During the trial of Kermit Gosnell, I saw a lot of criticism of the left for its inattention. I was somewhat confused by it. I had read about Gosnell when he was arrested, but the details were so disgusting that I never looked at the story again. As far as I was concerned, Gosnell provided the best argument for legal access to abortion imaginable. His gruesome clinic was exactly what we’d expect to see in a country without legal abortion. In fact, the only reason his case was shocking is because we have legal abortion in this country. In any case, I didn’t write about the story because it was so horrible that I didn’t even want to think about it. And I didn’t think it was representative of anything.
It’s bizarre that the right thinks that the case might provide momentum for making Gosnell’s clinic the norm.
The House will vote next week on a bill banning abortions across the country after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Doug Heye, deputy chief of staff to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., confirmed to CQ Roll Call that the chamber is on track to consider legislation next week that would ban all abortions after the 20-week threshold — the point at which some medical professionals believe a fetus can begin to feel pain.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., is being marked up by the full House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and has the strong backing of the National Right to Life Committee.
If I remember correctly, the twentieth week is when you have the ultrasound done that can determine the gender of the fetus. It’s also when they can first discover complications or defects. If your baby has Down Syndrome or some other trisomy disorder, you won’t know about it before the twentieth week. This bill would effectively force mothers to carry these babies to term. I suspect that that is the point. They use the false issue of fetal pain as a cover.
The bill will never pass in the Senate, nor would the president sign it. It’s being held to make the Republicans feel better, but there is no other point.
Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is going full forced vaginal ultrasound.
They had to do that to my wife because they couldn’t find her ovaries with conventional ultrasound. It was not pleasant (major understatement).
Well, they’re 49th in economic outlook. They’ve got to do something. Surely forced vaginal ultrasounds will create some sort of economic activity.
Increased sales of coat hangers?
AKA state-sponsored rape
I would put nothing past this Senate or this President in their quest for bipartisanship and corporate money. If the bill were attached to say the immigration bill, they would pass it and he would sign it. We would be told that they had to and their hands were tied.
It won’t be tied to anything and you are simply wrong.
I have to think Voice is exaggerating for effect but I, too don’t trust “our” party to guard any principles at all. Realistically nothing is going to pass this Congress that doesn’t have oodles of big money backing it.
But you could see how it might be rationalized. A few Dem Senators join with the GOP to make a slim majority with their usual excuses. Then pro-life Reid suddenly finds his inner LBJ and gets enough other Dem Senators to let the thing come up for a vote – probably arguing Obama would never sign it.
Then, shockingly, Obama does. It would be 11th dimensional chess. Now the GOP can’t use the issue against him in 2014. Meanwhile the passage of the bill galvanizes the left to really get going in 2014 to overturn it. On top of that a few lawsuits in strategic locales get court rulings preventing enforcement so, for a while at least, no one is harmed by this.
No, not gonna happen – but only because there is no big money behind this, not because our elected Democrats are any kind of firewall.
That was my point. And if there was big money behind it …
I’m growing uncomfortable with the sudden lunacy of several long-time members of the site.
Okay. So tell me how the Monsanto Protection Act got “snuck” in a bill about a month ago? By a GOPer. IIRC, no one seems to know how it got stuck onto an unrelated bill.
Barack Obama will never sign a bill containing abortion restrictions like this. Never.
please explain how you think you know this. After watching the last 4 years I’m convinced that anything is negotiable, except for the continuous expansion of government power, which no one important is against.
For the same reason that a Republican president would never sign a bill to subsidize free abortions for everyone.
Republicans have ideological constituents that care about ideology and won’t come out just to pull an (R) lever. Sometimes they even punish a “traitor” by voting for the “D”.
Democrats just shrug and say, “Oh well, it’s the best we can do.”
Your reality and mine appear to be far apart on this one. It’s utterly obvious to me. Obama’s actually been very good on women’s issues.
What does that have to do with the different behavior of Republicans and Democrats?
Two reasons his clinic was open.
And sadly, this clinic of his, if the sociopathic misogynists ever get legal abortion’s banned, will probably be remembered with fondness for it’s safety and hygiene.
And that’s what religious Christianista Conservatives want – women to be punished.
Either by having to carry the fetus to term.
Or, to risk arrest, even death, if they decide to get an abortion.
And remember, they hate abortion so much, that they also hate contraception, and don’t want anyone to have access to contraceptives.
The problem with Conservatives, is that just because they are miserable excuses for human beings, wallowing in fear and hate and anger, they fear and hate and are angry, that anyone, anywhere, may actually be having a good time.
GOOD TIMES, ARE VERBOTEN!!!
Pray, you sinner, for forgiveness!!!!!
Nope–in Pennsylvania it’s illegal after 24 weeks, except to save the life of the mother. And those were Gosnell’s patients. So it’s virtually a textbook demonstration of the point.
It’s like the whole country missed the point of the movie “Dirty Dancing”. And why Roe v. Wade was generally received with public approval in 1973. It took the Catholic hierarchy 2-3 years to start ginning up an anti-abortion movement, which radicalized when they allied with the segregationist evangelicals who were jonesing for Reagan.
When did they give up?
The problem is more than just the legality of abortion. The problem is access and cost.
Because of the Hyde Amendment, we do not have federal funding for abortive services and the private funding (mostly through charitable giving) is inadequate. So poor women have a tough time coming up with the funds for services and the addition of fewer locations, travel time, and waiting periods force women into continuing with the pregnancy or seeking out unlicensed providers.
The waiting periods are insidious because they force women to deal with the cost of travel, lodging, child care, and missed work. If you are poor you can be priced out of the ability to seek an abortion.
Exactly. Even when abortion was illegal in Illinois, rich parents sent their daughters to Europe for a “vacation” and they came back slimmer. If you’ve got the dough to send or take your kid to Europe, no problem, which explains why rich Republicans were willing to hitch up with the anti-abortion crazies. Washington didn’t give up cocktail parties either just because they voted for Prohibition. That was for those drunken lower classes.
Europe? no, Chicago. $ was a factor in finding a physician
There is no Constitutional basis for a federal law of this nature. Certainly there is no case to be made that it can be covered under the interstate commerce clause. But I guess this is what we get for electing a bunch of ignorant, incurious twits to Congress.
What? A tenther among us?
Nah. I just play one from time to time, when I get to use the tenth to hoist wingnuts by their own petard. 🙂
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So people with Down’s Syndrome should be euthanized because they had the bad luck not to be aborted by Mom?
Euthanized implies it’s a a person. And yes, if she so chose that she could not emotionally or financially raise a DS child, abortion should be a choice.