Why are people so upset that abortion is now more difficult or impossible to obtain in some states? After all, any woman can still get an abortion, regardless what state she lives in, if she really wants one. If abortion is illegal in her state, she can simply travel to another where it’s still legal.
Sure, it may be a little harder to go out of state and traveling might cost money she doesn’t have, but it can be done. She should have prepared for this beforehand, either by taking precautions not to get pregnant or by making prior arrangements to travel out of state for an abortion in the event that she did.
Right?
Of course, I’m being facetious.
But I’m presenting this argument in this way to show the fallacy of some of the defenses for requiring state-issued photo IDs to vote.
Voting is a constitutionally-protected right. Our government should make it as easy as possible for people to exercise their franchise. Yet numerous Republican state legislatures are putting up obstacles clearly intended to make it more difficult and often impossible for eligible voters to cast a ballot. And the targets for this disenfranchisement are the poor, minorities, students, the elderly, and others who are more likely to vote Democratic, but less likely to have the limited forms of ID that are now being required.
And yet many people who are willing to admit that these measures make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast a ballot, in the next breath claim that it’s no big deal because, after all, they can still vote if they can figure out how to navigate the obstacle course put in front of them.
But the truth is that while it might be eazy-peazy for most people to get the ID these laws require, many Americans just can’t afford them – even $10 or $20 is unmanageable for some people and can make the difference between being able to vote and being disenfranchised. These voter ID laws are modern day versions of the poll tax, literacy tests, and correctly guessing the number of bubbles in a bar of soap that kept Black Americans from voting for decades after Reconstruction and were invalidated by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
It is really distressing to see people defend these post-Shelby measures, masquerading as “fraud prevention” because “anyone can get a photo ID.”
ANYONE CAN do lots of things in the abstract, but, in fact, it is impossible for them in their real world.
Just as it is ridiculous to insist that abortion restrictions aren’t a problem because there are other ways for women to access abortions, it is also ridiculous to claim that voter ID laws are fine because there are ways for people to get a driver’s license.
So, before trying to justify restrictive voter ID laws because it may be possible for some people to overcome them and still vote, step out of your comfort zone and consider what you’re advocating and the people it affects.