But, ethics are a moral code and our government is not empowered to legislate our morals; only to create laws that define and limit our behaviors.

Can ethics be legislated for?

Thus, while ethics cannot be legislated, a cooperative can establish expectations on how it will conduct its business and reduce its potential liability by enacting appropriate policies and safeguards.

Can you legislate morals?

So, in answer to the rhetorical question, "Can we have any impact by trying to legislate morality?", the answer is unequivocally "yes" if one means in the public domain, and a qualified "maybe" in the private domain. other laws which can lead to genuine change in mass norms, but some such threshold undoubtedly exists.