| It seems to me that the Religious Right has given up on trying to overturn Roe v Wade in one fowl swoop and has instead turned to the tactic of eliminating it in microscopic increments. Laws on partial birth abortions, and the recent passage of a law giving fetuses rights worry me.
Partial birth abortion is a misnomer in itself, nothing is being born, the fetus has just reached a size where it cannot be absorbed back into the mothers system. This process is incredibly rare and is the most useful in cases where further development of the fetus can cause a risk to the mother.
The recent law passed that makes it a federal crime to harm an "unborn child" while committing a federal crime is disturbing for so many reasons. First, there are already laws to prosecute whoever is committing these acts. The fact that a pregnant woman was hurt is something that should be brought up at sentencing for these criminals, and harsher penalties decided by the judge presiding the case. Second, it sets the dangerous precedent of affirming that an unborn child has any rights. Until a child is born (or is developed enough to be born) it has no rights. It survives entirely on the privilege given by it's mother.
As far as the differences in the two parties controlling government in the United States today? They are two few to be noticed. The Republicans and Democrats have become two sides of the same coin, both trying to use an oversized government to legislate their morality into law. |