Why States Matter: Blue State, Red Laws
As the midterms barrel toward us, I find myself thanking the Powers that Be that I’m in Massachusetts, a relatively sane state. (To clarify, that’s “state” as in “geographical area,” not “state of mind,” about which less said the better.) In general, our elected state legislators tend to pass laws that save lives: over the years, Bay Staters have elected candidates who have strengthened women’s access to reproductive healthcare, kept gun deaths at the second-to-lowest level in the country, and preserved the second-best air and water quality of all 50 states. You might say we’re… pro-life.
That said, we can always do better. Underfunded public schools and prohibitive housing prices, a legacy of racial red-lining, continue to blight our cities, which is why electing humane, progressive state legislators is so critical.
And if there’s anything we’ve learned in this era of Jewish-space-laser-Handmaid’s-Tale madness, it’s that when it comes to democracy, we can’t take anything, anything, for granted. Blue as the Bay State may be, we’re no monolith; even the bluest rock can be veined with red.
Exhibit A: Geoff Diehl. “I believe in the importance of protecting innocent life whenever possible,” says the MA GOP candidate for Governor. Diehl served as a State House Representative from 2010–2019, during which time he received a consistent zero percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, and 100% rating from Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which is backing his campaign. (He also co-chaired the Donald J. Trump for President campaign committee in 2016. Fact fact, not alternative fact!)
As a State Rep, Diehl sponsored bills restricting or banning access to safe and legal abortion, including co-sponsoring a proposal to jail doctors for up to five years for providing certain kinds of abortion care. He calls Massachusetts’ ROE Act, which enshrines abortion rights in state law, “one of the most radical abortion laws in the nation” (the Democratic state legislature overrode Republican Governor Baker’s veto and passed the law in December 2020), and promises, “as Governor, I will focus on working with the Legislature to amend the law.”
Were he to win office — an unlikely outcome, but these days, all bets are off, right? — a Democratic-majority state legislature would be the only bulwark against such punitive, regressive leadership. Same goes for Pennsylvania, Arizona, and every other state fielding similarly anti-women candidates. State races matter.
Some of Diehl’s former GOP colleagues are espousing the same tired, anti-women nonsense. Just last year, Republican MA state legislators sponsored such bills as the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act” (H1535), which refers to “the pregnant woman whose unborn child is killed” and mandates punishments for “any person who is found guilty of murder of an unborn child,” and “An Act Relative to State Funding of Certain Nonprofits” (H1296), establishing that “no state funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its affiliates.” Both bills are winding their way through committee. It’s why every single state race matters, now and always. Get thee to the polls, voters, and don’t leave any little ovals blank!
— Juliet Eastland
