Sunday, February 27, 2011

Miscarriage = Felony Murder

Yup, you read right. Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin has introduced a bill (HB 1) in the state legislature that will require a woman who had a miscarriage to prove it was an act of nature or she can be charged with murder.
Ga. Law Could Give Death Penalty for Miscarriages
Mother Jones
By Jen Phillips
Wed. February 23, 2011

It's only February, but this year has been a tough one for women's health and reproductive rights. There's a new bill on the block that may have reached the apex (I hope) of woman-hating craziness. Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin—who last year proposed making rape and domestic violence "victims" into "accusers"—has introduced a 10-page bill that would criminalize miscarriages and make abortion in Georgia completely illegal. Both miscarriages and abortions would be potentially punishable by death: any "prenatal murder" in the words of the bill, including "human involvement" in a miscarriage, would be a felony and carry a penalty of life in prison or death. Basically, it's everything an "pro-life" activist could want aside from making all women who've had abortions wear big red "A"s on their chests.
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Holding women criminally liable for a totally natural, common biological process is cruel and nonsensical. Even more ridiculous, the bill holds women responsible for protecting their fetuses from "the moment of conception," despite the fact that pregnancy tests aren't accurate until at least 3 weeks after conception. Unless Franklin (who is not a health professional) invents a revolutionary intrauterine conception alarm system, it's unclear how exactly the state of Georgia would enforce that rule other than holding all possibly-pregnant women under lock and key.
These Republicans are sick! They are totally off the wall.

They also, want to take away funding for Title X which is health care for low-income women. Title X covers gynecological examinations and basic lab tests, breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV testing and risk reduction counseling, pregnancy testing, general health screenings for high blood pressure, diabetes and anemia, and other services. It does not cover abortions. For millions of Americans, Title X is the only health care available to them, doing away with Title X will end health care for those low-income people.

1 comment:

  1. Wow ... just ... wow. Sometimes there just aren't words to express how appalled you are ...

    ReplyDelete