> The question is how do policymakers deal with politically charged topics. And I personally haven't seen cases where more research or "science" is the answer,

> The question is how do policymakers deal with politically charged topics. And I personally haven't seen cases where more research or "science" is the answer, it's just crutch that people use to try and make their political point. They bring their professional and political judgment to a competitive information environment and use the fractional share of power vested in them to inform the consensus to make or not make a particular policy. That or they beat the snot out of each other, but either way what gets done in a given legislative session is the product of whatever consensus they were able to make, however they were able to make it, with whatever information was in the room with them at the time.