ar-15s vs abortions

 I finally realized what the false equivalence is that makes for mutual incomprehension across the Left - Right divide

There are two questions you have to answer in a "Constitutional Rights" case in order to find something protected by the US Constitution

1: Is this a right protected by the US Constitution?  If not, you stop here

2: How should this right be implemented in the modern world

Do you have a right to keep the government out of your person and property absent a legitimate court order?  Yes

Then the gov't putting a GPS tracker on your car w/o a warrant is a violation of the 4th Amendment

Do you have a right to freedom of speech and writing?  Yes

So the gov't can't censor you on Twitter 

Do you have a right to keep and bear arms?  Yes

So the gov't can't stop you from owning an AR-15 or a Glock 17

Do you have a right to have an abortion? No

The right did not exist when the Constitution was ratified.  It did not exist when the 14th Amendment was ratified, or when any of the earlier Amendments was ratified

It is not explicitly written into the US Constitution (unlike equal treatment, which IS explicitly written in to the Constitution.  Which is why Brown was right, and Plessey was wrong, even though many of the States that ratified the 14th had legal segregation when they ratified it.  "Current practice" doesn't beat "literal words in the Constitution"

So when someone says "why do you have these modern things protected, but not abortion", they're completely missing the point.  They're skipping over step 1 and going straight to step 2.

And that's just not correct