Senate votes to override 12-week abortion veto
By
Lee Hogan
This article was originally published March 5, 2013 at 1:49 p.m. Updated March 5, 2013 at 5:10 p.m.
PHOTO BY LEE HOGAN
Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, arrives to the Senate floor Tuesday before a vote to override Senate Bill 134, sponsored by Rapert.
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ROLL CALL
YEAS- Bledsoe
- Caldwell
- A. Clark
- J. Dismang
- J. English
- Files
- J. Hendren
- Hester
- Hickey
- Holland
- J. Hutchinson
- Irvin
- J. Key
- B. King
- M. Lamoureux
- Rapert
- D. Sanders
- G. Stubblefield
- E. Williams
- J. Woods
- Bookout
- Burnett
- E. Cheatham
- L. Chesterfield
- Elliott
- S. Flowers
- K. Ingram
- D. Johnson
- U. Lindsey
- Maloch
- B. Pierce
- Teague
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- D. Wyatt
- B. Sample
Arkansas lawmakers took the first step in overriding a veto from Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday, as the Senate voted 20-14 in favor of a bill banning abortions after 12 weeks of gestation.
Bill sponsor Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, said while "partisan divide" was evident in Tuesday's vote, which was closer than the previous Senate vote of 26-8 to help the bill get to Beebe's desk, he was not worried about his bill not making it through the House vote.
Rapert said he spoke with House members earlier Tuesday who said they would support the bill in the override vote. Rapert said he has asked legislators to vote the same as the first time his bill came through.
"In this state, if you're going to have a baby that is killed in the mother's womb, and they're able to be prosecuted, it makes perfect sense that you're going to protect the life of that child in any other instance," he said.
Senate Bill 134 was the second abortion-ban bill Beebe has vetoed in as many weeks.
The first bill, House Bill 1037, sponsored by Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, was vetoed by Beebe on Feb. 26. That bill was intended to ban abortions after 20 weeks' gestation, with some exceptions.
Arkansas legislators were successful in overriding the veto by gaining simple majorities in the House, 53-28, and the Senate, 19-14.
Beebe said last week that Rapert's 12-week ban was the "more problematic" of the abortion ban bills.
In his veto letter Monday, Beebe said Rapert's bill would, "impose a ban on a woman's right to choose an elective, nontherapeutic abortion well before viability."
Beebe said that Senate Bill 134 would "blatantly" violate the United States Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. The court ruling has allowed women to have abortions up to the point of fetal viability, which is somewhere between 22 and 24 weeks. He also said he took an oath as governor to "preserve, protect and defend both the Arkansas Constitution and the Constitution of the United States."
"I take that oath seriously," he said in the letter.
"Abortion is governed by case law," Rapert said Tuesday. "When people say they took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and the Arkansas Constitution, the only oath that they're breaking is upholding the Arkansas Constitution if they don't vote for this bill, because the Arkansas Constitution says that we will protect life in Arkansas from the moment of conception."
Under the category of abortion, the Arkansas Constitution states the policy of the state is "to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth, to the extent permitted by the Federal Constitution."
Beebe also cited potential litigation costs to Arkansas taxpayers if Senate Bill 134 became law.
Brownstein echoed Beebe's concerns with the bill that is unconstitutional.
Rapert said "threats" from the ACLU did not concern him, and also said potential litigation costs were a "hypothetical" and an "unknown."
"It's funny how (the ACLU) is always willing to take up for murderers, but they're not willing to take up for human lives," Rapert said. "The fact of the matter is, this bill saves lives."
Rapert said there are national firms that are willing to take the case for free. Beebe mentioned the possibility of free representation in his veto letter, but said that since he believes the state would lose the battle in court, it would "only lessen the state's own litigation costs."
"Lawsuits challenging unconstitutional laws also result in the losing party, in this case the state, being ordered to pay the costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the litigants who successfully challenge the law," Beebe said.
Read more in Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Comments on: Senate votes to override 12-week abortion veto
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ToTheLeft says... March 5, 2013 at 2:10 p.m.
Rapert and Mayberry need to mind their own business. There are certainly more pressing issues than controlling a woman's body. Rapert and Mayberry, you are no better than the Taliban. Think about that. Your male-dominance attitudes disgust me.
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ahelms says... March 5, 2013 at 2:22 p.m.
And the march from a progressive state to a regressive state continues.
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VoteRepublican says... March 5, 2013 at 2:26 p.m.
ToTheLeft: Be Thankful your parents didnt believe in abortion and for that anyone else that supports abortion. Because if your parents did then you might have not been here to voice your opinion....oh but wait any unborn child who before this 20 week and hopefully 12 week ban as many call it was ripped from their mothers womb arm, then arm, and leg by leg only to feel the pain of death before they took their first breath. Shame on you for making life a convinence and not shifting the responsibilites on the parents to take the act of sex a little more seriously and use some common sense. On another note because we make it harder for the women to have abortions then it sould be harder on the man to not be at minimal more finacially responsible or more strict rules on those that dont pay child support.
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jeffieboy says... March 5, 2013 at 2:28 p.m.
You can't legislate morality without making a lot of people upset. This is no way to move forward and get anything important done. I wish this new crop of politicians would start doing their jobs in terms of their civil responsibilities and leave their religious beliefs out of it. There is nothing more dangerous than mixing the pulpit and the throne. What's the matter with them?
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jeffieboy says... March 5, 2013 at 2:34 p.m.
If these new conservative republicans (the first to control stuff since reconstruction) don't learn to move more to the middle where things might be a little more paletable for progressives they will do the exact same thing as Obama from the opposite side. Divide the people of the state. Where can we find some politicians that can find a place somewhere in the middle? That's where most Blue Dogs and Moderate Coservatives actually are. Opposition to progressive liberalism gone overboard is what got them elected. Running radically to the right will surely get them tossed if they aren't careful.
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edo1962 says... March 5, 2013 at 2:38 p.m.
Arkansas is making progress.
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mkfunderburg_aol.com says... March 5, 2013 at 2:47 p.m.
Thank you Senators for standing up For life these infants who cannot defend themselves against these murders.
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Daddyjim says... March 5, 2013 at 2:51 p.m.
This is an awful decision by the my fellow Arkansans. I can almost 100% assure you that if the men that voted for this bill could get pregnant they would all vote for abortion. It is insulting to me in this day and age that we are still fighting over anyone's right to choose. I'll tell you what, let's make it illegal to have a vasectomy. Let's make it illegal to have corrective surgery. If it not going to kill you hell no need to fix it. I'll tell you what let's take away all of our rights to make any decision at all. That is democracy in action. Good Lord please help us and save us from all of this stupidity in the great state of Arkansas.
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rainbowharold55 says... March 5, 2013 at 2:52 p.m.
Mayberry and rapert continue their march against women. And remember, if you don't agree with the gospel according to jason rapert, you aren't a Christian.
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ARMind says... March 5, 2013 at 2:57 p.m.
This is all about lack of love on both sides of the parties of conception. Here are the reasons with having an abortion. Legislatures can not change this by enforcing a law that is one sided. There has to be punishment for the man as well.
Below is a breakdown of women's responses that specified reasons that led to their abortion decision (percentage total will not add up to 100% as multiple answers were permissible):
74% felt "having a baby would dramatically change my life" (which includes interrupting education, interfering with job and career, and/or concern over other children or dependents)
73% felt they "can't afford a baby now" (due to various reasons such as being unmarried, being a student, inability to afford childcare or basic needs of life, etc.)
48% "don't want to be a single mother or [were] having relationship problem[s]"
38% "have completed [their] childbearing"
32% were "not ready for a(nother) child"
25% "don't want people to know I had sex or got pregnant"
22% "don't feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child"
14% felt their "husband or partner wants me to have an abortion"
13% said there were "possible problems affecting the health of the fetus"
12% said there were "physical problems with my health"
6% felt their "parents want me to have an abortion"
1% said they were "a victim of rape"
<0.5% "became pregnant as a result of incest"
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rkb555 says... March 5, 2013 at 2:58 p.m.
The irony of repubs wanting less governm't intrusion in our lives yet are all for feds making abortion a political issue
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rkb555 says... March 5, 2013 at 3:03 p.m.
VoteRepublican says... March 5, 2013 at 2:26 p.m.
ToTheLeft: Be Thankful your parents didnt believe in abortion and for that anyone else that supports abortion. Because if your parents did then you might have not been here to voice your opinion....oh but wait any unborn child who before this 20 week and hopefully 12 week ban as many call it was ripped from their mothers womb arm, then arm, and leg by leg only to feel the pain of death before they took their first breath. Shame on you for making life a convinence and not shifting the responsibilites on the parents to take the act of sex a little more seriously and use some common sense. On another note because we make it harder for the women to have abortions then it sould be harder on the man to not be at minimal more finacially responsible or more strict rules on those that dont pay child support.
-----------------
That makes no sense. Why would anyone who would've never existed be thankful ? One talks about a beating heart but no one mentions the existence of brain activity. The 2 go hand in hand for a human being.
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wheelz says... March 5, 2013 at 3:06 p.m.
"The Right" will go to great lengths to protect the unborn. But once people ARE born, they are on their own as far as "the Right" is concerned.
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adman2947 says... March 5, 2013 at 3:12 p.m.
The same people that voted to pass such a ridiculous law in light of a constitutional decision that will repeal this legislation are the same people that would starve the child that is born in poverty by limiting access to food stamps. You are a cruel bunch of hypocrites!!
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ARMind says... March 5, 2013 at 3:31 p.m.
This is why Republicans can't be trusted and why they lost the top spot. Those Republicans that spoke out during the election saying what they really think lost the election. Those that laid low and didn't say what they really thought got elected and started hypocrisy in our state and country. It is no wonder why the Democrats have ran this state for as long as they have. I dare to say that the Democrats will need to take back over to straighten up the mess this state and country is now experiencing.
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HawgFan says... March 5, 2013 at 3:35 p.m.
Good for them. Maybe some innocent lives will be saved because of this action.
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Packman says... March 5, 2013 at 3:36 p.m.
Hey jyoder - "I can almost 100% assure you that if the men that voted for this bill could get pregnant they would all vote for abortion." Really? Vote for abortion. At least you speak the truth from the pro-abortion side. It's not about abortion rights, it's about abortion. "It is insulting to me in this day and age that we are still fighting over anyone's right to choose." The discussion doesn't concern someone's right to choose. When a woman first CHOOSES to have unprotected sex purely for personal pleasure and becomes pregnant as a result, she forfeits the right of unilateral choice. Now the equation indludes the mother, father, and unborn child. "I'll tell you what, let's make it illegal to have a vasectomy." Care to explain how the medical procedure involved in performing a vasectomy also includes the killing of an unborn child? The proper analogy would be the tying of the woman's tubes. You really do need to apply at least minimal critical thought to those Planned Parenthood talking points.
Hey adman - Either show where ANYONE who voted for this bill supports the starving of children or apologize immediately. Food stamps are meaningless if issued to adults who trade them for cigarettes, lottery tickets, and sex, which renders your food stamp example nonsense.
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NutButter says... March 5, 2013 at 3:37 p.m.
These legislators think they can over-ride the Supreme Court, why don't they pass a law to make abortion illegal?
While they are busy wasting time and tax payers' money!
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VoteRepublican says... March 5, 2013 at 3:38 p.m.
RKB555: what i was saying was those that comment here that do not oppose abortion( are for it as an option) were given that opprotunity to make that choice because their parents choose life for their child. Point being if their parents didnt choose life then for whatever reason then they wouldnt be here...be thankful you werent aborted.
Adman2947: you bring in a totally different issue with regards to those on foodstamps that are enabled to do nothing with their life because they are on food stamps. A lot of folks need to be on food stamps in the hard ship of their lives and that is ok, but to be dependant on them your whole life proves a fundamental issue with the system and those recieving food stamps for years on end. Again I dont oppose food stamps, so the children can eat, so long as the parents are actively either looking for work or being productive citizians to the community
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Walklady says... March 5, 2013 at 3:52 p.m.
Here we go again!!! More entertaining reading for the evening, compliments of the Arkansas Taliban. @TotheLeft, you said it all!
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Notgoingtovisit says... March 5, 2013 at 4:02 p.m.
You have a very smart Governor, and an ignorant legislature Arkansas. As an out of state person reading this story, I won't be visiting nor spending my tourist dollars there any time soon.
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arkda3 says... March 5, 2013 at 4:11 p.m.
Wake UP Arkansas. They Vote to override a Veto on a Bill that most likely will not pass the courts. There are hundreds of kids in Arkansas that go to bed hungry every night and have no medical coverage. These same people do not want to take Federal Dollars to help these kids. They just want more un-wanted kids to starve and go without medical insurance. Go Figure, sure makes a lot of sense.
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Packman says... March 5, 2013 at 4:22 p.m.
Hey notgoingtovisit - Good riddance to you! Your loss will be other's gains. What will be your loss is the Ozark Mountains in the fall, the Ouachita Moutains in the spring, crappie fishing on Lake Conway, pleasure boating on Bull Shoals, people watching on Lake Hamilton, Oaklawn, Old Washington State park, digging for diamonds, ribs at Sims BBQ, catfish at Jones', tamales at Doe's, Crystal Bridges Museum, and the best duck hunting in America. Here's wishing you well, but letting you know Arkansas is a much better place because people support life.
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edo1962 says... March 5, 2013 at 4:37 p.m.
Pack man- well said
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nwar says... March 5, 2013 at 4:58 p.m.
Packman -- please, you support life? Right. If you spent a little more time talking about caring for these "innocent lives" once they are actually born, maybe I'd be impressed. Nope, you just want to punish women for having sex and force your religious beliefs on the rest of the population. This action doesn't make Arkansas a better place -- just makes us a laughingstock. Unfortunately, there are a number of women who will also suffer, and that's not funny at all.
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edo1962 says... March 5, 2013 at 5:03 p.m.
Punishing women? Lol
Punishing Children! Who says they will all need welfare? She made her choice.
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DerbiRider says... March 5, 2013 at 5:06 p.m.
Wanted: Women with more sense than a dime store kazoo to run for positions in the Arkansas State Legislature...
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Sarah2789 says... March 5, 2013 at 5:11 p.m.
I believe the heart of the abortion controversy is not about the fate of unborn babies. It's about the value of women in society. In North America, for example, many anti-abortion leaders oppose ideas and programs that could help women achieve equality and freedom, and protect the health and well-being of families. For instance, they oppose affirmative action programs that help women gain equity in the job market. They force poor women to have babies and then cut off their welfare. They lobby against health and nutrition programs for children. They condone the bombing of clinics providing reproductive services, and the killing of doctors and staff. These uncivilized actions reveal the true nature of anti-choice goals. They want a return to the days when women had few choices in life. They don't like women having too much freedom, especially in controlling their reproductive lives. They're convinced that women can't be trusted to make their own decisions. And they certainly don't like women having sex for fun without paying for it.
Arkansas now has the MOST stringent abortion laws in the USA. Even Texas who belittled Planned Parenthood cut $73 million from the program to defund abortion in 2011. Then (2013) Texas Republicans quietly proposed restoring $100 million back to Planned Parenthood because of 24000 unplanned births at a cost to the taxpayers of $273 million. Thanks Rick Perry.
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commentfromme says... March 5, 2013 at 6:59 p.m.
Begin typing here... I can't say it any better than what has been said by this most well known lover and supporter of the world's poorest of the poor,
"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has shown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts ~ a child ~ as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta , "Notable and Quotable", Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94 , p. A14 ~
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Notgoingtovisit says... March 5, 2013 at 8:57 p.m.
Packman, you are funny. You brag about duck hunting and then your next sentence is about Arkansas supporting life. Is it only the life of human's you respect? For the record, I am in WIsconsin and we have wanted to visit Little Rock, but not any more. FYI- you forgot to mention the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in your list.
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morebeer says... March 5, 2013 at 9:08 p.m.
The 12-week bill will never go into effect. The ACLU or a women's group will sue, the first judge that sees it will block it, and the appeals will go forth for years. The 20-week bill changes little in the abortion-rights landscape. All that's happened here is that the GOP legislators have used up a lot of political capital to do very little. Only a few dozen abortions take place after 20 weeks in the state, and the few women affected will now have to make decisions a little earlier. Meanwhile, Arkansans are reminded of how rabid Republicans are to legislate their religious beliefs so others have to abide by them. Eventually, there will be a backlash. It's always mystifying to me that with all the cruelty and stupidity in the world, all the gun violence, slaughterhouses, wars, crime, pollution of air and water, that pro-life folks focus so much indignity on fertilized eggs. Just about all life on the planet follows a very similar path. Ever think that your obsession with fertilized human eggs has to do with some sort of top-of-the-food-chain species hegemony that you justify by applying hoary religious standards? Maybe the "two-to-the-chest,-one-to-the-head lover of embryos and fetuses, but not children, would care to comment..
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Zorr10 says... March 5, 2013 at 9:24 p.m.
Women will find a way around the law and continue to have their abortions. The law, when completely passed, will be bombarded with lawsuits by the dozens, and eventually be found unconstitutional. My opinion on the matter.
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GrimReaper says... March 5, 2013 at 9:36 p.m.
rkb555, you're wrong. There are a vast number of human beings in our society with a beating
heart and absolutely no brain activity. One only need carefully read your comments and those of your allies in this comment section to see such.
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Sarah2789 says... March 5, 2013 at 11:14 p.m.
Re: commentfromme -- Wouldn't the world be a delightful place if Mother Teresa was around to help all children? Sadly that is not the case. I remember in 2008 Nebraska passed The Safe Haven Act. All children could be dropped off with no questions asked at a hospital or fire station. Within a month thirty-five children were dropped off, all but five were over the age of ten, and no foster parents would take these rebellious teens. Kids from five other states were dropped off. The State of Nebraska Immediately went into emergency session and reversed its previous decision and limited The Safe Haven Act to under the age of one month old. Arkansas lawmakers need to spend their time helping citizens and stay out of issues of women's reproductive rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
By the way, how do the anti-abortionists feel about the death penalty in Arkansas?
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BradBailey says... March 6, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.
Arkansas had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country in 2012. This bill only encourages more of the same. The money and effort wasted by this legislation could be better spent implementing a comprehensive sex-ed course in junior high or high school. The current abstinence-only programs have obviously failed miserably.
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TimberTopper says... March 6, 2013 at 5:20 a.m.
Yep the Repubs are in power! Thump the Bible, take away womens rights, but make sure we can carry our guns everywhere, so that killing is an easier thing to do! Gerry mandering will and has become their nightmare rather than their power. Fools in power are more dangerous than the Japs or the Germans ever were to this country. They depend on low IQ voters, and that as well is dangerous.
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djigoo says... March 6, 2013 at 11:32 a.m.
Idiot Teabaggers and Talibangelicals.
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Pobucker says... March 6, 2013 at 12:23 p.m.
To all you whining liberals:
Stay out of the conservative's gun safes and they will stay out of your vaginas. Make a deal. Do the grand bargain.
~
Nah - liberal don't know real compromise.
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Pobucker says... March 6, 2013 at 12:25 p.m.
See, liberals. this is what it feels like when you do it to the conservatives.
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Coralie says... March 6, 2013 at 12:30 p.m.
I'm glad that I'm no longer of child-bearing age. I would not want to live in this benighted state, where I might have to carry to term a dying fetus.
Come to think of it, if I start to see a bunch of bozos toting their guns around, I 'll still want to move.
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Pobucker says... March 6, 2013 at 12:36 p.m.
Please, move.
This is why we have state's rights.
This is why the swiss are so happy with their cantons.
If you don't like how things are done in one state, move to another that is more to your liking.
Of course, the feds are doing their best to destroy that, with all their authoritarian BS.
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Pobucker says... March 6, 2013 at 12:44 p.m.
djigoo is right.
The conservative republicans are acting just like taliban. They have their own "sharia".
~
Conversely, liberal democrats act just like a bunch of evil nannies. "Wear your helmet, put out that ciggie and for god's sake turn in your scary handguns."
~
Both liberals and conservatives suck. We should all be populists or libertarians. Then we could compromise.
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GrimReaper says... March 6, 2013 at 2:31 p.m.
djigoo, if you want to see a knuckle dragging idiot, just look in the mirror!
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Packman says... March 6, 2013 at 3:16 p.m.
Hey Coralie - "I'm glad that I'm no longer of child-bearing age." Amen. "...carry to term a dying fetus." Like all pro-abortionists, you have to cloak your immorality in the sanitized language of "fetus", "zygote", "biomass", etc. to describe an unborn child. Your verbal gymnasitcs speaks volumes. Let me know if you need help loading the van, I'll be glad to help you leave the great state of Arkansas. Your loss. Obviously, you've never had the ribs at Sims'.
Hey Sarah - "By the way, how do the anti-abortionists feel about the death penalty in Arkansas?" I'm 100% in favor of capital punishment for people who by their own actions commit heinous crimes like murder, rape, and whatever you want to call what Jerry Sandusky did to those little boys. I truly love to debate people who equate the life of a mass murderer like Ted Bundy with that of an innocent unborn child. Let's dance that dance, Sarah, let's dance. As to all your accusations about "they", either give a specific name and documented instance or stop lying, and stop it now.
Hey morebeer - My support of innocent life has nothing to do with religious beliefs. It comes from a sense of what I believe a civilized society should represent. And yes, in a civilized society I believe in the kind of justice where certain crimes justify the forfieture of ones life. And like all other pro-abortinists, you just can't bring yourself say "unborn child". If it makes you feel better to use terms like fetus and zygote go right ahead. You are only fooling yourself. And we all know the biggest fools are those who fool themselves.
Hey notgoingtovisit - Did you really just equate the life of a mallard duck to that of an unborn child? Wow. No wonder the good guys are winning this debate. And thanks for reminding me about Bill's silver mobile home. It attracts lots of people and is enjoyed by many.
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Coralie says... March 6, 2013 at 5:48 p.m.
Packman, the medical terms are embryo and fetus, from words that have been used for centuries. The term 'embryo' dates from 1580–90, taken from Medieval Latin, which was taken from a Greek word.
The word 'fetus' dates from the late 14th century.
Do you object to all medical terms? Maybe you'd rather have a doctor tell you how the knee-bone is connected to the thigh-bone, and the thigh-bone is connected to the hip-bone...
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Coralie says... March 6, 2013 at 5:59 p.m.
I am not pro-abortion, and this is a falsification of my position and of many others who want to keep abortion safe and legal.
Your position on the other hand is full of contradictions and hypocrisy. For instance, you pretend that there were no abortions before Roe v Wade made them legal.
Apparently you want to drive women into the back alleys once more, or let them go abroad to countries where abortion is legal, if they are well-to-do.
Have you ever looked at countries such as Netherlands which have a fraction of the abortion rate we do, while still keeping abortion legal? Could we possibly have something to learn from them?
Talk about "civilized"--what kind of civilized country cares so little about its BORN children?
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Coralie says... March 6, 2013 at 6:05 p.m.
Packman says ""...carry to term a dying fetus." Like all pro-abortionists, you have to cloak your immorality in sanitized language..."
While you are talking about sanitized language, you have skipped over the horror of a woman who knows she is carrying a dying fetus within her body. It is potentially injurious to her as well.
Like so many of these laws that are written by lawyers who have little medical knowledge and less empathy, the current law apparently does not allow for this situation.
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Daddyjim says... May 17, 2013 at 1:41 p.m.
Ok you all just slay me. First and foremost, I'm not a pro abortionist. That said, it is none of my business, your business, their business, the governments business to tell me or my wife, daughter, sister, mother, or any other female or male for that matter what to do with their bodies. While I may not agree with abortion, I believe in the God given right to make a choice, even a bad one. These self righteous men from my home state that gets a bad rap when they talk funny, solidified the notion that you can't fix STUPID. I don't want the government in my business. Ever! I certainly don't want it to dictate what I can and can't do with my body. There are many more problems in this country than the forever volatile abortion issue. Jobs, working conditions, the poor, the homeless, the economy. It society would put forth even a third of the effort to fix those real problems as they have to take away rights, then we would have jobs to spare, less crime, less homeless and more natural security.
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inquire says... May 17, 2013 at 2:27 p.m.
At least you're consistent, DaddyJim. Most of the extreme anti abortion crowd constantly talk about wanting less government until it comes to something as personal as abortion, then they want the government totally in everyone's business.
I am not pro abortion. I believe people should use birth control if they don't want children. But there will always be some situations that defy simple answers. People have a right to make their own medical decisions, often painful ones, in these matters without these people in their face.
You are so right that there is going to be much money wasted because of this right wing posturing, and that it could have done so much more good.
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