South Dakota bans most abortions

Checks and balances go beyond merely the different branches of government. The different levels of government also play a major role, as do the levels and types of law.

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Germany and Switzerland, to name two, both maintain similar federal systems.

And besides, if you're really so keen to practice something closer to actual democracy, a federalized system is a better place for it than a centralized one. The larger a population gets, the less ability there is to get 50%+1 to agree on something without concessions, which the more extreme elements of that majority aren't keen to see adpoted; this is a big reason why so many parliamentary governments need to call frequent elections.

In a federal system, the whole is also divided into smaller sovereignties, which can act independently of each other. This serves to both simplify matters for the central government and lets multiple solutions to a problem be adopted where there is disagreement as to what the right one is. This is excellent for such social issues as abortion, since there isn't a one size fits all solution. If the people of one state are aghast at the idea of aborting a child, they can outlaw the procedure in their state, while if the people in another state are aghast at the idea of denying a woman the right to choose whether she wants to keep the child or not, they can protect that right in their state.

It's not perfect, but it's better than the central government imposing a solution to social issues that will incense a large segment part of the population. That serves to poison discourse, discourage compromise on the issue, and make social issues that were of little importance before into issues of national import, whether they should be or not. Such is not in the best interests of the nation.

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Oddly enough, the extreme polarization on the social issue of abortion, which has turned it into the kind of political battle you described, began when the central government imposed a solution on the country.

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I highly doubt that Bush has any say on the manner and evne if he did, it'd be pretty hard to reverse the decision of the Supreme Court.

What Adamgian is referring to here is John Roberts and Samuel Alito, the new Justices Bush appointed to the Court.

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