Good point. I guess it should be “90% of the population takes any meaningful step towards”

Laws/rights are just thoughts and words. If 90% of the population wants something—barring some extreme use of force—they’re going to get their way.

Simply declaring something unconstitutional or illegal is a paper shield.

That’s not to say that there isn’t value in codifying these things. It helps maintain long term positions/policies when the government swings across the centrepoint, but they only work because the majority of the population agrees with them.