There isn’t a more succinct paradox in America than the Golden State — which is saying something given the presence of other ultra-leftist states like Illinois and New York. California’s scenic serenity is quite attractive, yet it’s upside-down policy and moral agendas are oppositely unattractive. This dichotomy is evident in two distinct stories whose outcomes are astonishingly backwards.

A few years ago, Planned Parenthood was pilloried in response to an exposé by the California-based Center for Medical Progress (CMP). CMP’s surreptitious video recordings unearthed a nauseating trade — Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of aborted babies’ body parts. What came next added insult to injury. Not only were two CMP officials erroneously indicted by a Texas grand jury, but the CMP founder’s home was also raided by the California Department of Justice.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra ended up frivolously charging the same two CMP officials with 15 felonies. As we reported at the time, the leftist groundswell was stacked against CMP from the get-go: “Former California AG Kamala Harris, a long-time supporter of Planned Parenthood, chose not to investigate the damning evidence found in the videos, but instead focused her investigation on the pro-life journalists. During the investigation Harris secretly worked with Planned Parenthood to craft legislation designed to protect the organization. Harris has since been elected to the U.S. Senate.” Her successor, Becerra, not only took the baton but proceeded to finish bludgeoning the whistleblowers in his state.

Now fast-forward to today. While Planned Parenthood was bestowed with red-carpet treatment despite clearly breaking the law, restaurants in the Santa Barbara vicinity that use plastic straws will face the same wrath as those who expose crimes at Planned Parenthood. “Santa Barbara has become the latest city to crack down on plastic straws, enacting what is likely the most severe prohibition in the country,” Reason recently reported. “The law authorizes hefty fines and jail sentences for violators.”

The new law goes beyond that of Seattle, where compostable plastic straws were exempted and fines don’t exceed $250. “Santa Barbara, by contrast, has banned even compostable straws, permitting only drinking tubes made from nonplastic materials such as paper, metal, or bamboo,” Reason adds. “The city also has made a second violation of its straw prohibition both an administrative infraction carrying a $100 fine and a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Each contraband straw or unsolicited plastic stirrer counts as a separate violation, so fines and jail time could stack up quickly.”

Abortion is sacrosanct to the Left, which makes for mind-boggling contradictions and a topsy-turvy world where straw-law transgressors are punished more severely than abortionists who suck babies from their mothers’ wombs and traffic their body parts. As Allie Beth Stuckey puts it, “2018: where abortion is glorified and straws are criminalized. What a time to be alive.”

Update: According to Fox News, city officials are quashing the idea of jail time for straw-law transgressors.