North Dakota bans abortion
By Michael J.W. Stickings
Well, not really. Or, not yet.
The state's House of Representatives has, by a margin of 51-41, voted "to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of any person," according to local KXNet. In other words, the House has effectively voted to ban abortion, given that abortion would be murder. The bill now moves to the Senate.
Bill sponsor Dan Ruby -- a Republican, of course -- claims that the legislation is compatible with Roe v. Wade, in that it contains "the exact language that's required by Roe," specifically by "[identifying] when life begins."
Ruby, apparently, is insane. Even if the bill passes the Senate, even if it is eventually signed into law, there will be extensive litigation. Anything is possible with a right-leaning SCOTUS, of course, but, based on Roe (which, lest we forget, grants abortion rights and is not, and is not meant to be, some existential determination of when exactly life begins), the law would be struck down.
Because -- if I may offer my own politico-existential take on the matter -- a fertilized egg is simply not a human life. It may have the potential for human life, but it is hardly a being that deserves, and requires, the same rights as any living person, or that needs to be protected like a late-term fetus.
(For more on the North Dakota bill, see my friend and colleague Jazz Shaw over at TMV.)
Well, not really. Or, not yet.
The state's House of Representatives has, by a margin of 51-41, voted "to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of any person," according to local KXNet. In other words, the House has effectively voted to ban abortion, given that abortion would be murder. The bill now moves to the Senate.
Bill sponsor Dan Ruby -- a Republican, of course -- claims that the legislation is compatible with Roe v. Wade, in that it contains "the exact language that's required by Roe," specifically by "[identifying] when life begins."
Ruby, apparently, is insane. Even if the bill passes the Senate, even if it is eventually signed into law, there will be extensive litigation. Anything is possible with a right-leaning SCOTUS, of course, but, based on Roe (which, lest we forget, grants abortion rights and is not, and is not meant to be, some existential determination of when exactly life begins), the law would be struck down.
Because -- if I may offer my own politico-existential take on the matter -- a fertilized egg is simply not a human life. It may have the potential for human life, but it is hardly a being that deserves, and requires, the same rights as any living person, or that needs to be protected like a late-term fetus.
(For more on the North Dakota bill, see my friend and colleague Jazz Shaw over at TMV.)
Labels: abortion, North Dakota, Roe v. Wade
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
10:30 AM
3 Comments:
Like you I am extremely pro-choice but not for the same reason. The answer depends not on WHAT the post-conceptus is but on WHERE it is.
I say I'm entitled to kill anything which is located in my body, no matter what it is. If all the billions of human beings alive today, born and unborn, innocent and guilty, great and small, rich and poor, smart and stupid, religious and faithless, were assembled somewhere inside my body, along with Baby Jesus, Almighty God, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I'd be entitled to holocaust 'em anytime, for any reason or for no reason. That's part of the meaning of the word "my" in the phrase "my body".
By
Anonymous, at 6:04 AM
Im Glad for North Dakota for getting rid of Abortion. Now its time for the rest of the world.
Sure its your body and you can do what you will with it. However the flesh and bones inside of you are not yours. They belong to the child that is LIVING inside of you.
Instead of having an abortion why dont you just abstian from having sex. That is one way that a will not have to worry about conceiving a child during the wrong period.
Abortion is wrong no matter who does it. Your mother obviously chose life for you, why would'nt you do the same for your child?
By
1 who will make a difference, at 1:42 PM
In that case it should be legal for me to kill anyone in my house since I own it. Please all prochoice arguments are weak and I want to see abortion banned again.
By
Nero, at 5:03 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home