States' Rights, States' Wrongs

Nebraska and Oklahoma may be bitter Big XII college sports rivals, but they're currently competing in another arena: trying to see which state's idiotic teabagger legislation can get shot down by Federal courts first.  First up, the Cornhusker State and its attack on women:

Nebraska could become the first state to require doctors to screen women for possible mental and physical problems before performing abortions under a bill that received final approval from the nonpartisan Legislature on Monday.

Republican Gov. Dave Heineman's office said Monday he will sign the bill Tuesday, along with another groundbreaking abortion measure lawmakers are expected to pass then. That bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks based on the assertion that fetuses feel pain.

Both bills are likely to be challenged in court. Abortion rights activists describe the measure passed Monday as a drastic shift in abortion policy that would block abortions by scaring doctors who might perform them. They say the second bill is aimed at blocking late-term abortions in one of the few states where there's a doctor willing to perform them.

Yeah, requiring a doctor to give a woman a complete physical and psych eval before an abortion?  That won't raise the cost of health care, convince doctors to stop performing the procedure, or overwhelm women trying to make that decision.  Who's paying for the screening?  What things are doctors looking for?  The bill isn't clear, and if the doctor performing the procedure doesn't screen for every single risk factor, they can be sued for malpractice.  Nebraska in other words is trying to make getting an abortion nearly impossible.  It's like poll taxes in the South all over again.  You can get the procedure done if you jump through all the hoops, but don't you dare miss one, once that 20 weeks mark hits, you're out of luck.

A nice gesture from the "Keep the government out of my health care and my doctor's decisions!" crowd.

Ahh, but Oklahoma has its own entry in this little contest, seems the Sooner State wants to be known as the Tenther State.

Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

Tea party movement leaders say they've discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force. They say the unit would not resemble militia groups that have been raided for allegedly plotting attacks on law enforcement officers.

"Is it scary? It sure is," said tea party leader Al Gerhart of Oklahoma City, who heads an umbrella group of tea party factions called the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance. "But when do the states stop rolling over for the federal government?"

Thus far, the discussions have been exploratory. Even the proponents say they don't know how an armed force would be organized nor how a state-based militia could block federal mandates. Critics also asserted that the force could inflame extremism, and that the National Guard already provides for the state's military needs.

Oh, I know how a state militia can block federal mandates.  They can shoot anyone who tries to enforce them.  What else are you going to do with an armed militia?  You already have the National Guard, but apparently that's not enough.  Oklahoma needs a way to fight back against the Federal government should it choose to do so, an armed force that's not under Federal control.

Just to clarify, Oklahoma is talking about raising its own army.  Maybe a bunch of other states will decide to do that too.  It's not like a group of states with their own armies who said "We're tired of rolling over for the federal government" ever caused problems in America's history, now did it.

Oh wait.  That whole "Lincoln" thing.  Right.

Honestly I'm not sure which one of these is worse.  Nebraska's abortion restriction bill is set to become law, although it will be challenged almost immediately in the courts.  It's still twisted, misogynist, and nasty.  But Oklahoma's tenther militia is far more dangerous should people actually create one...and it could spread to other states as well.  Not even Clinton drew states considering their own militias to stop federal laws they didn't like.  This is Obama Derangement Syndrome on a whole new level, folks.

I keep telling you it's going to get worse, and lo and behold I keep being right.