By Rachel Suh
I want to clarify that, in his recent Daily Post op-ed concerning Roe v Wade, Gary Beatty incorrectly stated the 11th amendment says, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
This is actually the 9th amendment.
I also disagree with his assessment that Abortion is not an historical enumerated right. Black’s Law Dictionary, First Edition, defines, “health” as, “an absolute right to be secure in your person for the enjoyment of health.”
A state, therefore, does not have any authority to regulate a person’s Individual Health. It is a 4th amendment protected right, and to create law pertaining to only women is a violation of 14th amendment rights. Further, the 9th amendment clarifies that we can not deny or disparage rights because we deem it to be so.
(The SCOTUS is not particularly fond of the 9th amendment, dare I suggest it is because it would overturn their unconstitutional Judicial Review edicts that have taken place over 219 years or so? I digress, that’s information for another article.).
A State has Judicial Review authority (note: Judicial Review and precedent law have no authority from the Constitution, this power of the courts was granted…well, by the courts…to the courts…in their own ruling…in 1803: Marbury v. Madison) to regulate public health, but Colorado does not define Public Health. Instead, it goes into a list of ten essential services related to the Regulation of Public Health that is so overly broad and vague that the Health Department could one day deem you a threat to public health if you eat too many potato chips (don’t worry, I’m not a big fan of salty snacks).
I am not anti-public health. I like clean water. I am, however, wondering how the SCOTUS separated the State from the People, respectively, as stated in the Tenth Amendment, for they are one and the same, in determining the overreaching and rights violating statutes pertaining to Public Health to be lawful.
A state simply does not have the Constitutional authority to suspend inherent rights in the cases of Individual Health, or further, public, civic, or social health.
Am I an abortion proponent? No. I would prefer we continue education on reproduction and associated services to limit the demand of abortions. However, I also feel it is none of my business what people do in regards to what is best for their individual health, nor can it lawfully be regulated by the state or the federal government.
I have been a proponent of overturning Roe v. Wade because it invents “compelling government interest” for the sake of taxation that places the state in between a person and the best decisions for their individual health. I want it overturned due to the state’s involvement, and not because I want to control other women. I want individuals to be free from unlawful edicts from our courts and legislatures under the guise of “government interest”, a term completely made up by the courts (I hope you are seeing a pattern here).
As stated in previous writings, there is Individual Health, Public Health, Civic Health, and Social Health. None of which are explicitly discussed in the Constitution, thus any rulings on them fall into Judicial Review, a highly questionable power of the courts that they granted to themselves far outside of the amendment process.
The amendment process is what we need to turn to now, as we swim through the murky waters of what is health and how did the state become so involved in regulation despite no enumerated powers in the Constitution to do so?
People shouldn’t have to travel extensively to get healthcare. As someone who has actually done so in order to be diagnosed with a rare kidney malformation, I can tell you this puts an excessive financial and mental toll on a patient. There is no need to require a woman go through additional financial burdens simply because the state wants to involve itself in Individual Health.
The state has no authority to regulate our bodies, and to allow it to do so is a slippery slope to The Giver. We must be highly cautious when the state is constantly giving itself new authorities under the guise of safety, as they frequently change legal definitions and enumerate to themselves powers that fall far outside of the Constitution.
Rachel Suh is currently a candidate for Archuleta County Commissioner, District 3.