"Complaints are everywhere ... that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority."
I believe the problem is laws related to religion and hate speech. They are stupid. Section 295 is non-bailable offence and can be easily abused by either side to placate group that feels offended.
The discussions about India sliding into authoritarian is interesting because strictly speaking many of these laws are pretty old. I wish that these laws did not exist but strictly speaking these laws have been abused to placate Hindus, Muslims, Christians(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_crucifix_in_Mumbai) at different times.
A number of legitimate polls have found substantial majorities/pluralities opposing the ruling [0].
> should have either seen pressure building up on "pro-life" states
On the one hand, I've definitely seen this pressure at the grassroots. On the other hand, there has probably been significant geographic sorting, especially as the states that are leaning towards de jure abortion bans have been trending that way de facto for years, likely driving people that care about the issue to friendlier states.
> or a BLM style movement in favor of legalizing abortion.
Give it a minute, abortion was a legally protected right until 2 weeks ago.
[0] https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-views-on-abor...
And before you complain, that's exactly what I was talking about. That's what we are talking about.
I don’t agree with any of this of course but it is unfortunate reality here.