I confess I don't read The Daily Anti-Abortionist or any other anti-choice type periodicals, nor am I aware anything like them exist. Therefore, I must say I'm not 100% "in the loop" when it comes to the need for this, but, apparently, Congress is close to passing a bill that would make it a felony to take teenagers across state lines to acquire abortions. Not that there's a connection here, or anything, but this is an election year, and the party of family values is afraid of losing some of its seats, and possibly its majority.
The bill, which passed the House and is on its way to the Senate, does just what it says above. It would make a felon of anyone who takes a teenager who is not their child across state lines without that teenager's parent(s)'s knowledge. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to not carve out an exemption for confidants of the teen. Because, let's face it, looking like we care about families is more important than helping a teenager get some kind of protection against a potentially hostile environment. Therefore, Congress had little choice but to go through with this bill.
Has there been a rash of state-line crossing for abortions in the recent past? I'm not sure I've seen too much literature on the matter, nor have I heard much in the news about this reaching epidemic levels that need attention. It strikes me as a red herring to draw attention away from the things that have gone wrong over the past several years (Terri Schiavo's situation - another family values SNAFU, Iraq's 'mission accomplished,' 'Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job,' No Child Left Behind, Social Security Reform, Valerie Plame, Tom DeLay, UAE Ports, Oil prices, Afghanistan, Abu Graib, Guantanamo Bay, national debt, signing statements, et al.), and try to find a hot button non-issue that can galvanize the base and perhaps toss a smokescreen against the stuff that has America upset with the status quo.
Bad Congress, Bad.
3 comments:
This goes hand in hand with South Dakota's abortion ban. Minnesota is expecting quite a few people to cross the line here to get abortions, although I see there isn't an author from that state on the bill.
I agree that this is pandering and a distraction, unfortunate, but at least some of us are able to recognize it as what it is.
What puzzles me is Whose Family decided these are the correct values? Not mine.
Excellent post Steve and I agree with you entirely. More dirty politics to paint the bright shiney object in the left hand while they sell out the middle and lower classes with the right hand.
Awesome summation counselor...
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