us – e.g. full term abortions in some jurisdictions. Nor are Americans comfortable with prohibiting abortions under any-and-all circumstances. I believe most Americans, conservative and liberal, understand and accept several exceptions to abortion bans that reflect the lack of clarity in extreme and difficult life decisions. If Roe is invalidated, the result won’t precisely reflect my interpretation of America’s preferences, but perhaps it’s as close as we’ll get right now. American citizens might see to it that we take a break from the arguing, even if the mainstream pro-abortion folks squirm in their seats, while pro-life purists insist on planning future campaigns. Hopefully Americans will tell those pursuing further skirmishes to “hush” for a while, saying “let’s see how this works out.” Americans are seeking and finding common ground, but the politicians refuse. Invalidating Roe (if it happens) will put the onus of dealing with abortion back with the states where it belongs. “Pro-Roe” folks will no longer have the legal permission that has led to over 62,000,000 U.S. fetal deaths and began allowing full-term abortions in several states. Nevertheless, the abortion industry will continue, but will be under greater restrictions. Maybe that’s the best solution that supporters of compromise (like me) can hope to achieve in the world of 2022. Let’s hope it happens and then we should borrow the vision expressed by Supreme Court Justice Brandeis when he applauded the value of “the laboratory of the states” for “experimenting” with controversial policies. Either way, we’ll know the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs by approximately late June 2022. Finally, I hope that someday we can have a serious discussion about the definition of human life. And the question about “when life begins” must be included. myslantonthings.com Steve Bakke, Fort Myers Cont. from pg 1 Angel Nevin and her friend and classmate Jade Smith, left, wait for their signal to ring their hand bell as children from the Anderson Grove Head Start program in Caledonia, Miss., ring their hand bells to accompany several patriotic songs, Tuesday at the Capitol in Jackson, Remember this cartoon from a couple years ago?
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