Abortion Opponents Rehearsed and Camera Ready

This is what I thought about as I tossed and turned for several hours last night:

H 3114, the deceitfully titled, "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," went before the SC Senate yesterday.  That afternoon, The State ran a video of a woman -- and her daughter Savannah's -- testimony.  Wendy Duke is dignified and well-spoken, and her remarks were carefully prepared.  She has written an inspirational book about her daughter's first years, and she is a blogger.  She introduces her daughter early on, and 14 1/2 year old Savannah comes to sit by her while her mother continues.

At 21 weeks, Ms. Duke's doctor informed her that there were potentially severe fetal abnormalities.  At first glance, it sounds like the recommendation was based on the fact that one leg would be significantly shorter than the other.  Listen carefully, though, because it turns out there was also "significant brain abnormality," so the recommendation to consider an abortion was more than responsible and justified.

Before she turns the microphone over to Savannah, Duke concludes, "At 21 weeks gestation, this former fetus' personality had already been established."

Well, no.  And therein lies what is outrageous about this testimony.  An emotional appeal mixing feelings with facts, combining the terms "fetus" and "personality" as though they actually made sense together, just does not belong in the South Carolina legislature.

Duke's comments were followed by a brief religious screed by her daughter.  The camera panned on an anti-abortion pin that she wore prominently, with a photo of something that looked more like a premature infant than a fetus, saying, "20 week preborn child -- Please protect me."

National anti-abortion organizations advising the states have been careful not to frame legislation in religious terms and rather resort to nonsensical  medical terms, hence "pain capable" and my favorite, "pre-born."  We have heard legislators across this country claim such idiocy as because male fetuses have erections it is an obvious indication of pleasure, so therefore must feel pain.  We have been constantly inundated with claims that the fetus appearing to flinch in response to stimuli assumes pain, although pain receptors have not yet been developed.

And here we have the testimony of a truly inspirational parent, and her truly amazing daughter, claiming that without this proposed law, her daughter would not exist.  Also not true.

But it is well orchestrated and heart-wrenching.  And here it is on video, and making it to the State website.

If you read to the end of the piece, though, you will find testimony by another woman, Jennifer Lane, describing the tremendously difficult decision she had to make in similar circumstances.  With a five-year-old daughter, she had to make decisions based on not just the severe brain abnormalities, but also on whether she could care for a child with such limitations while also caring for her young daughter.

It is apparent that Ms Duke had the resources to give great amounts of time, pay for years of medical treatments, and nurture her disabled child without sacrificing her own health.  She was able to provide well for her daughter, and to give her all the support that would assure she would excel in her endeavors.  She is an exceptional woman, but she also had the freedom to assess her situation and make the best choice for her.

Yet here she is judging other women, each with unique situations -- financial, familial, emotional -- by testifying that there should be a law preventing them from being able to make the choice that she was allowed to make.

To their credit, the subcommittee has asked for medical professionals to make recommendations on an amendment for exceptions for fetal abnormalities and the health of the woman.  On the other hand, it assumes that this procedure has been done excessively and frivolously and that a law is needed.  And they also seem to have accepted the erroneous claim that this ban is necessary because of fetal pain.

In any event, the subcommittee will be meeting again around April 1, a fitting time for fools to meet.  And it will give me a few days to catch up on my sleep. 

...And the Winner is...

A few months ago, I put The State, Columbia's newspaper, on my home page, along with The Onion and a non-weather channel weather site.  This gave me all the news I needed in the morning.  I began to comment on front page headlines in The State that were important to me.  Today, I posted a comment on the legislature's pathetic attempt to ban abortion by pretending they care about pregnant women.  When I posted the comment, I found to my delight that I was now a "Top Commenter."  And you can be one too.

It seems that to be a "top commenter" what you need to do is:  comment.  You don't have to be crazy, which is a misconception many of us have.  In fact, what I believe has happened is that we have left the commenting to the gun nuts and anti-Obama freaks.

So I want to invite you all to have a go at being a top commenter.  It appears that you need a Facebook page, but that's not a bad thing, because then even more people can see what you have to say.

I believe that there are lots of us liberals and truly pro-life (anti-guns, pro-social safety net, pro-living wage) individuals out there, but our inclination to be rational and mind our own business has left us shouted down by the radical right-wing minority.  It's time we involved ourselves in these conversations, in a public forum that truly appears to be open to all.

So visit The State or the Post and Courier online, check out the headlines, and make a comment.

Guns and Irony

We who are not fearful that the government is going to come banging on our doors to confiscate our guns are more fearful of those people whose paranoia demands total freedom to bear -- and bare -- their weapons.  We wondered at the bizarre result of the tragedy of 20 children shot and killed in Newtown in December of 2012:  more states passing more laws allowing more weapons with less training in more public places.

So it was just another ironic happenstance today that the front page of The State's website headlined "Officer Involved Shootings on the Rise in South Carolina, Richland County," with the third story on the page being, "Haley Will Sign Bill that Allows Concealed Weapons in Bars, Restaurants on Tuesday."

Where is the disconnect???  Is it a matter of the more things get out of control, the greater the paranoia and the more things get out of control?  Are we being controlled by the NRA and ALEC or is it the gun nuts who, like the most psychotic people in the neighborhood, are also the loudest and the hardest to speak over?

When logic is constantly being defeated by radical ideology, as it is in the South these days, I think the question has to be why those capable of reason -- those who I still believe are the majority -- continue to be uninformed, uninterested, uninvolved.  I can understand why those who are rageful and irrational are the ones who persistently and tirelessly show up at abortion clinics and the state capital, and stand in line at Chick-fil-A to wave their dollars in support of homophobia.

What I can't understand is the number of citizens that understand the issues and don't vote.  And the ones who know the issues but minimize the importance and continue to vote on a party line.  And for gods' sake, our own Democrats and Democratic Party that vote for guns and against the rights of women and gays, what on earth is that all about?

So here we have it, consolidated into one front page website, the insanity that more people are being killed by guns while our politicians are voting to allow the freedom to carry weapons into public places, bars, restaurants, schools.  And coming soon:  legislation to allow people to "open carry," so the paranoid can actually see that those people they believed were coming to get them are armed.

I don't know where it ends, but the crazies are indeed tireless and, unlike so many of the rest of us, they vote.