USA Today looks at what abortion policy would look like if it were returned to the states. It’s an interesting picture, but the authors are a little too attached to a Deeply Divided Nation storyline:

The result, according to this analysis, would be less a patchwork of laws than broad regional divisions that generally reinforce the nation’s political split. All but three of the states likely to significantly restrict abortions voted for President Bush in 2004. All but four of the states likely to maintain access to abortion voted for Democrat John Kerry.

How would those regional divisions “reinforce the nation’s political split?” Wouldn’t returning abortion to the states actually undermine red-blue polarization by removing a divisive social issue from national politics?