Monday, July 15, 2013

Stay Out Of My Uterus

Does anyone else see the irony in the Republican controlled North Carolina State Legislature adding severe abortion restrictions to a bill that forbids Sharia law in the Tarheel State? Legislation banning the use of Islamic law in family and custody cases was loaded down with abortion politics during the final hour and renamed the "Family, Faith, and Freedom Protection Act of 2013." Among other rules aimed at closing down the state's legal clinics is the requirement that a doctor be present for the application of any abortion-inducing medication. This means that if you wish to take the abortion pill, RU-486, in the privacy of your home, you're going to need a doctor friend to keep you company. The tone-deaf, Tea Party Republicans in North Carolina succeeded in banishing Sharia law, only to replace it with a different type of Sharia law with a distinct Christian conservative flavor. Governor Pat McCrory rebuked his fellow Republicans for attaching the abortion amendments to their silly-ass bill and threatened a veto if substantial changes were not made. So the GOP lawmakers changed a noun here and a verb there and re-introduced the abortion laws as amendments to a motorcycle safety bill.

This action followed Texas' passing of the nation's most restrictive abortion legislation. Despite the successful filibuster by Sen. Wendy Davis, presidential wannabe Rick Perry merely called a second special session for his anti-abortion agenda. Texas now requires that all abortions take place in a surgical center, and all doctors have hospital admitting privileges; exactly the same legislation that failed in Mississippi earlier this year. The bill's female sponsor, Rep. Jodi Laubenberg, claimed no exception was needed for rape because, "in the emergency room they have what they call rape kits, where a woman can get cleaned out." And here I thought that "a woman can shut that all down" if it's a "legitimate rape." According to Wendy Davis, the new laws will shutter all but five of the states' forty two clinics. This year alone, seventeen states have enacted forty-three new laws that further regulate a woman's access to abortion services, and 120 new laws have been passed in the previous two years. This state-rights attempt to once again criminalize abortion is no coincidence.

In Wisconsin, recall survivor Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill requiring ultrasounds of all women seeking abortions. In Ohio, Republicans crammed abortion restrictions into the state's budget, stating that "life begins at the moment of conception," and mandating ultrasounds before any procedure. The budget/abortion bill was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich, making Ohio the only state where a doctor faces criminal charges for failing to test for a fetal heartbeat and informing the woman of the results. Similar bills have passed or are pending in Arizona, Nebraska, Georgia, and Louisiana. So where is the outrage? Forty years ago, woman staged mass protests and marches for the right to control their reproductive lives. So why aren't women and their supporters marching in the streets now? Actually, they are. The nation is so focused on Kim and Kanye's baby, however, that it's not being adequately reported. Thousands have rallied in Raleigh, NC every Monday since April to protest the GOP legislative blitzkrieg, and over 700 North Carolinians have been arrested in the last two months. Hundreds of people massed in the capitol in Columbus OH, including twenty protesters forcibly removed from the Senate chamber for yelling, "Shame on you." In Austin, thousands have protested and twelve have been arrested. Eight people were arrested in Madison, WI for attempting to deliver coat hangers to Republican politicians. So, what's really at work here?

The targeted, state-by-state, anti-abortion strategy has several supporting organizations, including the Susan B. Anthony List and the well-funded National Right To Life Committee, but the major player is the Americans United for Life, or the AUL. A team of lawyers working for the AUL have provided Republican-led state legislatures with pre-written bills, lacking only a sponsor. The AUL has collected their proposed bills in a playbook called, "Defending Life," and delivered it to every state, including Tennessee, where legislators are already working on their behalf. One of the AUL's major goals is the banning of abortion after twenty weeks. Gov. Perry said that "after twenty weeks we are not going to allow abortion in our state." The twenty week provision is based on disputed research that claims a fetus can feel pain at that point in a pregnancy. There are reasons, usually desperate and life-threatening, for late-term abortions that are beyond the comprehension of the Texas State Legislature.

The prolific poet and great twentieth century psychedelic prophet Jimi Hendrix weighed in on the abortion dispute in 1971 with the release of his song "Belly-Button Window," in which Jimi portrays a fetus peering out into the world from his mother's naval. Among other observations, Hendrix proclaimed from the womb;
So if you don't want me now, make up your mind, where or when/.  If you don't want me now, give or take, you only got two hundred days.  
Two hundred days equals, let's see...six months. That comes out to twenty-six weeks, exactly what the state of Texas allows right now. If Hendrix could figure it out, pre-Roe, then why can't Rick Perry? Here's the point. Abortion is a moral and medical decision between a woman and her doctor and should have no place on anyone's legislative agenda. The politicization of the abortion dispute has distracted us for far too long from the important work of restoring our country, and it needs to stop. I can tolerate a certain amount of government intrusion in my life, but stay the hell out of my uterus.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

You obviously care nothing for the civil rights of the unborn child. Hitler would give you a high five. But, at least he murdered mostly adults. Who will defend the voiceless and the most innocent among us? The vast majority of them are slaughtered for the crime of being inconvenient, not because they pose a real threat to the health of the mother. Let's be honest. And, to say that human life doesn't begin at conception is a fabricated crock of shit. At what arbitrary point do you say that life begins? As it is now, full term babies can be aborted in some states. Peter Singer, a professor at Princeton and head of the Center for Human Values there (what a joke), has opined that parents should have the right to murder their children till the age of two...he also is an advocate for bestiality. Do you agree with singer? I thought so. In some states when a botched abortion results in a viable full term baby, the baby is set aside to die of starvation and exposure. Your god Obama voted for that measure when he was a senator in Illinois. I recently read an article by a woman who was an abortionist's assistant. She said that she saw full term babies clenching their tiny fingers and toes while scissors were being thrust into their skulls prior to having their brains sucked out. And you call yourself civilized. You should have to cleanup the ghastly aftermath for a few months. The State does have an obligation to protect the lives of unborn children, but the State has chosen to cop out for political reasons. Those who participate in this holocaust had better hope that there is no God or final judgment. The thing that tipped the scale for me happened about 25 years ago. I heard a testimony from a woman who had an abortion. Immediately after the procedure she clasped the bleeding fetus to her chest, fell to her knees, and begged God to forgive her for murdering her child. The pain and anguish in her voice disturbed me to the point where I had to pull my car over and cry. I know that some of you will make fun of me for that, but go ahead. Aren't you glad that your mother was pro-life, at least in your regard? Otherwise, you would have been thrown out with the other medical waste. I know that this type of testimony causes your type to scream,curse, puke, etc. but there are two sides to every story. Bottom line...they are God's problem and He will deal with them and those who enable them. Oh, I forgot...your god doesn't care how many babies are slaughtered. Sort of like Moloch to whom the biblical heathen would sacrifice their children by scalding them to death in a red hot bowl that the idol held.

performs said...

Anonymous, you probably feel proud, even heroic in taking your stand of protecting the most innocent, defenseless creatures in the world. I believe that it is this attitude that brings so many committed to this cause. Surely it is quite addictive, and remember pride is one of the seven deadly sins. It can blind one to the big pictures and permit one to keep their focus on the particular anecdotes, pictures and symbols that rationalize maintaining this limited attitude. There is nothing anyone can say that could not be trumped by the superiority of your heroic stance. Have you spent any time at all considering the reasons why a woman would make the hard choice to terminate her pregnancy, or put yourself in her shoes?

Gregg said...

The abortion issue is a difficult one. Anonymous, you sound like a doctor I know who at times believes that he knows it all. Tsk. Tsk. Anonymous, you should be ashamed.

Now, where does the State enter into our lives and where doesn't it? Best to put ourselves into the other's shoes. Golden Rule holds.
If I was a woman who, in spite of having a soul, was willing to go through the probable lifetime emotional pain of ending a pregnancy and killing HER unborn fetus, I'll bet that she'd go to the guy who used to work in the garage the way other women had to before Roe. Should the unborn fetus be expunged? Should the woman be jailed before she can do the deed, maybe tied up so that we can get her baby before it's too late?
These are actually very difficult questions with significant and profound arguments with no answer.
What rights does a woman have? What rights does the father of the fetus have? Should women who have abortions be put on trial for murder? Who is to judge? What place does a government have in determining these questions? What place does the clergy have? What place do we have in other people's lives?
Anonymous, if I might be so bold, God is all knowing and all seeing and HE has allowed abortion to exist. The pendulum will swing and the two legged animals on this planet will try their best to figure out unanswerable questions but they will only be exerting their own personal emotional and experiential biases.

I'd say you're lucky you are a man, Anonymous, not a pregnant woman. And I'm not advocating here. I'm just saying you're in a funny position to be posturing with such vehemence. Your pain 25 years ago might be matched by the pain of many young women who have their own (very legitimate) completely opposite feelings.
And God has watched many babies by slaughtered, old man. Doesn't make it palatable to us humans, though, does it? Who are you to determine what God will or will not allow?

Mystery too big, Anonymous. Yes?

Cindy said...

It is all only about making sure a baby is born....once born, the Republicans slash the very social services needed to help that baby have a decent life.
I have yet to hear one Pro-Lifer declare how they are going to help the babies they demand be born have enough food to eat, a decent education, sufficient clothing, a roof over their heard and so on.
Are the Pro-Lifers trying to improve the lives of children from other countries? Making sure the African babies are born? No, it seems to be only American babies they care about.

To Anonymous...please quit spewing the tired old propaganda about full term babies being killed by scissors to the head....

And for the love of god...have enough courage to sign your name...

Anonymous said...

Sputnik your guys are the kings of intruding into people's lives. Oh they don't care who you have sex with right now but some day it may come to that.

Unknown said...

Liar

Unknown said...

So since their life will be so miserable once they re born, let's make the decision for them

Steve said...

Randy,
What if you are wrong about abortion--a murder has occurred.

What if pro-lifers are wrong about abortion--a life has been saved and. If the mother can't support the child, she can place it up for adoption to thousands of people that do want to adopt.

Steve

Steve said...

Come on Randy, let's hear your reply!

Steve

Anonymous said...

Gregg, you are in error that God has chosen to allow abortion. How could the God of Life choose to undermine His very nature which is life and love amongst other things? That is due to a misunderstanding of His sovereignty. Theologians have done a much better job of explaining this than I can, but the gist of this is that where people insist on doing evil, He lifts His hand of protection and guidance from them, but this does not mean that He approves or 'permits' the evil that ensues. If I were a woman I would hope to have the strength of my current convictions, but that is a moot point. I do not propose that all abortions be banned. Pregnancies due to rape, incest, and true threats to a mother's health would be exceptions in my view, but some disagree with that. I won't get far by mentioning this here, but one of the key items on the Progressive agenda is depopulation. That is the truth behind the high level pro-abortion proponents. They use concern for the woman's health as a front. Someday they will get around to euthanasia and I am not opposed to that as long as it is left to the decision of the individual. But, Progressives being what they are, if euthanasia is ever passed as law, it would soon become involuntary, state-mandated euthanasia. All for the good of the environment you understand.

Anonymous said...

Cindy, I am Jerry Wright. I prefer to use 'Anonymous', though. Most know who I am when I make posts here. It is good to meet you. The answer to what you see as an enigma is simply that the babies parents work and make money to support their child in lieu of the government. You seem to think that everyone born would starve to death if the government weren't around to spoon feed us. Isn't it funny how so many people who work don't have a big problem with caring for themselves or their children. But then you liberals don't seem to believe that it is possible for individuals to care for themselves. Its really quit simple. Have no more children than you can care for and then work your ass off to provide for them. I know that this sounds absolutely awful to a liberal, though. The very thought of personal responsibility and work probably make you physically ill. Another word for that state of affairs is arrested development. Grow up. And by the way, the scissors/brain suction thing is a verifiable fact, but you libs don't deal in facts...just fantasy.

Anonymous said...

Liberals don't care a thing about adoption. Murder is much easier, and more fun for them, too. Their conscience is too seared to care a thing about killing innocents. Next they will be french-frying kittens to satisfy their munchies. All they are concerned about is convenience. Screw like minks, if there is a pregnancy, just cut the despicable thing out and throw it away. Problem solved. They would say, those who boo-hoo over dead babies are just scum-sucking conservatives. They need to get over their pettiness and join us in the slaughter. The number of aborted babies since Roe v. Wade is up to 66 million now...eeeehaw!!Let it rip!

Anonymous said...

Some of you liberal women seem to think that giving birth to children is a terrible burden. Blame the God of Life, who made women to be the bearers of new life, for this miserable state of affairs, not pro-lifers. I guess its a good thing that you can't get your hands on Him, because you would probably have Him killed. Oh, sorry. That already occurred a couple of thousand years ago. Don't you hate the fact that He resurrected and has a date with each of us at some time in the future to settle accounts? The ACLU won't be of much use to you on that day.

Anonymous said...

Progressives were big into eugenics back in Margaret Sanger's (founder of what became Planned Parenthood) days. In her monthly magazine (forgot the name of it), one issue was headlined 'A Race of Thoroughbreds'. Guess what it had to do with. Did you guess eliminating undesirable genes from the human gene pool? If you did, you get a 100. She was actually an admirer of the Nazis. Surely you know that Democrats, a.k.a. progressives, were the biggest obstacle to black civil rights until LBJ realized that if the Democrats were to change their position and support civil rights they would own the black vote forever. The crude, criminal sob even said so. Hitler got some of his eugenic views from American progressives. After the holocaust, the progressives had to go underground with their eugenic views. They are accomplishing what they can with abortion now, though. It is a primitive form of eugenics, but then so were Hitler's ovens. There is really not that much difference. Inconvenient people are summarily dismissed from this life, some by abortion, some by ovens. Real history is a mind blower, but real history is scrubbed from American textbooks, so not many know the true big picture of what goes on in this world. It is not pretty. And no, Sput, believe it or not all evil does not emanate from the Republican Party. That is such sophomoric thinking. I will drop my teeth if you ever catch on to what is actually happening in this world and it has nothing to do with the ineffectual Republicans. You, along with most of the American electorate, have been punked.

Anonymous said...

Margaret Sanger was an occultist (New Age) and a social Darwinist. One of her guiding principle's was 'The end justifies the means'. This has also been the guiding principle of every evil person that ever lived. Her extra-marital lover , H.G. Wells, believed that all progressives should become 'enlightened Nazis'. I think that his vision for progressives has been fulfilled. Latter day storm troopers with stethoscopes, syringes filled with poisons, scissors, and suction tubes kick the doors of countless wombs open and drag the occupants out to be summarily executed. The crime for which they are being executed... mostly for simply being inconvenient. Sorry little Dick and Jane, no welcoming love, joy, and happiness in this world for you. No playing with your teddy bears in the sunshine. We are going to kill your cute little asses in the womb and no one will lift a finger to stop us. 'But why little Jane asks? Because your mother legally signed your death warrant. You would be too much trouble. Bye-bye blue-eyes.' Next!!

Cesar said...

This is cool!