The political right grew and developed at the state and local level for twenty years, from the resignation of President Nixon to 1994. That year the Republican Party obtained a majority in Congress for the first time since 1954. Regular majorities in the House and Senate — aided greatly by ideological gerrymandering in states where conservatives have reigned — and the elections of George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump have followed.

Abortion has been one of the issues that has been used to fuel that process. If the issue were to be returned to the states that might encourage people on the political left to get far more involved in politics at the state and local level, with positive results for society that would go far beyond that issue.