Letters to the Editor
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When Democrats tell you in 2008...
..."vote for us or you'll lose the S. Court and your right to choose," ask them where the fuck their filibuster was when Alito and Roberts were up for confirmation.
And then get them to put their bullshit promises for a progressive future in legally-binding writing.
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You can still kill all the babies, er, fetuses, you want
...just not by crushing their skulls.
Jesus Christ. I can't understand how anyone could not be completely revolted at such a barbaric and inhuman procedure. There's a difference between supporting a woman's right to choose and supporting a particular method by which that choice is exercised. I'm in favor of gun control, but I don't advocate running violaters over with steamrollers.
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Have You read the Actuall Bill? It Potentially Bans all Abortions
The Bill does not explicitly mention the length of the pregnency as being a criteria. In fact if you read the actual description of the proceedure an argument can be made that it in effect bans D&C the most common form of first trimester abortion.
The bill states:
"(1) the term 'partial-birth abortion' means an abortion in which --
(A) the person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother for the purpose of performing an overt act that theperson knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and
(B) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus; and
(2) the term 'physician' means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the State in which the doctor performs such activity, or any other individual legally authorized by the State to perform abortions: Provided, however, That any individual who is not a physician or not otherwise legally authorized by the State to perform abortions, but who nevertheless directly performs a partial-birth abortion, shall be subject to the provisions of this section. "
The bill does not define "fetus". The medical term means from eight weeks on, however since many people use the term interchangably with embryo, the bill could be argued to refer to the entire length of pregnency. Most abortions are performed between 7 - 10 weeks as most providers think that an earlier abortion is less likely to be successfull. In the normal method (D&C) a suction device is used to extract the contents of the womb though the vagina. Since the contents would include the embryo or fetus which was alive at the time of the removal, technically this bill bans D&C.
I expect anti-Choice states will waste no time at testing this idea. I also expect that the lower courts will strike it down, until it makes its way back to the Supreme Court. If the Court still has the same composition, Kennedy's comment makes it clear that this bill is not intended to ban D&C. However if the court has tipped one judge to the right, this case will probably lead to a complete reversal on Roe v. Wade.
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Reality-based Liberal
Amen, brother! The Democrats should have filbustered until they dropped. Then double-dog-dared the republicans to demonstrate their contempt for congressional traditon and institutional stability by instituting the so called "newkewlar option."
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Crushed by steamroller
I bet the number of people killed by steamroller each year is pretty comparable to the number of "partial-birth" abortions performed, yet the do-nothing congress still hasn't gotten the president a bill he can sign ending the use of those deadly pieces of heavy equipment.
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Petey G
Sounds like you bought into the right-wing spin about this. A) this procedure, even as described by the Right, is in some cases the safest thing for a mother's health (rare, everyone agrees). B) this LAW, as written, is so vague and potentially far reaching, that courts could conclude that it bans more than “dilation and extraction” -- what you don't like.
But the bottom line is that it shouldn't be up to Congress to dictate how a citizen uses their bodily functions to support another (whether that other is, in your eyes, a fetus, a baby, a person, a zygote, or whatever).
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We get
the government we deserve. Anyone who voted for Bush can share the blame for this horrible piece of legislation passing SC muster (of course the SC has no credibility at this point anyway, so just beacuse they rule on something doesn't really mean anything will change, but they do still have a little power). On the plus side, it's so badly written that it will not be settled for the next ten years. On the minus side, it's bound to have a chilling effect on medical practices in every state, making legal abortions that much harder to get.
One part of the bill actually gives fathers, parents, and grandparents the right to sue doctors for damages. I have no doubt that lawyers have already started to chase clients...
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Methinks
PeteyG has been watching a lot of "Kids in the Hall."
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"Partial Birth" would be revoluting -- if it were real
Jesus Christ. I can't understand how anyone could not be completely revolted at such a barbaric and inhuman procedure. There's a difference between supporting a woman's right to choose and supporting a particular method by which that choice is exercised.
That's exactly the argument the people who wrote this bill want to make -- but can't, because such an argument has little basis in fact. They are counting on the disgust which they themselves are working to engender with the misleading term "partial birth."
But don't take my word for it. Listen to the doctors. The American College of OB-GYNs writes:
The Act defines "partial-birth abortion" in a way that encompasses a variation of dilatation and evacuation (D&E) .... Over 95% of induced abortions in the second trimester are performed using the D&E method. The alternatives to D&E in the second trimester are abdominal surgery or induction abortion.
They go on to explain that D&Es are more common than abdominal surgery because abdominal surgery is -- surprise -- much, much risker. (link to the full document is in the signature)
So, imagine you (or your partner or daughter) are 18 weeks pregnant. You turn up for your first routine ultrasound and discover that your baby will be born without a brain. Or you're 20 weeks pregant and you find a lump in your breast and are told you must treat the cancer right away if you want to live.
Congress would like a word with you about what you do next.