The Law of Unintended Consequences visits Wyoming.

When the Affordable Healthcare Act, commonly known as "Obamacare" was passed the then right wing of the Republican Party mounted a scare campaign that there would be "death panels" for healthcare.

Now, of course, the public is acclimated to the bill and the Republicans won't touch it.

Anyhow, the Wyoming legislature of the period passed a bill sponsored by an extremely conservative legislator  to amend the constitution to add this text:

Wyoming Constitution Art. 1, § 38. Right of health care access

(a) Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions. The parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person.

(b) Any person may pay, and a health care provider may accept, direct payment for health care without imposition of penalties or fines for doing so.

(c) The legislature may determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on the rights granted under this section to protect the health and general welfare of the people or to accomplish the other purposes set forth in the Wyoming Constitution.

(d) The state of Wyoming shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement.

While it took her seemingly forever to do it, a district court judge in Teton County has ruled that Wyoming's recent ban on abortion violated this provision as abortion is "health care".

I'll be frank.  I'm abhorred by abortion and its not health care.  It's infanticide.  But this gives us an example of the costs of paranoia.  The amendment to the constitution was unnecessary.  Completely unnecessary.  And now its come back to defeat an issue that was a greater one to its sponsors.

Indeed, the sponsor of the amendment was quoted awhile back to the effect that he'd be horrified if his bill resulted in ongoing abortions.  Well, it did. He should be horrified.

Now this goes on to the Wyoming Supreme Court where I'll guess it will be upheld.   There will be an effort to repeal the amendment, but my guess is that it might very well fail.  Legislators will attempt to draft bills around the decision, but they'll fail as well.