Should prostitution be federally legalized and made a constitutional right

It should be legalized and regulated, yes.

Going to need you to elaborate on it being made a “constitutional right”, though. People are glossing over that.

You have it backwards. In order for prostitution to be federally legalized in the US, the constitution would have to be changed.

In the US, the laws against prostitution are mostly state laws, not federal laws. ("Mostly" because laws against prostitution on federally controlled property, or across state lines, are federal laws.)

Prostitution laws are state laws in the US b/c in the US, the federal government is one of enumerated powers -- those powers that are listed ("enumerated") in the Constitution. Since those powers do not include things like prostitution (or murder or marriage or age-of-consent), the feds could only legalize prostitution if the Constitution was changed.

PS Marijuana is the exception that proves the rule. The feds get to criminalize marijuana b/c much (most?) of the marijuana sold in the US is grown in another state or country. The Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce (in fact, stopping states from screwing around with interstate commerce was one of the major reasons the Constitution was adopted). This power has been read to include the power to regulate things that affect interstate commerce. To their great shame, a majority of the justices of the SCt said anyone growing marijuana, even someone who was growing it for their own medical use, was affecting interstate commerce.

Freedom of choice. Just because something is dumb doesn't mean it has to be outlawed. I think that hopping down the sidewalk in a chicken costume in July is pathetic, but it's legal.

The legalization argument is kind of shoddy. Legalization leads to increased demand and some people will try to subvert legal avenues to capitalize on this demand.

This is a great article on the fallout of weed legalization in Oregon. Many parallels could be drawn to what might happen if prostitution is legalized. I highly doubt that federal legalization would alleviate this (if it’s even constitutional).

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/magazine/2022/01/14/oregon-marijuana-legalization-black-market-enforcement-527012

I also agree with this.
It’s not something I’d ever pay for/sell.

But two consenting adults who want to make a transaction? It should be legal.

How does it make you feel that prostitutes hate themselves and have mental health issues and addiction problems? Do you think any woman growing up wants to be a prostitute who services incels? Any sane woman would throw herself off a bridge faced with that scenario.

Are you also going to legalize the human trafficking that comes along with prostitution? The main issue isn’t there is more demand than supply. The real issue is the sheer number of women who are forced into this against their will. But incels gonna incel.

Tell us you're an incel who can't afford a hooker without telling us you're an incel who can't afford a hooker.

Some of the weed issues is that it isn't quite legal enough. Between federal laws, banking regulations and the rest there is a lot of friction which prevents efficiency.

Several western countries have legalized prostitution. They pretty much all have issues with human trafficking and the like. The problem is the pay isn't high enough to make it worth while for most people in developed countries.

And in the end it really doesn't help the incel problem. Jamin paying 100 bucks to get laid isn't going to solve his social isolation issues. He will feel better for 30mins and then go back to feeling like a failure.

Prostitution is happening all over the country already. It would probably be a benefit to the government, sex workers and the customers to legalize and regulate it. Fewer STDs. Extra tax revenue. Safer environment for everybody involved. I think with proper zoning rules, banning advertisements for it, etc. the benefits outweigh the negatives. Also maybe some of these incels wouldn’t shoot up gay night clubs if they had another option.

I can hire someone to mow my grass, or clean out the junk from my garage, or clean my teeth.

Do you even incel, Brah?

It probably should be legal. The only reason it isn't legal is because of the things associated with it (drugs, crime...and the act itself is a crime, so...). Legalization won't eliminate those other evils, but I would expect a gradual shift and then separation as with the prohibition of alcohol.

Now then, think of a world where prostition is legal...the term "incel" is useless. Since it's used in a sense of mocking derision toward a group of people who probably haven't done anything to deserve it except lose the genetic lottery, I think it's a net positive for everyone.

Thanks! That's an interesting article. I hadn't seen it.

For those who haven't read it, the article reports on an explosion of illegal grows in southern Oregon. As that article says:

"most of the illicit weed grown in southern Oregon is leaving the state,
heading to places where legal weed is still not available for purchase
such as New York or Pennsylvania — or where the legal price is still
very high, like Chicago and Los Angeles."

In other words, when you legalize vices, you might get unintended consequences. Or:

TL;DNR(?) Since it's harder to export prostitutes than weed, states that legalize prostitution will import johns -- there will be in increase in sex tourism!

If there is money to be made, a criminal element will always exist whether the act is legal or not. Again, how do you deal with the human trafficking aspect of prostitution? There aren’t thousands of women sitting around ready to be hookers only stopped now because it is illegal (if you think that is the case, it’s no wonder you have to pay for sex). Demand will increase which will require more women and we will see an increase of trafficking, particularly from poorer countries where the women are forced into slavery essentially. This the great lie of prostitution. More often than not, it is not “two consenting adults.”

No, women don't need to have anymore money or rights than they already do.

To quote Sydney Biddle Barrows, "If you can give it away, why can't you sell it?"

Clean up the health concerns, eliminate the criminal element and tax it.... what's the bad part of legalization?

The benefits of legalization for sex workers is substantial. They can operate like a real business and do not have to work in the shadows. They can get insurance, rent a business premises, hire security instead of being dependent on a pimp, have access to banking and payment systems (credit cards, etc.) instead of having to carry cash and having to keep their money out of the banking system to steer clear of the IRS. Regulations can reduce STD by requiring testing for sex workers and clients, as well as condom use.

But the big problem is that the capitalists will get involved and invariably exploit the sex workers for bigger profits for investors. Higher demand will be met with more supply, which will then create more price competition. The main benefit of sex work for women is that they can make a lot of money while working part time hours. That allows sex workers to go to school, care for family, etc.

And that gets to the problem of exploitation in general. The percentage of sex workers who were sexually abused as children or young adults is very high. And the number of sex workers who are also addicts is also a big issue. If there are women who are not addicts or suffering from the effects of sexual abuse who are sex workers, the odds are then pretty good that they are sex workers because of the money and would be happy to do something else if it paid as well as sex work. That leads to the big point for me in the legalization debate. Before we legalize sex work, we should make sure that women have access to jobs that pay well and allow them to be parents, attend school, etc. If women made $120k a year as an elementary school teacher, $80k as a home health worker, etc., I think you would not see very many women going into sex work.

There's a reason the Mustang Ranch is so well known nationally and across the globe. I'm convinced Colorado's ski mountain operators had to heavily support legalizing weed in CO as it helped them compete against other ski mountains nationally and even internationally to have access to legal weed right in the ski resorts.