No Facts, Just Food For Thought
Yesterday three more abortion bills passed through the Florida House health committee:
The three measures included legislation that would outlaw race- and sex-based abortions; a “fetal pain” bill, which would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks; and a bill that women’s health advocates are calling an“omnibus anti-choice bill” because it contains several measures that would make it harder for women to obtain a legal abortions and also make it harder for providers to provide the legal service.
The fetal pain bill would make no exceptions in the case of rape or incest, even though research on whether a fetus can feel pain "have been deemed neither scientifically nor constitutionally sound.
But no matter. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville "believes his bill is constitutionally sound" so it must be so!
Another bill moved forward yesterday, which would outlaw sex- or race-based abortions in Florida:
Amid dozens of reproductive rights advocates, the committee passed a bill that would not allow a woman to seek an abortion if a provider finds out that she is seeking an abortion because of the baby’s race or sex. House Bill 1327, or the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity for Life Act,” would make it a crime to have an abortion “that it is sought based on sex or race of child or race of parent of that child.” A similar bill was filed in the U.S. House by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., last month and became law in Arizona last year.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, claimed today that the bill had more to do with outlawing “discrimination” than abortion.Democratic members of the committee asked Plakon several questions about the motivation for the bill and whether there was any evidence that the bill would address an actual problem in the state.
Plakon conceded that there was no evidence showing the issue is a problem. However, Plakon said that China and India were facing this problem and “to deny that this is occurring in our state is naive.”
So there's no evidence that this is happening, but it could happen, so we must pass such a bill just in case.
These "just in case" bills seem tantamount to bills which ban Sharia law, in spite of the fact that no threat of it exists. In short, they're a waste of precious time that could be better spent on things that are more important.
But no, the battle for control of a woman's uterus rages on by Republicans all across the country, and no bill is too crazy for the wing-nut crew. But don't just take my word for it. Here's one for the record books:
A Republican state senator from Oklahoma City has introduced a bill that would ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food, though there's no indication that this is a concern.
Freshman Sen. Ralph Shortey said Tuesday that Internet research he has conducted led him to believe such a ban is necessary. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it's unaware of such a concern.
Shortey's bill would prohibit the manufacture or sale of any food in which aborted fetuses were used in developing any of the ingredients. He said that while he is not aware of any Oklahoma companies doing such research.
Yes, there's no indication that such a thing is happening, but this senator saw something on the internet, so now this bill is of the utmost importance! Because if you see something on the internet it must be true, right? No one in their right mind would ever dream of doing such a thing, but it is physically possible, so let's get it on the books right away!
Here's a thought: There's no evidence (as far as we know) that any of the lawmakers who dream up these outrageous, time wasting abortion bills are insane, but they could be.
Maybe we should introduce laws that require a psychiatric evaluation for anyone entertaining the notion of running for office.
