Fetus To “Testify” At Hearing On Ohio Abortion Law
A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected.
Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at nine weeks old.
Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the intent is to show lawmakers who will be affected by the bill, which is opposed by Ohio Right to Life and abortion rights groups as unconstitutional.
An aide to committee Chairman Lynn Wachtmann said a pregnant woman will be brought before the committee and an ultrasound image of her uterus will be projected onto a screen. The heartbeat of the fetus will be visible in color.
The woman behind this odd stunt is Janet Porter who, as David Weigel notes, is also a columnist for far-right website World Net Daily, and a birther,
Incidentally, if it passes, this bill would most assuredly be held unconstitutional under Roe and its progeny.
Setting aside legalities, I don’t really have a problem with there being some sort of threshold like ‘first heartbeat’, just so long as there is still the normal exceptions, especially danger to the life of the mother. And THAT, should always be between the mother and doctor, with very little if any governmental interference.
But I’m sure some small-government conservative will come in to disagree.
OH HELL FETUSES HAVE HEARTBEATS.
MY POSITION RE: ABORTIONS WAS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THEY DID NOT!
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.
No really I just want to leave the planet. I hate so many humans I wish I had an extra brain just so I could use it to keep up with the hating.
Setting aside legalities, I don’t really have a problem with there being some sort of threshold like ‘first heartbeat’, just so long as there is still the normal exceptions, especially danger to the life of the mother.
A great many miscarriages (about 1/4 – 1/3) occur well after the first “heartbeat” (it’s really just the beginnings of a heart at that point). Would that threshold entail prosecution of women who have miscarriages after 8 weeks or less of gestation?
And THAT, should always be between the mother and doctor, with very little if any governmental interference.
Any such bill guarantees government interference.
Seriously??!! A fetus to bear witness.. what utter nonsense
FETUSES HAVE HEARTBEATS ….
So does my dog.
Unlike many of my friends and other people my age, abortion is not really a hot-button issue to me, and I don’t have any strong feelings on either side. I wouldn’t mind there being some bright-line period of time to set the barrier at. However, 9 weeks is ridiculous. Most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant until they miss a period, wait a week or two, and then take a pregnancy test, which is often at the 6-8 week mark already. Setting the line at first heartbeat is really a de facto ban on almost all abortions. Which, I’m sure, is the real intent here.
Well, it’s doubtful that the fetus will understand any less about economic policy than the average Republican freshman in congress…
A great many miscarriages (about 1/4 – 1/3) occur well after the first “heartbeat”
Shhhh! You’re going to explode some people’s brains with too much info.
Sad, so sad, how people are taught to think these days is tragic on so many levels.
How are miscarriages like abortions? If a woman (or man) goes a little nuts and drowns their kids in the bath tub, they get charged with murder (barring successful insanity defense). If they get in a car accident and their kids get killed, they don’t get charged with murder (barring exceptions like drunk driving, not having the kids belted in, etc…). Abortion, whether legal or not, by most common usage is intentional, and miscarriage is not.
How are miscarriages like abortions?
They are abortions, numbnuts. In medical terms, they are called spontaneous or automatic abortions. And a mother can cause one to happen through a variety of methods, intentionally or unintentionally.
Abortion, whether legal or not, by most common usage is intentional, and miscarriage is not.
Homicide, like abortion, can be intentional or unintentional. We still prosecute some of the unintentional ones, like when someone kills their kids by being drunk or talking on the phone while driving with no seatbelts on them.
Are you playing dumb, or just dumb?