Tonight Alan Keyes, former presidential candidate and conservative activist came to campus. He was supporting a Republican for the U.S. Senate and they both advocated strongly for a national prohibition on abortion. This raised a serious debate when an audience member pointed out that the 10th Amendment left all such decisions to the states or to the people themselves. This same audience member wondered, then, if Keyes and this candidate were really defenders of the Constitution or if they were no better than those on the left they attacked for undermining the Constitution in favor of their own political goals.
Keyes then passionately defended his position saying the Declaration of Independence was part of the constitutional order and its defense of inalienable rights gave the government the power to stop abortion.
This is a most important and interesting debate, it seems to me. It goes back at least as far as Lincoln and has profound implications for the constitutional order.
Here is to hoping some people care enough to really start debating these questions in public again.