Charles Cooke calls this an ideological Turing test, i.e. a question whose answer reveals how plausible it is that Trump really is who he claims to be. The standard answer from nearly all serious pro-lifers is that its the abortionist, not his patient, who should be sanctioned if and when abortion is banned. The March of Life explains why:
Mr. Trumps comment today is completely out of touch with the pro-life movement and even more with women who have chosen such a sad thing as abortion, said Jeanne Mancini, President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. Being pro-life means wanting what is best for the mother and the baby. Women who choose abortion often do so in desperation and then deeply regret such a decision. No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion. This is against the very nature of what we are about. We invite a woman who has gone down this route to consider paths to healing, not punishment.
Ted Cruz, when hes inevitably asked about this now, will give some variation of that same response. Trump, whom his conservative critics suspect of being an opportunist on abortion rather than committed to the cause, went a different route. You can almost see the wheels turning in his head here: He knows, as a political matter, that he cant let Cruz get to his right on abortion. Republicans will let him slide on a lot a lot but if he gives them reason to think hes BSing them on an issue at the very core of social conservatism, it could give Cruz the break he needs to take off. And so, when he gets the question from Matthews about what to do with women who insist on having abortions in a hypothetical future where the practice is banned, he goes with his gut and his gut is stay to the right. So sure, lets punish women for abortion. This is the message the partys carrying into the general election against the first woman major-party nominee, huh? By a guy whos already having major problems polling among women, no less.
Its easy to understand how an amateur would stumble into this answer, writes Matt Lewis, but why would you want to nominate an amateur?
In truth, like the notion that there should be exceptions for rape and incest, the notion that only the abortion doctor (not the woman having the abortion) should face penalties, is inconsistent with the notion that abortion is murder.
Yet these political compromises are necessary in order to cobble together a palatable and defensible (if admittedly inconsistent) public policy position that might someday actually be able to win the argument in mainstream America.
Part of the goal is to remove the ability for pro-choicers to demagogue the issue by scaring vulnerable women. Now, thanks to Trump, thats back on the table.
Trumps already trying to walk it back even though the townhall with Matthews from which this was clipped hasnt aired yet:
Hillarys already attacking him over it. So is Team Cruz, as youll see in the second clip below. Trump can run from it but its on tape and every down-ballot Republican will wear it now if hes the nominee. And the best part, as one Twitter pal said, is that Trump will eventually (eventually as in probably within the next few hours) deny that he ever said it to begin with. Still think this is all part of a master strategy or could it be that he really is winging it?
The answer is, turn the abortion decision over to each state. The way it was up until 1973, prior to Roe v Wade.
If a state makes abortion illegal, it means no one is allowed to perform them in that state. If a doctor performs an illegal abortion, the doctor is charged (as he would be if he engaged in assisted suicide).
Trump: If abortion is banned, there has to be some form of punishment for women who do it
Trump is absolutely correct. If, and the word is IF, an act is made a serious disregard or affront to the law, the act must be punished or there is no law. That's a secondary consequence that must by considered when passing a law.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
The abortionist is the criminal, not the woman who is a victim of abortion (along with her murdered unborn child).
This has been the dogma of the pro-lifers for decades, something only an ignoramus panderer like Trump would not know. That is because he is -- as he always was -- an advocate for all abortions, including partial-birth abortion, having praised his own sister for the NJ abortion decision she issued as a federal judge.
On most topics, I think Trump has pretty good political instincts. But this? Why the hell did he get involved on this? Stupid! I do not see where he gained anything. Really stupid!
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
There are no Carthaginian terrorists.
President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. --Clint Eastwood
"I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." -- General Douglas MacArthur
"That's a secondary consequence that must by considered when passing a law."
Exactly. Trump should have responded, "Well, what does the law say?"
The law could read that no one is allowed to perform an abortion. Those who do are punished according to the law. Whether or not the woman is also punished is subject to the law.
The doctor doesn't perform the abortion unless the woman comes and HIRES HIM to murder her child.
So you consider abortion to be murder-for-hire and the woman should be executed as a first-degree murderer and the abortionist would face a long prison sentence as a mere accomplice?
This has been the dogma of the pro-lifers for decades, something only an ignoramus panderer like Trump would not know.
If THAT really IS "pro-life dogma", then no wonder pro-lifers have failed at everything. They're dumb as dogshit.
I am pro-life, and MY position is not so limp and stupid.
Abortion happens because woman want to murder their unwanted children.
The WOMEN are monsters and murderesses. The abortion doctors are the evil creep hitmen.
They're both evil, and they both deserve to be put to death for murdering children.
Abortion doesn't happen without an evil murderous bitch ordering it. The women are BY FAR the greater and worse cause, and BY FAR bear the greatest guilt. For the abortion doctor didn't go out and decide to murder another human being to be able to have orgasms without consequence.
So you consider abortion to be murder-for-hire and the woman should be executed as a first-degree murderer and the abortionist would face a long prison sentence as a mere accomplice?
Execute them both. The abortionist commits a murder, the woman also commits the murder. They're both assassins, and they both deserve death and Hell.
Exactly. Trump should have responded, "Well, what does the law say?"
But that isn't what he said.
The Dims will promptly launch a campaign against him like the one against Todd Akin. All that Akin said was that women who are "legitimately" raped rarely get pregnant. Trump went much further than that.
And the Dims will tar every Republican with the same brush, the usual War On Women garbage.
The victim? Are you saying the abortion was performed without her consent?
Isn't killing a baby murder? If I shot a pregnant woman and killed her baby, I would be charged with murder. So if she allows a doctor to perform this murder, isn't she equally to blame?
On most topics, I think Trump has pretty good political instincts. But this? Why the hell did he get involved on this? Stupid! I do not see where he gained anything. Really stupid!
There are times when Trump shows evidence of not having considered things very comprehinsively or not having thought ahead. In some areas he lacks depth.
You don't think a woman who kills her kid has commited a sin.
Don't ever claim to be pro life. You're not conservative either.
too means also.
That means you have a couple of conservative positions. Everything else is libertariantard.
So you support abortion, Heroin. You don't support closing the border. You say that faggot lover Johnson is conservative because he is for abortion and fag pretend marriage.
Sure. At that point, they were talking about the woman having a back-alley abortion. Matthews asked if she should be punished for that that. Trump said yes.
Trump corrected that later and said she shouldn't. End of story.
I don't think there is a pro-life group in the country that would want you as a member, let alone a leader.
The Catholic Church is pretty pro-life. They have me. But guess what, I can't become one of THEIR leaders, because in the end I prefer sex and childbearing with a woman than being a eunuch for God - and that means that I don't get to be a leader in that institution. Only those who sacrifice their sexual lives to follow Christ wholly get to be.
You don't like that. But it acts as a very effective barrier to those of us who are fleshly enough to prefer the carnal company of the opposite sex over a life of prayer, and who are therefore likely to favor our families - as we would be expected.
There are very few Catholic parents who would obey God if they were in the position of Abraham, asked to sacrifice their son. They would say "No, Lord, I will not." Or they would say "You are not really God - you are a demon to demand such a thing!" I know I would.
And therefore, the fact of celibacy MEANS that Catholic parents and spouses aren't put in the position of having to choose between God and family. The rule avoids it.
So, I AM already a part of the world's largest and most consistent pro-life organization. They're happy to have me as a member. And no, I will never be in any position of leadership, and shouldn't be. And it is all designed that way, quite wisely I believe.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Saudi government wants to EXECUTE gay people who show their sexuality in public & online'
You may just get this with Trump as president.
No way. Trump doesn't care about the gays. He lives in NYC, a very tolerant place. He's tolerant. I am too.
Baby murder is a different thing altogether. No sane person should tolerate baby murderers walking around in our midst. Abortion needs to be stopped, and those hellbent on murder anyway should be dispatched to hell where they belong.
Men who want to bugger men? Seriously, do you really care? I don't. God does. He'll take care of that. I DO care about people killing other people, though. And babies are people.
Muslims hate people who murder babies. They even had a rule about cumming inside your slave girl because if God wanted a baby to come from her than let God will it and not humans intervene. There's a lot of bad things for Islam but that's not it.
Sure it was. All Matthews said was that "abortion is illegal". What does that mean? Does that mean "If a woman has an abortion she is breaking the law"?
If so, doesn't it follow that a woman be punished if she breaks the law?
"And Trump answered YES, women must be punished for abortion."
Within hours he corrected that and said no. Did you read it? Are people not allowed to correct their mistakes?
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
"Well he ended up saying NO. so he changed his mind. Hmmm "
But he can't do that! He can't! He can't! He can't!
He said yes. Did you hear him? He said yes. He can't change his mind. He's not allowed. He said yes.
Crucify him for saying yes. Stone him! Didn't you hear him say yes? Oh, we got him now. He said yes. Wanna hear the YouTube? I've got the YouTube where he said yes. Wanna hear it?
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
#58. To: TooConservative, Vicomte13, A K A Stone, redleghunter, tomder55 (#32)
Would you guys care to Trumpsplain that to us?
My guess is that they want to avoid the 800 lb gorilla in the room, many abortions are traditionally paid for by the baby's father, or a relative of the mother.
Then you have to decide if the person who paid the hitman should get the death penalty too?
The D&R terrorists hate us because we're free, to vote second party "We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
My guess is that they want to avoid the 800 lb gorilla in the room, many abortions are traditionally paid for by the baby's father, or a relative of the mother.
Then you have to decide if the person who paid the hitman should get the death penalty too?
Won't you have to go after the bank or credit card company that paid for the transaction as well?
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Trump just flipped from punish-the-woman to punish-the-abortionist in less than 4 hours. He has a track record of major flipflopping on this and many other issues.
You just don't like it when someone notices this and points it out.
Nothing will change without Roe v Wade being overturned, and no President has that power.
The next President will have that power.
There is a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Three of the sitting justices, two liberal Democrats and the most liberal Republican, are over 80.
If Trump is elected, he will have the opportunity to appoint a pro-life justice to the Supremes. He can assure that the justice by applying a LITMUS TEST to each nominee. Democrats do. Republicans can.
No appointments to the Supreme Court who are not passionate pro-lifers.
So, if Scalia is replaced with a passionate pro-lifer, what do you have?
You have Thomas, who is pro-life. You have Alito, who is probably pro-life. You have Kennedy, who is not, but who is over 80. And you have Roberts, who is a treasonous crapweasel we can assume is not pro-life. that will make three pro-lifers on the court, one of them certain.
Ginsburg, Breyer or Kennedy will go next, either in death, or retirement. Litmus tedst. Now you have two certain pro-lifers (the new one and the Scalia replacement), and two probably (Thomas and Alito).
We know that Roberts can be bought and turned by pressure, and at that point, he'll be on a Republican court in a Republican-run country. He may decide to move back. There's your five.
But if not, then the next of the aged trio goes, and one more sure pro-life vote comes on. Now you have three certains, two probables and Roberts. That's 6-3.
The last of the aged fogeys goes. Litmus test. Now you have FOUR certains, two probables, and Roberts. 7-2.
That pretty much guarantees Roe is overturned during the next President's two terms, if the President is Trump, and if he applies a litmus test.
The President can control this process because of the ages and states of health of three ancient supremes, plus a vacancy.
I agree with what he said in haste, and I think that's really what he thinks. I hope it is. Now he's just making it look reasonable so people can make themselves comfortable with voting for him.
My guess is that they want to avoid the 800 lb gorilla in the room, many abortions are traditionally paid for by the baby's father, or a relative of the mother.
Then you have to decide if the person who paid the hitman should get the death penalty too?
The abortionist is the criminal, not the woman who is a victim of abortion (along with her murdered unborn child).
I understand the pro life position politically. However rlk is correct legally and logically.
If I paid you to off someone you would be clearly the murderer and I would be guilty of conspiracy to murder or complicit.
A woman seeks out an abortionist to kill her child. That is the first law violated if Roe overturned. The second law broken by the woman would be obtaining an illegal medical procedure.
Now there are many cases where a battered woman hired another to kill the battering husband. Some of those women are not convicted due to mental and physical trauma.
However logically Trump is accurate. If a woman seeks an illegal abortion then she is involved in premeditated murder.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
You know he's a joke. Why do you keep up this silly pretense?
There is no pretense. I do not think Trump is a joke. I think he's the real deal.
Remember, when I said this before you pointed out that you had really lost respect for my intelligence because I said that.
Well, here I am, the same droolin' rube you put down before, thinking the same thing I thought before, and saying it the same way I said it before: I believe Donald Trump is telling the truth about what he is. I think he has laid out an articulate and consistent set of policies. I think that people who don't hear it or see it or understand it do, in fact, hear it and see it, they just don't believe him.
Hopefully Trump delivers. It isn't a sure thing. You know that right?
In this life, nothing is sure but death and taxes, but I think Trump will deliver. I'm sure that none of the other Republicans will deliver anything I want.
I'm sure that Hillary and Bernie will deliver for their side.
The Republicans keep looking for a deus ex machina to save them from the big bad Trump. There will be none, and in retrospect they'll be happy Trump won.
Well, here I am, the same droolin' rube you put down before, thinking the same thing I thought before, and saying it the same way I said it before: I believe Donald Trump is telling the truth about what he is. I think he has laid out an articulate and consistent set of policies. I think that people who don't hear it or see it or understand it do, in fact, hear it and see it, they just don't believe him.
Well Elvis has just re-entered the building again.
"Trump is the only Republican for whom I can vote."
That's because Trump is no REP, in this regard he is just like Ron Paul. Given that you hate the REP Party it comes as no surprise that you still will not vote for one.
Then why did Trump go into full reverse mode in just a couple of hours after he made the comment?
Send me a message of celebration when you learn how to read.
Send me a message when you get some understanding of the language. It is very simple for all but the simple minded. Trump reverse himself on this very legitimate question about a very contentious issue in less than a few hours once he saw how he sh*t hit the fan. What courage of his convictions this con artist has, eh? The man has, and always did have, flexible principles. He changes his position as lest as often as you change your underwear.
"GREEN BAY, Wisconsin After saying on Wednesday that he believes there should be punishment for women who undergo abortions if the procedure was outlawed, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walked back the comment hours later.
In an exclusive interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, the GOP front-runner described himself multiple times as "pro-life" but struggled to define what the legal ramifications of that position should be. When continually pressed for what the answer is regarding punishing women who would break any theoretical ban, Trump said the "answer is that there has to be some form of punishment, yeah."
Later in the day, his campaign released a statement refocusing who would be punished should abortion become illegal. "If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman," the statement said. "The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions."
HINT: The weak kneed con man screwed the pooch and had to publically eat his words hoping for forgiveness. Hillary has already kicked mud in his face over this (as well as the other REP candidates) and she will continue to sh*t on him and make him bark like a dog.
However logically Trump is accurate. If a woman seeks an illegal abortion then she is involved in premeditated murder.
Then why did he flipflop and decide the woman should not be punished in only a few hours?
So did Trump have it right to begin with and now he's punking out to let these millions of women off the hook or is he correct now about the abortionist is the criminal?
You are asking me to get inside his head. Not gonna do that.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
Send me a message when you get some understanding of the language.
Please study the employment and interpretation of the conditional syllogism: If A, then B. If, and only if A, then B. Etc. You talk like a man with a wooden asshole.
Your reticence surprises me a little. We see a few here who were initially demanding the woman be punished as severely or more severely than the abortionist. Then Trump flipflops and they're thrown into disarray with only two still adhering to Trump's initial punish-the-woman position.
I'm not sure Trump realizes he has crossed the pro-lifers in a way that deeply offends them. Over the years, I've noticed that offending pro-lifers or pro-gunners in a campaign is almost invariably fatal to a candidate. Giuliani in 2008 was a perfect example of this but far from the only one.
But I have noticed how they punish any deviation from their policy positions with many other candidates.
Crossing the pro-lifers is generally fatal to a candidate. Trump hadn't crossed them in this campaign until now.
Generally, the pro-lifers remain friendly and open to the idea of even rabidly former pro-abortion candidates like Trump or Giuliani. But one major deviation and they do turn on that new friend. And they have their own entire communications network outside the usual media, all female-dominated. You don't see it coming until it hits your candidate over the head like a 2x4.
We'll see if Trump did offend them deeply. It won't take long for the polls to show it.
"If Trump is elected, he will have the opportunity to appoint a pro-life justice to the Supremes."
He can submit his choice to the Senate, but that's about it. If Obama had the power to appoint a Supreme Court justice, Garland would be hearing cases.
When did he cross them -- when he was for or against punishing women who murder their babies?
This particular policy item was hotly debated over the years in the pro-life organizations. Overwhelmingly, they reject any punish-the-woman policy.
In the meantime, the Dims constantly accuse us of wanting to punish the woman even though we have denied it for decades. They still use it as part of their War On Women strategy.
Certainly, the Dims will use this against Trump if he is the nominee but they will also use it against all GOP candidates.
This is why you've never heard any credible GOP candidate ever suggest a punish-the-woman policy. And that is why I think the women who quietly dominate the pro-life movement nationally may react very negatively toward Trump. This argument is long over. Until Trump opened this can of worms by running his big blabbermouth yesterday. Trump's gift to the Lefties and their propaganda. Less remarked upon is Trump mentioning that any change in abortion law would inevitably result in the return of back-alley abortions, yet another pernicious myth that will certainly rile the pro-lifers.
The nicest thing you can say of Trump's remark is he was ignorant. That's not a very positive quality.
If you're looking for signs that Trump has truly riled the pro-lifers, I'd watch for any statements about Trump's remarks by Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, the various state and national Right To Life orgs and the newer Susan B. Anthony List activists (the younger generation of pro-life women).
They cited a position dating back a century that the woman is never to be punished.
Mattie Brinkerhoff, a leader of the womens suffrage movement, said that when a woman undergoes an abortion it is evidence she has been greatly wronged. The Revolution, the newspaper owned and operated by Susan B. Anthony published an op-ed asserting that, on abortion, thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime. Alice Paul was known to have called abortion the ultimate exploitation of women.
We have never advocated, in any context, for the punishment of women who undergo abortion.
As a convert to the pro-life movement, Mr. Trump sees the reality of the horror of abortion the destruction of an innocent human life which is legal in our country up until the moment of birth. But let us be clear: punishment is solely for the abortionist who profits off of the destruction of one life and the grave wounding of another.
It sounds mild enough but that is pretty aggressive for SBA activists.
"Overwhelmingly, they reject any punish-the-woman policy."
I didn't know that. I'd like to know what kind of convoluted thinking leads then to conclude that if a woman pays a doctor to murder her unborn child at her request, he should be sent to prison but she walks away scot-free.
Maybe that's how they keep there membership numbers up. Kind of, "We're pro-life ... but not really".
"The nicest thing you can say of Trump's remark is he was ignorant. That's not a very positive quality."
I'd simply say he was caught off-guard by being asked a hypothetical about an issue everyone considers settled law. It didn't help that Matthews was looking for his gotcha moment, so he phrased the question around whether the woman should be punished.
I've been following politics a long time, and I've never heard this "punish the woman" approach before. Certainly if the abortion decision is turned over to the states, won't each state decide that, not the President?
Yes, Trump should have been prepared for that f**ked up hypothetical but, to his credit, he immediately corrected his position.
I've been following politics a long time, and I've never heard this "punish the woman" approach before. Certainly if the abortion decision is turned over to the states, won't each state decide that, not the President?
Yes, Trump should have been prepared for that f**ked up hypothetical but, to his credit, he immediately corrected his position.
I was a vice-president 10 years with the largest state pro-life group in the country. I remember when the issue of who should be punished was hotly debated.
Truth Is Still Truth Even If You Don't Believe It.
So you really do want to execute the mother but only give the abortionist a prison sentence.
The proper law is for the mother, the abortion doctor, the attending nurse and the knowing financiers to be treated as first degree murderers, and for those who knowingly drive the victim and his mother to the clinic to be aborted and the billing staff to all be charged with being accessories to murder.
Abortion is the premeditated murder of an innocent child, and the perpetrators, arrangers and other accessories should be treated the same as any other first degree murder case.
The proper law is for the mother, the abortion doctor, the attending nurse and the knowing financiers to be treated as first degree murderers, and for those who knowingly drive the victim and his mother to the clinic to be aborted and the billing staff to all be charged with being accessories to murder.
You are an extremist, far outside the Catholic pro-life movement.
Abortion is the premeditated murder of an innocent child, and the perpetrators, arrangers and other accessories should be treated the same as any other first degree murder case.
Don't expect a reasoned response from the Trump-haters.
He can submit his choice to the Senate, but that's about it. If Obama had the power to appoint a Supreme Court justice, Garland would be hearing cases.
No, there's more to it than that.
If the Senate refuses to hear the cases, then the President can put the Justice on the Supreme Court, or in the Cabinet Secretary position ANYWAY, as a recess appointment.
The recess appointment has full authority and all powers, s/he's just not permanent. The Senate can then remove the recess appointment by rejecting him/her - which requires the hearings and the votes - but if they don't reject the recess appointment, s/he sits and executes the job until the role is filled by a permanent appointment, or the recess appointment is rejected.
Note that the recess appointment does not cease to sit when the President leaves. S/he sits there until the end of the next Senate calendar year, unless earlier rejected by the Senate or replaced by an approved appointment.
Tradition dictates that cabinet secretaries and recess appointments resign when their President leaves office, but they don't have to. They can force the new President to fire them (if they're cabinet Secretaries), or sit in the job until the Senate rejects them or the new President appoints and get approved by the Senate a new permanent appointment.
So, the Senate can DELAY the appointment of a justice until it is in recess, but the President has the absolute power to fill any vacancies for a year during the Senate recess.
So, if our politics remain in World War I gridlock, and nobody can get approved, the President can enforce his policies through the courts quite effectively by appointing judges who will serve for one year only, and whom he can reappoint each year until the Senate moves.
Likewise, if the Congress is so divided that it can't pass laws, the President can simply rule the country by Executive Order, which only the courts could block - and if s/he controls the court through recess appointments (a recess appointee is much more tightly controlled by the President, because s/he has no lifetime appointment and no guarantee of being renominated, or not being withdrawn, if s/he does not do the President's billing.
The Supreme Court could resist this for awhile, by delaying its calendar. But over time, a President facing an elderly Supreme Court - say, now, could end up having three or four recess appointments sitting on the court, with full power, but serving at the pleasure of the President, who can always withdraw their appointments right up until they are approved.
The Senate can play hardball with delay, but the President can trump the hardball, and if it becomes trench warfare, over time the President will gain effective executive control of the Supreme Court through recess appointments that he can remove from the court himself.
Once the Senate adjourns for the election, Obama will appoint the recess appointment and the Court will have a five-justice Democrat majority for a year, or until the Senate ratifies a new Justice.
The only way the Republicans can win this war is by electing Trump. If they won't. then the Democrats will run the table this time, control the Supreme Court and the Presidency, and enact their entire agenda. Without the judiciary, a divided Congress cannot control the President - and if they try, the Supreme Court can strike down their acts as unconstitutional.
This election is for all the marbles. With Trump, the Republicans can win. If they take him out, the Democrats will be ruling for the rest of our lives.
"I remember when the issue of who should be punished was hotly debated."
Argued, yes. Debated?
I don't see the debate points for excusing the mother. Everything from the beginning to the bloody end is her decision. Not even the biological father has any say-so. Women aren't "victims". Not when they're the ones making all the choices.
Women should at least be honest and say that they're pro-life ... unless they want an abortion.
Before abortion became legal ,women were not punished as criminals for having an abortion. They were considered victims The abortionist was charged .
Of course. But Trump and LF's Trumpkins can't be bothered to read anything.
The booboisie, following a witless ape riding a gold-plated escalator.
It's the willful ignorance that is so striking. It takes so little time to discover the facts. It isn't like you have to read long dense books to know the history of pro-life reasonably well. But that is too much effort for Trump and the Trumpkins.
Please study the employment and interpretation of the conditional syllogism: If A, then B. If, and only if A, then B. Etc. You talk like a man with a wooden asshole.
You talk like a man with a wooden head. The if conditions are totally immaterial to the issue. The ifs were present in both of his statements, the first one and then the 180 he did a few hours later. WTF don't you understand about this? He waffled big time and it is costing him big time. He also is dragging down the REP Party and virtually handing all three branches of the Fed government to the DRats. Perhaps you think we will live long and prosper when this happens?
It's obvious to me Cruz is a serial liar. Chris Wallace called him out about his lying.
Wow, an egomaniacal politician a serial liar? Whodathunkit?
I have always believed that anyone that so desperately wants to be elected to high public office should never be given the job. But in practice We The People give it to them anyway.
Matthews never said what the law was. His question was essentially, "If abortion is illegal and a woman breaks the law should she be punished?" -- misterwhite
I'm listening to Rush and he's saying the exact same thing I posted.
Trump heard the question as a law-and-order one, not abortion. And that's the way he answered it.
Saudi government wants to EXECUTE gay people who show their sexuality in public & online'
What's interesting about the above is Disney took $1.2 Billion from the House of Saud and they are the largest promoters of the gay agenda.
They took blood money from Muslim oil barons and yet threaten GA with economic sanctions over a religious liberty law.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
If Trump had any clue about the pro-life movement and wasn't a recent convert for convenience ,he could've answered the question easily .The pro-life movement is not an anti-woman movement .His answer is exactly what the libs want to hear .It reenforces their stereotypes of conservatives. It's exactly what Chris Matthews wanted to hear . But it doesn't reflect the true opinions of the majority of the prolife folks .
The woman is as much a victim as the baby . Often the woman is desperate and since she lives in this souless nation ,she doesn't know all the alternatives (including lifestyle choices ) . Many women have deep regrets that affect them the rest of their lives . I'm very suprised that the instinct of some pro- lifers is to punish the women. These women are also victims of a social system that encourages them to take that path.
But let me ask you . All the Trump supporters I encounter tell me they like him because he speaks his mind and to hell with p.c. Well yesterday he spoke his mind and appeared to back track apparently due to pc pressure . What is Trump's true position ....the one he initially spoke ;or the pc one he back tracked to for expediency ?
"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." Plato
Trump was not asked about abortion in a straightforward way. Had he been he would have responded that he was pro-life. Period. Next question. This is not a burning issue in 2016.
But Chris Matthews was looking for a gotcha moment. He gave Trump a hypothetical scenario, saying that abortion was illegal and asking Trump if he would punish a woman who broke the law.
Trump took that as a law-and-order question and said yes.
His screw ups make headlines too, so maybe he did it on purpose.
He screwed 3 or times yesterday. I don't think any of them were on purpose. But CNN is having a field day at his expenses and the with the REP Party today and it will likley continue until he makes his next gaffe.
Trump was not asked about abortion in a straightforward way. Had he been he would have responded that he was pro-life. Period. Next question. This is not a burning issue in 2016.
You're as brain-dead as Limbaugh was today.
An open seat on the Supreme Court and it just "is not a burning issue in 2016"?
You take the wide gate I will take the narrow one.
Coincidentally, I had a couple of polite JWs on the doorstep yesterday, haranguing me politely with just that passage. I felt kinda sorry for them but it made them happy that I didn't call them heretics and slam the door. The Watchtower makes them kind of desperate.
I had to smile. The JWs have their Kingdom Hall across town but the Mormons are right across the street and never knock on doors here. Those Mormons are good neighbors even if I do disagree with their theology.
Coincidentally, I had a couple of polite JWs on the doorstep yesterday, haranguing me politely with just that passage. I felt kinda sorry for them but it made them happy that I didn't call them heretics and slam the door. The Watchtower makes them kind of desperate.
I had to smile. The JWs have their Kingdom Hall across town but the Mormons are right across the street and never knock on doors here. Those Mormons are good neighbors even if I do disagree with their theology.
I love it when Jehovah's Witnesses knock on my door.
I talk until they flee and don't want to talk anymore.
and if Trump had a well thought out answer he could've easily deflected the question. As an example . Roe v Wade created a national right out of thin air . Had there been no Roe v Wade then it would go back to the way it was before 1973 ;with some states having legal abortion and some states prohibiting the practice . A perfectly good conservative response would've been to say he wanted it pre- Roe when the states had the power to make the law.
Or as I said , he could've turned the question on Matthews and accused him of being a pro-eugenics racist progressive.
Trump's answer played right into the stereotype that the libs have of conservatives ....that they are incompassionate women haters .
"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." Plato
I love it when Jehovah's Witnesses knock on my door.
I talk until they flee and don't want to talk anymore.
I used to Mormon-proof people's houses for them that way. I know they have a database because once they met up with me, they never came back.
I liked to work the younger missionary with innocent questions while fending off the older handler missionary who would inevitably want to flee before I caused his young dupe to start thinking for himself.
The young JW yesterday, a very nice kid, started looking very thoughtful when I began discussing the history of the Bible and its central role in history. You probably can see why that isn't such a friendly topic for the senior JW. Still, they were nice people. I felt more sorry for the JWs than I ever did with Mormons. JWs are much more cultish IMO so their missionaries are victims, especially the younger ones.
Ted Cruz is not pro life. He has the same position as Hillary.
Wrong.
Clinton (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/womens-rights-and- opportunity/):
'Womens personal health decisions should be made by a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor. Hillary will stand up to Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, which would restrict access to critical health care services, like cancer screenings, contraception, and safe, legal abortion.'
'The question of abortion should not be an issue of partisan politics, or even of differing faith backgrounds. It is a fundamental question of justice, and of whether we still hold true those immortal words of our founders that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, the first of which is life.
'Abortion is the stain on our nations modern history. We should end it.
[...] 'As Solicitor General of Texas, I was proud to successfully defend a federal law that bans partial birth abortion and to lead 18 states in defending New Hampshires parental notifications laws, both cases that we successfully won at the Supreme Court, marking two significant victories for life. While neither of these measures remove the scourge of abortion entirely, they continue shine the light on the atrocity and move us closer to doing so.
'During my time in the Senate, I have continued to fight for life. I am an original cosponsor of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, to ban abortions after 20 weeks. I introduced a measure to stop the D.C. Council from forcing organizations to fund abortion services. And when Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and an army of abortion advocates tried to squelch legislation designed to protect the unborn, I proudly stood with the vast majority of Texans to protect the rights of the unborn.'
"The we agree with respect to the only issue in contention in post #150."
I have no idea what that means.
There is an open Supreme Court seat. The next President will nominate someone. That individual's stance on abortion is important. So is their position on guns. Drugs. Gay rights. Religious freedom. Privacy and NSA. Environmental issues. Healthcare. Tariffs. And 100 other things.
Are you turning this nomination into a single-issue event?
We'll see if Trump did offend them deeply. It won't take long for the polls to show it.
Polls already show Trump with a 74% disapproval rating among all women. Seems he isolated both the pro-life and pro-abortion lot.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
WHere did Cruz say he would punish the abortionist?
Cruz cospnsored (thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D? d114:62:./temp/~bdxnpM:@@@P ) the federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (2015), which provided that "Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both." (thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:S.1553:) Cruz supported (www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=35) Texas Senate Bill 1 (2013), which provided that "The Texas Medical Board may take disciplinary action under Chapter 164, Occupations Code, or assess an administrative penalty under Subchapter A, Chapter 165, Occupations Code, against a person who" performs a partial-birth abortion. (https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB1/2013/X2)
Polls already show Trump with a 74% disapproval rating among all women. Seems he isolated both the pro-life and pro-abortion lot.
What shocks me is how many people here at LF just don't get what it was that Trump said.
People in the pro-life movement have spent decades and tens of millions of dollars trying to counter the Lefty propaganda against us over the decades. And here comes Trump, like a turd floating in a punch bowl, and shoots his big flapping mouth off, handing the enemy a major propaganda victory. You can just imagine how much Chrissy's leg is tingling to have tripped Trump up so easily.
The discussion is in the context IFRoe were to be overturned, and IF abortion were legally defined as the crime of murder (or infanticide), under that circumstance, should abortion be punished?
In other words, if an act is legally defined as murder, should it be punished?
MATTHEWS: If you say abortion is a crime or abortion is murder, you have to deal with it under law. Should abortion be punished?
[...]
MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no as a principle?
TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.
I've known TCs posting history for about 6 years. He is not pro abort. Far from it.
His point has been the pro life movement focuses on laws to protect the child in the womb. They take aim at abortion providers as well. They don't focus on prosecuting women who had an abortion probably because half the women in the pro life movement are repentant of their own abortions.
I stated Trump was logically and legally accurate in his original comments. However it is hard to broad brush all women who have abortions as premeditated murderers. Many end up getting abortions after someone else convinces them it is ok and the human being in the womb is not a human yet or a person. Which is deception.
The reason the pro life movement focuses on abortionists to legislate laws is if the penalty for providing an illegal abortion is iron clad homicide, no doctor in their right mind will perform the abortion. Eliminate the provider and you leave a woman a real difficult decision to abort on her own which already violates standing fetal homicide laws.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
I stated Trump was logically and legally accurate in his original comments. However it is hard to broad brush all women who have abortions as premeditated murderers. Many end up getting abortions after someone else convinces them it is ok and the human being in the womb is not a human yet or a person. Which is deception.
What if someone convinces someone that a black isn't a person. They are a savage. Suppose they are a real dummy.
Suppose that person kills a black person.
That isn't murder is it?
Of course it is. Just like in all abortions. They are all murders. There is no excuse for it.
I think I am being consistent and some others are not.
You said no doctor in their right mind wouldn't provide an abortion if the penalty was high. Well how about this. No woman in their right mind would have an abortion if they were going to face execution or some other harsh penalty.
So if the penalty was death. You wouldn't really have to carry it out because as in the case you made no woman would have one.
What if they just make it illegal for the woman and not the provider. That would have the same affect correct? I don't think so.
The discussion is in the context IFRoe were to be overturned, and IF abortion were legally defined as the crime of murder (or infanticide), under that circumstance, should abortion be punished?
You're just Trumpsplaining with text styles.
Trump said women should be punished for abortion. That's all anyone is going to hear, no matter how you want to twist it. The pro-abortion pols and orgs and media are already playing it exactly that way. They pounced within hours of Trump saying it.
I guess you can always just pretend Trump didn't say it.
Actually, it is Trump who has exposed himself as having a pro-choice worldview, with his Lefty talk of punishing women for abortion and the return of back-alley abortions. That is exactly how liberal New Yorkers talk about it, how all the liberals have talked about it for forty years.
Your problem is your candidate, not me.
And it doesn't matter how many libels about me you make up out of thin air to try to distract the 20 or so posters here at tiny LF. The Donald's problem isn't people at LF (none of which are women, BTW).
Polls already show Trump with a 74% disapproval rating among all women.
That's Trump, unifying the nation. He's similarly unified the votes of the 20-somethings, the Hispanics, most of the indy voters and half the GOP voters.
MATTHEWS: If you say abortion is a crime or abortion is murder, you have to deal with it under law. Should abortion be punished?
It is not a trick question, no matter how many times you bold or italicize or underline various portions.
If abortion is a crime or if abortion is murder, the law does have to mete out consequences for breaking those laws. If you listen closely, Matthews says, "Ten years or ten cents or what?" by which he meant would it be fines or jail time. Then Trump fell into his trap as Matthews said "For the woman?". And the trap snapped shut.
You really should consider why you're supporting a candidate that can be so easily tricked by Tingly Chris because he isn't that smart. Chrissy led him like a lamb to slaughter while deflecting Trump's jabs that Chrissy was a bad Catholic.
"What shocks me is how many people here at LF just don't get what what it was that Trump said."
What shocks me is how many people here at LF refuse to recognize what Trump said.
Trump wasn't asked a question. He was given a ridiculous hypothetical. He was asked: If abortion was illegal, and the mother broke the law, should she be punished?
Well, hell. If that's the way the law is written, of course.
Answer me this, smartass. If posting on LP is illegal, should all of us be rounded up and punished? (In my Chris Matthews voice) Yes or no? Yes or no? Don't wiggle around. C'mon. Yes or no?
Tomorrow's Headline: "Too Conservative Trashes First Amendment!"
Trump wasn't asked a question. He was given a ridiculous hypothetical. He was asked: If abortion was illegal, and the mother broke the law, should she be punished?
I don't see how it was ridiculous.
Women were never punished for abortion. Only abortionists were ever prosecuted.
The proper answer for Trump, the only answer, is "women have never been prosecuted for abortion and they will not be, no matter what Congress or the Court does with Roe v. Wade".
No anti-abortion law has ever punished a woman (unless she was the abortionist). That was Matthews' gotcha question. And Trump fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Because he actually does have the liberal pro-abortion view of the entire issue, just like Matthews does: back-alley abortions, women being prosecuted, etc.
You can whine about it all you want here at dusty little LF but you aren't going to change Trump's offense to all the pro-life orgs.
Recall what happened to Giuliani, cruising along at 65% approval nationally, in 2008 after he said he would pay for his daughter's abortion? It was like a balloon popping. This would be comparable to that in the damage it does. Giuliani only hurt himself as a candidate whereas Trump hurt the entire pro-life cause by giving the abortion mills a major propaganda victory.
Where the pro-abort fed.gov and her Whore of Babylon SCOTUS shoot down repeal of Roe v. Wade, state governments have taken to what amounts to an operational envelopment to abortion providers.
Abortion clinics are closing in the U.S. at a record pace. In five states Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming just one remains. American women were having fewer abortions before clinic closings accelerated in the last couple of years. So no one can be sure how much the push to restrict clinics is connected to falling abortion rates. But the new strategy adopted by abortion opponents, and the court battles it has set off, have tested how far abortion rights can be limited without being overturned.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
So no one can be sure how much the push to restrict clinics is connected to falling abortion rates.
It's the effect of Plan 9 and morning-after massive doses of birth control.
The trend will only accelerate as it becomes standard practice for the younger generation. At present, abortion is mostly for women too dumb or complacent to use the emergency contraceptives.
"Women were never punished for abortion. Only abortionists were ever prosecuted."
Then why did Matthews propose a situation where women might be punished? Why would Matthews even ask the question? Why? Because in his hypothetical, it was illegal for the woman to have an abortion.
"You can whine about it all you want here at dusty little LF but you aren't going to change Trump's offense to all the pro-life orgs."
If they're offended, then they were just waiting for any stupid excuse to be offended.
If posting on LP is illegal, should all of us be rounded up and punished? (In my Chris Matthews voice) Yes or no? Yes or no? Don't wiggle around. C'mon. Yes or no?
Shutting down the clinics is shutting down the providers.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
Then why did Matthews propose a situation where women might be punished?
Because it is a favorite shibboleth of the Left and always has been.
That was the trap and Trump fell right into it, thinking he was clever by trying to counter that Chrissy was a bad Catholic. Which is beside the point. No matter how much Trump might demonstrate factually that Chrissy is a bad Catholic, it doesn't change the major propaganda victory that Chrissy scored against Trump.
And Trump's answer does indicate that he shares that same exact worldview of the results of outlawing abortion. You might not see that but, believe me, the established pro-lifers noticed it.
Again, how are higher facility standards "prosecuting men"?
Currently you cannot by law prosecute an abortion provider.
By shutting down their clinics you shut down the provider.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
If posting on LP is illegal, should all of us be rounded up and punished? (In my Chris Matthews voice) Yes or no? Yes or no? Don't wiggle around. C'mon. Yes or no?
"No."
The proper answer is that the feds would close it down entirely and go after Stone. Which is actually more likely to happen in the real world than you realize.
In the same way, when outlawing abortion, you'd go after the abortionists and their clinics (also the ob/gyn's who quietly perform abortions in their regular medical offices for their own clients which is not uncommon). We never went after women before Roe either, only the abortionist.
There is well over a century of history of this policy. Try reading a little so you won't be as ignorant as your man-crush.
It's a true statement. Those providing the illegal service before Roe were prosecuted and the woman was not.
Even under English common law, old English common law, women were turned over to ecclesiastical authority for penance.
Groups like the pro-life SBA see women who have abortions as a victim.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
I asked if posters to LP should be punished if posting on LP was illegal.
You answered "no", making you an anti-law-and-order anarchist.
It doesn't at all, no matter how desperate you are to defend your ridiculous and ignorant candidate putting his foot in his mouth and giving the Left a yuuge propaganda victory, one comparable to Todd Akin and his "legimately raped" comment.
More than that, I am aware of how the government does go about shutting down forums and websites. And they always go after the owner/operator of the site, almost never go after the individual posters as long as they are not pursuing illegal activities on that forum. You can see this will Silk Road and other Dark Web sites and other sites dealing in black market goods.
You can't erase Trump's blunder to an easily avoided question. You can't excuse his complete ignorance about the history of abortion policy because every other candidate we have does know the correct answer.
At some point, they'll have some trick questions for Trump on guns as well. And those will likely work too. That is because Trump is ignorant and lazy and won't hire proper professionals to brief and drill him on these inevitable gotcha traps the libmedia will set for him.
I find it interesting that Trump has no problem at all with Chrissy Matthews tripping him up this way. He hasn't called Chrissy any names, talked about blood spurting out of him, etc. Yet he still has an ongoing blood feud vendetta with Megyn Kelly.
#227. To: TooConservative, misterwhite, All (#226)
I find it interesting that Trump has no problem at all with Chrissy Matthews tripping him up this way.
All Donald Dollar had to do to fluster Tingles, in the way Jon Stewart did, was to ask him the since he posed a hypothetical question about the illegality of abortion he, Tingles, needs to be more specific and define exactly what crime by the new law would then be committed if an abortion was performed. Would it be a civil or criminal offense? Would it be a misdemeanor or homicide? Would it be a Federal or a State crime or both?
Can Dollar Donald be a more apparent shill for Hillary?
Even under English common law, old English common law, women were turned over to ecclesiastical authority for penance.
Groups like the pro-life SBA see women who have abortions as a victim.
This flies in the face of all logic and reason behind the foundation of our laws.
If I hire someone to kill my spouse because she became ill or was an physical or emotional inconvenience/hardship to me or it was a shotgun wedding would I be the victim when the hit man fulfilled the contract? Would I be free of any legal consequences?
The SBA's position is absurd. Yes, in some case a woman might be a victim as well as a willful initiator and participant of an illegal act. Consequences should attach.
The SBA's position is absurd. Yes, in some case a woman might be a victim as well as a willful initiator and participant of an illegal act. Consequences should attach.
You fail to think it through.
If you prosecute women who try to have abortions (or have had abortions), you then open the door to prosecuting for murder all the women who had abortions when it was still legal.
There is no statute of limitations on murder.
So you'd have 40-50 million women liable for murder charges.
As a practical matter of politics, you can't make women the murderers. You have to go after the person who performed the abortion.
Can Dollar Donald be a more apparent shill for Hillary?
Actually, he's just a run-of-the-mill liberal NYC Democrat and has all the attitudes on public policy that you would expect. That is what the Chrissy interview showed us.
Don't pull out one piece and draw some twisted, incorrect conclusion.
That's whiny bullshit - what "twisted, incorrect conclusion" did I supposedly draw, and what missing "context" supposedly proves the conclusion incorrect?
If you prosecute women who try to have abortions (or have had abortions), you then open the door to prosecuting for murder all the women who had abortions when it was still legal.
Women were never punished for abortion. Only abortionists were ever prosecuted.
The proper answer for Trump, the only answer, is "women have never been prosecuted for abortion and they will not be, no matter what Congress or the Court does with Roe v. Wade".
This claim appears overly broad. In today's world, where the woman can take a pill to induce a miscarriage/abortion, women can and have been prosecuted and sent to prison.
It isn't justice for Purvi Patel to serve 20 years in prison for an abortion
When women are desperate to end their pregnancies, they will. The answer to this shouldnt be punitive, but supportive
Jessica Valenti April 2, 2015 The Guardian
Abortion is illegal in the United States. So is having a stillbirth not officially, perhaps, but thanks to a case in Indiana, were halfway there. On Monday, Purvi Patel, a 33 year old woman who says that she had a miscarriage, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for neglect of a dependent and feticide. She is the first woman in the United States to ever be sentenced for such a crime.
In July 2013, Patel went to the emergency room with heavy bleeding. She eventually admitted to miscarrying a stillborn fetus and placing it in a bag in a dumpster. (Patel lived with her religiously conservative parents who did not believe in premarital sex.) After police searched Patels cellphone, they found text messages that suggested she bought abortion-inducing drugs online.
Despite the fact that no traces of any abortifacent were found in Patels blood work taken at the hospital, the prosecution argued that she had taken the drugs mentioned in her text messages and caused her miscarriage at 23-24 weeks of pregnancy. And, in legal maneuvering that defies imagination, Patel was charged not just with fetal homicide, but with neglecting a child. As the Guardian reported last year, these charges are completely contradictory: neglecting a child means that you neglected a live child, and feticide means that the baby was born dead.
But logic has never been at the center of the draconian laws and arrest policies that target pregnant women: control is. As Lynn Paltrow, the executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told me last year about laws aimed at drug-using pregnant women, this kind of prosecution is about making pregnant women from the time an egg is fertilized subject to state surveillance, control and extreme punishment.
And, as with other laws that hurt pregnant women, Indianas feticide law was not intended (explicitly, anyway) to be a policy that affected women: it was supposedly designed to target illegal abortion providers. But despite the anti-choice insistence that women are victims of abortion providers, the history of how similar laws are used show just how much its women and women of color in particular who are directly impacted by fetal protection policies.
After a feticide law was passed in Texas in 2003, for example, a local district attorney used the opportunity to send a letter to all doctors in her county that they were now legally required to report any pregnant women using drugs. Doctors complied, and and more than 50 women were reported and charged with crimes.
We may never know what really happened in Patels case. She has repeatedly said that she had a miscarriage which, if true, means that the state is sending a woman to jail for not having a healthy pregnancy outcome. But even if Patel did procure and take drugs to end her pregnancy, are we really prepared to send women to jail for decades if they have abortions? Even illegal ones?
When women are desperate to end their pregnancies, they will. The answer to this shouldnt be punitive, but supportive: women need better access to education, affordable contraception and abortion without harassment or delay.
Patels case opens the door for any woman who expresses doubt about her pregnancy to be charged if she miscarries or has a stillbirth. Its a terrifying thought, but one that is already impacting real women: the anti-choice movement is now sending women to jail for what happens during their pregnancies. So tell me again how abortion is totally legal. Or tell Purvi Patel.
what "twisted, incorrect conclusion" did I supposedly draw?
That you and I agree the only issue in contention for selecting the next justice is that individual's stance on abortion.
No, that's your functional illiteracy at work; I in no way implied "only issue" by quoting your text, "There is an open Supreme Court seat. The next President will nominate someone. That individual's stance on abortion is important."
And if you're suggesting I think "the only issue in contention for selecting the next justice is that individual's stance on abortion" - that's your functional illiteracy at work again.
"I in no way implied "only issue" by quoting your text, "There is an open Supreme Court seat. The next President will nominate someone. That individual's stance on abortion is important."
Sure you did. You omitted the other issues I posted.
"And if you're suggesting I think "the only issue in contention for selecting the next justice is that individual's stance on abortion"
That's what you said in post #175: "The(n) we agree with respect to the only issue in contention in post #150."
I in no way implied "only issue" by quoting your text, "There is an open Supreme Court seat. The next President will nominate someone. That individual's stance on abortion is important."
Sure you did. You omitted the other issues I posted.
By retaining your "That individual's stance on abortion is important" I explicitly showed that you did not see it as the "only issue".
Post #150 was about abortion only.
It was about whether abortion is "a burning issue in 2016" - "burning" is not "only".
If you prosecute women who try to have abortions (or have had abortions), you then open the door to prosecuting for murder all the women who had abortions when it was still legal.
I thought it through quite well. You fail to understand the question which is what crime would the new law specify is committed when an illegal abortion is had. Even if it's homicide there are some that are considered justifiable. There are also questions of Due Process.
But before even that the new law must specific the nature of the unborn fetus. Is it a person or not? If not the nature of the crime would likely be civil or if criminal a misdemeanor and all previous violations grandfathered out of consequence. If so then there still are options with respect to the crime being a homicide. But if a homicide there would likely be spelled out what circumstances would be considered justifiable. This would require a finding of facts that would no longer be possible to litigate for the 50 +/- million prior abortions thus render your objection mute.
Think more on this and you will find that I am correct that it all depends on the nature of the victim and of the circumstances of the crime and that pre-law violations present no issue.
#244. To: nolu chan, TooConservative, misterwhite (#237)
the anti-choice movement is now sending women to jail for what happens during their pregnancies.
First it's the Pro-Life movement that you Pro-Death supporters oppose.
Second, I guess it's OK with you Pro-Deathers for a women to knowingly abuse the fetus and bring it term, oh say like a crack addict.
This is an incredibly complex issue, especially if science someday conclusively proves that an unborn fetus is a human being and the courts are compelled by honesty and integrity to recognize that an unborn fetus is a person subject to the protections of the Constitution.
What we have now is a hodge-podge of different determinations varying from state to state. It's not only stupid but immoral. For example, what makes an unborn fetus killed in a car accident or commission of a crime against the mother (to you Pro-Deathers she technically is not a mother yet) have due consideration and/or standing in a court in some states and in not others?
Geez, fair and balance you are not. I am not even sure that you are capable of rational thinking on this subject.
If you prosecute women who try to have abortions (or have had abortions), you then open the door to prosecuting for murder all the women who had abortions when it was still legal.
Good. Murderers should be punished. You pro abortion people are stupid would be murderers.
The proper answer is that the feds would close it down entirely and go after Stone. Which is actually more likely to happen in the real world than you realize.
In the same way, when outlawing abortion, you'd go after the abortionists and their clinics (also the ob/gyn's who quietly perform abortions in their regular medical offices for their own clients which is not uncommon). We never went after women before Roe either, only the abortionist.
There is well over a century of history of this policy. Try reading a little so you won't be as ignorant as your man-crush.
The proper answer is that the feds would close it down entirely and go after Stone. Which is actually more likely to happen in the real world than you realize.
In the same way, when outlawing abortion, you'd go after the abortionists and their clinics (also the ob/gyn's who quietly perform abortions in their regular medical offices for their own clients which is not uncommon). We never went after women before Roe either, only the abortionist.
There is well over a century of history of this policy. Try reading a little so you won't be as ignorant as your man-crush.
if science someday conclusively proves that an unborn fetus is a human being
That has been known since the beginning.
If that were the case SCOTUS could never have decided RvW as it did. The science is absolutely unsettled on the question as when life beings. And it's likely that it never will have a definitive answer.
It may be true that the scientific consensus is that life does begin at conception (but that there is such consensus is itself contested) there is no such scientific consensus on when personhood begins. The latter is a legal matter.
"The problem has never been "we can't kill it because it is alive". It's "we can't kill it because it is a human being.""
The more intractable problem is that the U.S. Constitution never refers to human beings. It clearly refers to citizens and to persons. And while it clearly defines citizen it has no definition of person. Logic says that a person is a human being and vice versa. But SCOTUS said that a fetus is not a person. In doing so did SCOTUS state that a human being is not person? Did SCOTUS ignore science?
It is undeniable that no-one knows for sure what the Founding Fathers thought about the fetus, personhood, abortion as may be expressed in the Constitution. If anything they probably never considered the question of what constitute a person as is referred to in the Constitution. It is clear that the Constitution say that to be a citizen one must be born. It says nothing about what constitutes a person.
"The early philosophers also argued that a foetus did not become formed and begin to live until at least 40 days after conception for a male, and around 80 days for a female.
Through much of Western history abortion was not criminal if it was carried out before 'quickening'; that is before the foetus moved in the womb at between 18 and 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Until that time people tended to regard the foetus as part of the mother and so its destruction posed no greater ethical problem than other forms of surgery.
England
English Common Law agreed that abortion was a crime after 'quickening' - but the seriousness of that crime was different at different times in history.
In 1803 {N.B. - long after the U.S. Constitution was adopted} English Statute Law made abortion after quickening a crime that earned the death penalty, but a less serious crime before that.
America
Abortion was common in most of colonial America, but it was kept secret because of strict laws against unmarried sexual activity.
Laws specifically against abortion became widespread in America in the second half of the 1800 s {N.B. - long after the U.S. Constitution was adopted}, and by 1900 abortion was illegal everywhere in the USA, except in order to save the life of the mother."
It should be abundantly clear that in the 17 and 18 hundreds there was never any consideration of the status of fetus that was being destroyed. Did most, or even any, of these people believe that life began at conception and therefore the unborn fetus was subject to the same legal protections and benefits of those that were born? It clearly seems not to be the case.
Science clearly has not definitively settled the question when RvW was decided. In fact the majority opinion supported the contention that a fetus was not a person, at least for the purpose of the 14th Amendment.
You need to take you emotional and religious beliefs out of the facts of what the scientific community does and does not support on this subject. Neither of us may like it but we cannot ignore it.
"This is an incredibly complex issue, especially if science someday conclusively proves that an unborn fetus is a human being and the courts are compelled by honesty and integrity to recognize that an unborn fetus is a person subject to the protections of the Constitution."
How can any scientist say that a fetus is a person at 270 days, but not at 269 days? Or 268 days? And so forth.
I think society and/or the courts will make that determination.
If the poster meant to refer to more than one issue he wouldn't have singled out just one.
The poster referred to WHETHER that one issue WAS A "BURNING" ONE FOR 2016, as you had denied. If anyone "singled out" the issue it was YOU in your post (#147) to which he replied.
By retaining your "That individual's stance on abortion is important" I explicitly showed that you did not see it as the "only issue".
So by mentioning only one issue, you "explicitly showed" more than one.
The existence of more than one issue is a given
Then it would be "implicit".
Even if you were right*, it remains the case that by retaining your "That individual's stance on abortion is important" I showed that you did not see it as the "only issue" - so I clearly did not, as you claimed, draw the conclusion "That you and I agree the only issue in contention for selecting the next justice is that individual's stance on abortion."
(*Which you aren't; the existence of other issues is implicit, which means that when you say "abortion is important" you have explicitly said you don't see it as the "only issue in contention". One doesn't need to state every relevant premise in order to have been explicit.)
Arguments not infrequently rely on the law of the excluded middle, but rarely state this rule; if you'd like to maintain that all such arguments are not explicit, feel free - more fool you.