Whether be believe in a women choice or right over her own body, the republicans and their wealthy owners want to control ever aspect of womens lives by immoral unethical laws.
Repealing Roe Is Only The First Step—“Personhood” Laws Are Next!
Statement by Toni Van Pelt, President of NOW
"WASHINGTON - An alarming rise in “personhood” laws - including a new focus on beyond-the-pale criminal prosecution of pregnant women- is opening up a dangerous new front in the far-right’s attack on reproductive rights. As an editorial series in the New York Times described:
“These criminal statutes are results of a tried-and-true playbook, part of a strategic campaign to establish fetal rights, reverse Roe v. Wade and recriminalize abortion. The sequence begins with anti-abortion groups seizing upon a tragic case in which a woman loses her pregnancy because of someone else’s actions. Public outcry then helps to strengthen a state feticide law that recognizes such lost pregnancies as murder or manslaughter. It’s a backdoor way of legally defining when life begins.”
Some activists behind fetal protection laws see them as a vehicle for overturning Roe v. Wade. With Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, rulings that strike down Roe and prop up “personhood” laws could be just around the corner.
It is beyond irony that Donald Trump and his allies in the states fiercely oppose an Equal Rights Amendment for women, and now want to shred our Constitution to grant personhood status to the fetus.
The National Organization for Women has always been on the front lines of defending women’s rights, including abortion rights, and in empowering women to protect themselves from institutions and powerful elites that seek to oppress and discriminate against us. NOW will continue to oppose laws and policies that elevate a constitutionally indefensible notion of fetal personhood and threaten the health and dignity of women."
URL: [commondreams.org]\u2014\u201CPersonhood\u201D%20Laws%20Are%20Next&utm_campaign=Vowing%20People-Powered%20Campaign%2C%20Warren%20Shuttering%20Joint%20Fundraising%20PAC%20|%20News%20%2526%20Views&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cmmmc=Act-On%20Software--email--Vowing%20People-Powered%20Campaign%2C%20Warren%20Shuttering%20Joint%20Fundraising%20PAC%20|%20News%20%2526%20Views--Repealing%20Roe%20Is%20Only%20The%20First%20Step\u2014\u201CPersonhood\u201D%20Laws%20Are%20Next
6
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
5 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Call me a hopeless cynic, but even tho I am very aware and supportive of PP and abortion rights groups, I seriously doubt the Repubs will ever get Roe V Wade overturned because even tho they have had the votes on the Supreme Court to do it for a long time, they know it would kill the Repub party with female voters, so they just use the issue to fire up their base, raise money and get volunteers from Bible-thumpers, and get anti-abortion voters to volunteer and vote for them on that issue. If abortion were actually outlawed, millions of women would suddenly become single issue voters and throw the Repubs out of power for a long time or permanently. It would be like what happened to the Dems in the South after they passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They permanently lost the South and the Repubs know outlawing abortion would cost them the fed govt.
TomMcGiverin
Level 8
Jan 5, 2019
2
Your comment is spot on. I have believed this for years because you can see clearly how the repubs use this issue to keep that religious right vote. Now that Kavanaugh and Gorsuch are on the court I'm a little bit concerned about anything sent up to the Supreme court. Those two really seem very authoritarian and especially misogynistic.
@Redheadedgammy Don't be concerned on this issue. Those two will do what the party tells them to do.
@TomMcGiverin as a woman it is hard not to be concerned. We seem to be going backward on this issue.
@Redheadedgammy I understand that, but I've been watching politics a long time and the Repubs are very ruthless and calculating when it comes to keeping power. They would never risk it. Also remember that the Bible-thumpers in the Repub party do not hold the power in that crowd, the rich and the corporatists do. The Bible-thumpers are just being used in that party. Same way the unions and minorities get used by the Dems. Lots of lip service, but no real change provided to improve their lot. Think how much money and volunteers unions have provided to the Dems and yet the Dems have never even passed laws that would allow a union to be voted in with card check.
@TomMcGiverin
The republican Fascists are using state courts now to protect and support their immoral unethical laws used to control women’s rights period!
This issue is supported by the wealthy and their corporations to produce a low level untrained economic labor force to fred their greed over us!
We are just fodder to be used and thrown away at will by the wealthy and their corporations!
I've been fighting this shit since 1969 when I first started volunteering at PP. I have no patience with people who believe it is their right to tell any woman that abortion is evil. Abortion is a necessary part of women's reproductive health care. I've had two. One after a rape in my teens and one after learning my developing fetus had it's heart and lungs growing outside the body. NO ONE should ever have the right to keep a woman from this procedure if she decides it is what she wants to do. Bodily autonomy is my right as a human being, and it should be up to me to decide if I want a pregnancy to continue or not. If a woman loses her fetus due to an attack, by all means yes, the attacker should be prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. There is a huge difference between losing a fetus to a criminal attack and choosing to have an abortion for whatever reason the woman has. These sneaky assholes pushing these laws are simply trying to attack ALL abortions as a crime when they most certainly ARE NOT.
Redheadedgammy
Level 9
Jan 4, 2019
1
@luvs2laugh thank you, mine wasn't planned but we were happy none the less. That one would have been my middle child, but life happened. Had my last child 3 years later.
I believe there is a balance available that more appropriately honors both sides of this issue. A woman who wanted her child but loses it due to intentional actions by another individual is likely to view that action as murder. If we want women's rights honored, we need to honor the needs of those women as much as for women who want an abortion.
Because pregnancy creates a situation where one human being is entirely dependent upon another human being and inevitably causes a negative and permanent impact on that person, abortion should be an option. But this doesn't give us free pass to completely ignore the humanity of the unborn fetus. If we focus on laws that will reduce the level of brutality inflicted on a fetus during abortion, place reasonable restrictions on late term abortions, and otherwise honor the humanity of the fetus as well as the needs of women, then we are more likely to strike a balance that the majority of Americans can respect.
UpsideDownAgain
Level 7
Jan 4, 2019
0
@josh_karpf There is at least one organization that successfully persuades many women not to have abortions based on appeals to the humanity of the fetus. If the argument is between whether a fetus is a human or not, you miss the point and are therefore unable to find real solutions to the problems. You can still honor a woman's right to choose while acknowledging the humanity of the fetus.
@Meili
No! You are honoring a fetus that can miscarriage at any time on it own! Even after birth there is no guarantee that it wil not be stillborn!
I am so sicken by men and women who just like the republican Fascists Will support you not to get any type of abortion, but will not help or give not effort to help assure it will be healthy and able to grow up without suffering!
Anti abortion fucks are basically Racist, they are now using state courts to keep women in poverty period!
Antibortion is not pro life! It is pure Racism and used to keep poor women in poverty!
The republican Fascists are cutting off birth control and now any form of medical care for the new born by stopping and reducing Medicade!
The republicans prolife idiots will spend $$Billons so a women can not abort, yet after birth let the child die of malnutrition and lack of basic medical care!
@josh_karpf Thank you for bringing that practice to my attention. I had no idea that sort of thing took place. I agree with you it is deceptive and those places should face consequences for what they are doing. I guess I don't understand the dynamics of those situations but it seems to me that a case should be able to be made based on whether a facility has actually provided services they advertise. Placing limitations on lying isn't a freedom of speech issue. It's a fraud issue.
@of-the-mountain I agree with you. I believe that being prolife is more than about whether a fetus is allowed to survive or not. It's about the quality of those alive as well.
For me, while the welfare of the child after birth is certainly a consideration, the more pertinent question is the welfare of the woman after birth. The welfare of the child can be addressed by advocating adoption but no one can restore a woman's body to its pre-pregnancy condition. Nor should we be ignoring the fact that women face the threat of death during pregnancy and delivery.
I think its fairly easy for an antiabortionist to make an argument for the humanity of a fetus, particularly in late term abortions where the fetus would have a chance of survival if provided proper medical care. However, what if it were a question of whether a woman should be required to face the threat of death and guaranteed life-changing consequences in order to maintain the life of the fetus? In any other circumstances, if one human being were doing to another human being what a fetus does to the woman carrying it, they would be stopped. What right does anyone have to require a woman to endure those life-changing circumstances unless she truly wants to?
The same assholes who want government off their guns wants government on women's bodies.
Beowulfsfriend
Level 9
Jan 4, 2019
9
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.