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.
