Prenatal Justice, Revisited
Yesterday, an anonymous commenter called me to task with how I stated my case on prenatal justice. Their point is well-taken and I would like to take the time to clarify my position.
In April of 2004, President Bush signed into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This bill essentially states that if a fetus is killed during any assault crime against a pregnant woman, the death of her unborn baby will be considered a separate offense. This law, also known as "Laci and Conner's Law" naturally drew heavy fire from pro-choice groups such as the ACLU, NOW, NARAL and Planned Parenthood. It is the first federal law to recognize the independent legal status of a fetus and was seen as an attempt by Republicans, yea the "religious right", to undermine Roe v. Wade.
Setting aside, for a moment, the scientific question of when life begins (at conception or points south), and the debate of personal vs. univeral ethics, (i.e. the push to overturn Roe v. Wade being an attempt by a minority of religious fanatics to impose their morals on the rest of America), consider the results of this poll by Fox News/Opinon Dynamics on April 22-23, 2003 (MOE +/-3%). In this poll, 900 registered voters were queried on the issues raised by what was then the Laci and Conner Bill. The results are staggering. A full 84% of respondents said that if Scott Peterson is found guilty of killing Laci, he should be charged with two counts of homocide. Only 7% said he should be charged with just one count!
In another poll by the same agency taken a few months later (N=900, MOE=3%), 79% said that if a violent physical attack on a pregnant woman leads to the death of her unborn child, prosecutors should be able to charge the attacker with murder for killing the fetus. (Sixty-nine percent of respondents who said "yes" also identified themselves as "pro-choice".)
Wow. Eighty percent of Americans believe that killing a fetus should be considered murder. No pro-life rhetoric here. This is simply the opinion of the citizens of our beloved democratic republic.
What angers me about this whole thing is the ridiculous double standard that exists in our nation. As Americans, we seem to agree that the death of Laci's unborn baby is a crime of its own accord. We believe that Connor was a genuine human being with his own legal rights. Yet, in this same nation, it would have been perfectly acceptible for Laci to walk into an abortion clinic and terminate her pregnancy. Nobody would raise an eyebrow.
Either the fetus is human or it isn't. If we as Americans believe Connor's death to be murder, then we also need to call 43 million abortions murder.
In April of 2004, President Bush signed into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This bill essentially states that if a fetus is killed during any assault crime against a pregnant woman, the death of her unborn baby will be considered a separate offense. This law, also known as "Laci and Conner's Law" naturally drew heavy fire from pro-choice groups such as the ACLU, NOW, NARAL and Planned Parenthood. It is the first federal law to recognize the independent legal status of a fetus and was seen as an attempt by Republicans, yea the "religious right", to undermine Roe v. Wade.
Setting aside, for a moment, the scientific question of when life begins (at conception or points south), and the debate of personal vs. univeral ethics, (i.e. the push to overturn Roe v. Wade being an attempt by a minority of religious fanatics to impose their morals on the rest of America), consider the results of this poll by Fox News/Opinon Dynamics on April 22-23, 2003 (MOE +/-3%). In this poll, 900 registered voters were queried on the issues raised by what was then the Laci and Conner Bill. The results are staggering. A full 84% of respondents said that if Scott Peterson is found guilty of killing Laci, he should be charged with two counts of homocide. Only 7% said he should be charged with just one count!
In another poll by the same agency taken a few months later (N=900, MOE=3%), 79% said that if a violent physical attack on a pregnant woman leads to the death of her unborn child, prosecutors should be able to charge the attacker with murder for killing the fetus. (Sixty-nine percent of respondents who said "yes" also identified themselves as "pro-choice".)
Wow. Eighty percent of Americans believe that killing a fetus should be considered murder. No pro-life rhetoric here. This is simply the opinion of the citizens of our beloved democratic republic.
What angers me about this whole thing is the ridiculous double standard that exists in our nation. As Americans, we seem to agree that the death of Laci's unborn baby is a crime of its own accord. We believe that Connor was a genuine human being with his own legal rights. Yet, in this same nation, it would have been perfectly acceptible for Laci to walk into an abortion clinic and terminate her pregnancy. Nobody would raise an eyebrow.
Either the fetus is human or it isn't. If we as Americans believe Connor's death to be murder, then we also need to call 43 million abortions murder.
posted by Scotty at 23:05
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