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Jan Mickelson: One of my litmus test questions to find out what kind of thinking process a candidate has done on this, is to ask my test question. Test question is: do you think that Roe v. Wade is the law of land? Ron Paul: Well, they call it the law of the land, but I want to clarify that by getting rid of it. I think this is one example of the courts overstepping their bounds tremendously. Texas had a law against this violent act, and it went in to the federal courts and the Supreme Court. They overruled the state law, which should have been legitimate, and then came down on the side of legalizing killing a fetus, even into the 3rd trimester. But the fastest way to accomplish this is not through a constitutional amendment, or waiting till you get enough justices to overrule. You can pass a law in the Congress, which denies jurisdiction to the federal courts. So if Iowa or Texas or any state passes a law against abortion, you can't get it into the federal courts, and the states would decide this issue, as they decide all issues of violence: murder, manslaughter, theft, all this things are supposed to be state issues.

Ron Paul#81

PolicyFederalismAbortionLegislationCourt

About this quote

What does it mean?
Paul describes Roe v. Wade as an overreach and suggests Congress could deny federal jurisdiction to stop courts from legalizing abortion, emphasizing state authority.
In plain terms
He proposes using Congress to limit court power over abortion laws.
What can you take from it?
Legislative action can be a tool to assert state control over contentious issues.

Where it applies

  • strategic planning for state legislators
  • policy advocacy groups

Putting it to work

  • drafting bills to restrict federal jurisdiction
  • mobilizing state-level legal challenges

Questions to consider

  • What are the limits of congressional power over the judiciary?
  • How effective is denying jurisdiction in practice?

Another view

Such measures may face constitutional challenges and political resistance.

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