In a nation struggling to find common purpose across polarized lines, the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade offers one possible path. As written, the opinion would return the question of abortion law to state legislatures. Each state could then navigate its own way through this politically divisive issue.

A graphic in The New York Times points to some logic in this: In many of the states most likely to ban abortion, a majority of residents oppose abortion. Moreover, America has a tradition, grounded in the Constitution, of strong states’ rights. We already see this occurring from LGBTQ rights to Medicaid benefits. Within the United States, one can live in very different Americas. 

But there are consequences. Most obvious is women losing a right they have had for 50 years, and a decision that could open the way for a rollback of other rights. During the Great Migration, millions of Black Americans left the South to escape Jim Crow laws. But Americans’ ability to move from state to state has been declining for decades due to rising housing costs and other factors. At a time when red and blue states are diverging, this could lock many Americans in states that don’t share their ideals, The Atlantic notes.     

My thought also turns to the conviction that guided Abraham Lincoln through the Civil War: The United States – as a single entity – is of inestimable value to the world. It is our determination to work through differences together, holding to a larger and more universal ideal, that gives America its power and offers a glimpse of a way forward for humanity and all its divisions. This delicate balance between diversity and unity has defined America since its founding, and the months and years ahead will offer a new test.