Friendly Critical Thinking: Mediating Extreme Arguments
This TV movie would probably never be hugely successful.
In several important ways, it is a prescient film, and it takes a stand that would not be popular.
Andy Garcia’s character in the 1999 TV movie Swing Vote tackles the weighty topic of abortion. In its prescient approach to a fictitious Supreme Court ruling, skillful compromise shines.
The movie, Swing Vote, is from 1999 (not to be confused with a 2008 film of the same name). It begins with a change in Supreme Court Justices following blowback on the Court after they reverse of Roe v. Wade. The new Court accepts the expedited appeal of a Louisiana murder case filed against a woman following her abortion in Alabama, where the legislature has enacted felony murder penalties. The Court is divided; preliminary discussions at the Court are full of rancor. The new Associate Justice is manipulated by colleagues who have vastly different positions, his wife, clerk, and diverse interest groups.
The dialogue is frequently more elevated than typical in popular movies. The Court's appeal decision is announced by Andy Garcia who plays the new Associate Justice. His argument is a rarity in political discourse because as he says, "…it will please everyone and displease everyone.” He points out that there are serious flaws in the positions of those who support complete personal liberty to have an abortion and in those who wish to ban abortion.
The Andy Garcia character is an incredibly impressive listener. He enters the discussion with a point of view, but he is unwilling to embrace the positions of those who wish to ignore the strong points of their opponents. He points out that conflicting value assumptions are too often fertilizer for dogmatism, the Court decision that he crafts is a compromise paying attention to the stated allegiances of all partisans in this debate.
The initial words in his opinion are "20 weeks." The specifics of the Court's decision pay attention to the needs of all living children, especially those born to poor people. This decision also suggests policy that encourages adoption; It neither makes all abortion legal, nor does it criminalize abortions in states that attempt to punish women who have abortions.
The movie is a model of friendly critical thinking because it searches for compromise, instead of demanding utter victory. That approach to policy sculpting can be applied to every problem we face.