Personhood Amendments

[KhanadaRhodes]

yeah, i'd heard it before. online, that is. i'm not in the 4th district* (thank god) but it's still ridiculous. and it doesn't surprise me at all. this is the same state that allowed people to bring guns into places that serve alcohol. "i feel so unsafe in this bar, if only i'd been able to bring my gun in instead of leaving it in the car!" said no drunk person ever.

the only good things in recent history i can think of that have been done that are good is not raising the sales tax to 9.75% (yes, as in almost TEN percent) although that was local rather than state, and banning smoking in restaurants. a lot of my eh is probably aimed at memphis rather than tennessee, but tennessee is still shitty.



*i actually have no idea what district i live in. if i were to go to house.gov and plug in my zip+4 it tells me one district (which corresponds with the maps on wikipedia), yet any time i've gone to vote i vote on the district that represents memphis proper. but i like the guy who represents memphis better, and he actually does stuff so i like him better.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

yeah, i'd heard it before. online, that is. i'm not in the 4th district* (thank god) but it's still ridiculous. and it doesn't surprise me at all. this is the same state that allowed people to bring guns into places that serve alcohol. "i feel so unsafe in this bar, if only i'd been able to bring my gun in instead of leaving it in the car!" said no drunk person ever.

Ha. Yeah, what moron came up with that idea? I've been hearing about all these places that people are allowed to bring guns into now, and nobody's been able to really explain WHY exactly one would need a gun in most of these places. Kind of frightening.

You came to mind when I was sharing this story, 'cause I remember you live in the state-was wondering if you'd heard any more beyond what's been reported in the national news or if you've just heard the same things everyone else had.

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

the only good things in recent history i can think of that have been done that are good is not raising the sales tax to 9.75% (yes, as in almost TEN percent) although that was local rather than state, and banning smoking in restaurants. a lot of my eh is probably aimed at memphis rather than tennessee, but tennessee is still shitty.



*i actually have no idea what district i live in. if i were to go to house.gov and plug in my zip+4 it tells me one district (which corresponds with the maps on wikipedia), yet any time i've gone to vote i vote on the district that represents memphis proper. but i like the guy who represents memphis better, and he actually does stuff so i like him better.

Well, hey, it's a start, right? Sorry that you've got to put up with so much crap like this, though. I have a shitty person representing my district-he hasn't shown THAT level of insanity (yet), but he's still pretty horrible and stupid. So the citizens who don't approve of that guy in Tennessee have my sympathy.

That's really weird about your district issues. But your reasoning sounds good to me, I'd stick with someone like that, too.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by Moonlit_Angel

Ha. Yeah, what moron came up with that idea? I've been hearing about all these places that people are allowed to bring guns into now, and nobody's been able to really explain WHY exactly one would need a gun in most of these places. Kind of frightening.

yeah, even when it was first proposed and everything (i'm 99% sure we didn't get to vote on it, it was just voted on by legislators. oh, and fun fact? the sponsor of said bill was arrested for a dui (and refusing to take a breathalyser) and had a loaded gun in the front seat of his car. this was just one year after the law was passed.

Originally Posted by Moonlit_Angel

You came to mind when I was sharing this story, 'cause I remember you live in the state-was wondering if you'd heard any more beyond what's been reported in the national news or if you've just heard the same things everyone else had.

thanks, i think. the only person i know who lives in nashville (district 4 is in the southern suburbs) isn't really into politics but if it wasn't covered there i'd be shocked.

Originally Posted by Moonlit_Angel

Well, hey, it's a start, right? Sorry that you've got to put up with so much crap like this, though. I have a shitty person representing my district-he hasn't shown THAT level of insanity (yet), but he's still pretty horrible and stupid. So the citizens who don't approve of that guy in Tennessee have my sympathy.

That's really weird about your district issues. But your reasoning sounds good to me, I'd stick with someone like that, too.

oh definitely. maybe since where i live has been annexed we're in some weird situation where we look like we're in one district but we're really in another. all i know is i heard he sometimes uses interns through my school and i'm going to bust my hump trying to see if i can work for him.

and that sucks that you have a shitty person representing your district. i wouldn't try to rank one type of politician over the other in terms of importance (representative, mayor, senator, etc.) but it sucks when on a local level you feel you're not represented the way you want to be.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Paul Ryan Wants Personhood for "One-Celled Human Embryos" | RH Reality Check

Are you ready to stand up for the rights of the "one-celled human embryos?" Well, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is, and he's got a bill to prove it.

Now that Congress is in session again, anti-choice bills are popping up left and right (but just in the House, of course, because that's the only place they can get votes). The latest? He's co-sponsoring a federal "personhood" amendment, because if the trouncing of anti-choice politicians across the country taught the House Republicans anything, it's that Americans simply love debating abortion.

Fresh off his invite to headline the anti-choice, anti-woman Susan B. Anthony List's annual gala, Ryan is paying more attention to his second favorite Americans—the single celled ones—with the assistance of bill sponsor Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA).

Via Huffington Post:

The personhood bill, first introduced in 2011 by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and reintroduced by Broun last week, specifies that a "one-celled human embryo," even before it implants in the uterus to create a pregnancy, should be granted "all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood." Similar legislation has been rejected by voters in multiple states, including the socially conservative Mississippi, because legal experts have pointed out that it could outlaw some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization as well as criminalize abortion at all stages.

Broun said in a statement that a zygote's right to life should be "defended vigorously and at all costs."

"As a physician, I know that human life begins with fertilization, and I remain committed to ending abortion in all stages of pregnancy," he said. "I will continue to fight this atrocity on behalf of the unborn, and I hope my colleagues will support me in doing so."

Ryan did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment about his support for the bill, which has 17 co-sponsors.

Let's just be clear that there is no such thing as a "one-celled" embryo, because the embryonic stage follows first on the zygote or fertilized egg, which develops into a blastocyst, which then develops into an embryo... and is not "one-celled." But, you know... Republicans, science... pffft.

Sometimes I wish I was a single-celled human so I could get a little love from the congressional GOP, too.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Good to see they've come back fresh from break and ready to tackle the issues that REALLY matter, as always !

(Ugh. Seriously, please, let's not have a repeat of 2012 with this crap, okay, Congress?)

[corianderstem]

I'm so glad they're willing to spend so much time, energy and money on shit like this. That will never pass. Instead of actually doing shit that is useful. Nah, let's just pander to the extremes of our bases instead.

[Diemen]

So much for the GOP learning their lesson from the election.

[digitize]

Originally Posted by Diemen

So much for the GOP learning their lesson from the election.

And the Democrats step closer to winning the presidency once again in 2016.

[Pearl]

Under the new law, proposed by state Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway), doctors who perform abortions on a woman who is more than 12 weeks pregnant will lose their medical licenses unless the woman is a victim of rape or incest, her life is in danger or the fetus has a highly lethal abnormality. Republican supporters of the bill argue that abortion should be banned that early in a pregnancy because the fetal heartbeat can be detected at that point.

Arkansas 12-Week Abortion Ban Becomes Law

I suppose these lawmakers forgot or never heard about the woman in Ireland who died after being denied an abortion - because the fetus' heartbeat was still going.

[anitram]

Would be interested in knowing how the courts are going to establish rape or incest in cases where the victim did not report it. Put her on trial and investigate! Seems reasonable.

Incredibly stupid law for that reason alone.

[Pearl]

North Dakota Senate Passes Two Unprecedented Abortion Bans

It looks as though America is headed for a dystopia. What's going on here? (rhetorical question)

[LadySpinHead]

Originally Posted by Pearl

North Dakota Senate Passes Two Unprecedented Abortion Bans

It looks as though America is headed for a dystopia. What's going on here? (rhetorical question)

It's North Dakota. Unfortunately the whole state is backwards. That's why I, and almost everyone I went to school with, left as soon as possible. Very conservative.

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by Pearl

North Dakota Senate Passes Two Unprecedented Abortion Bans

N.D. governor signs nation's strictest abortion laws

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed bills Tuesday making the state's abortion laws the nation's most restrictive and setting the stage for what he called a U.S. Supreme Court challenge of "the boundaries of Roe v. Wade."

The bills bar abortions if a fetal heartbeat is heard, which can be six weeks into a pregnancy; ban abortions prompted by genetic defects; and require abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges. They become law Aug. 1 unless a court blocks them.

A fetus has a heart? That beats? Who knew?

It looks as though America is headed for a dystopia. What's going on here? (rhetorical question)

Yes, image a dystopia where a heartbeat might lead one to believe an object is alive and thus due a modicum of moral consideration. An insane world where the neonatal science of 2013 trumps that of 1973. What is going on here?

[deep]

The bills bar abortions if a fetal heartbeat is heard

my dog has much better hearing than me, but I doubt if she could hear a fetal heart.
i suppose if one got up cozy they would have a better shot at it.

[Jive Turkey]

Originally Posted by INDY500

A fetus has a heart? That beats? Who knew?


Yes, image a dystopia where a heartbeat might lead one to believe an object is alive and thus due a modicum of moral consideration. An insane world where the neonatal science of 2013 trumps that of 1973. What is going on here?

A heartbeat? How completely arbitrary. Perhaps you'd like to explain to the class what the significance of a heartbeat is? And also explain to us how the development of a heart beat is any different than the development of eyeballs. Please leave any appeals to emotion out of your answer

[Dalton]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

A heartbeat? How completely arbitrary. Perhaps you'd like to explain to the class what the significance of a heartbeat is? And also explain to us how the development of a heart beat is any different than the development of eyeballs. Please leave any appeals to emotion out of your answer

U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One - YouTube

pwnd

[Jive Turkey]

dammit, Dalton, I didn't think anyone would solve my riddle so quickly. Rumpelstiltskin and his life partner have to give the child back to the straight couple

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by INDY500

A fetus has a heart? That beats? Who knew?


Yes, image a dystopia where a heartbeat might lead one to believe an object is alive and thus due a modicum of moral consideration. An insane world where the neonatal science of 2013 trumps that of 1973. What is going on here?

If you go back a few pages in this thread, you would see we discussed the woman in Ireland who died after a failing pregnancy, in which the fetus' heartbeat was still going. If she had a life-saving abortion, she would've lived. A heartbeat does not mean all is well.

[Jive Turkey]

Originally Posted by Pearl

A heartbeat does not mean all is well.

I don't think this is what Indy was alluding to with his post. Rather, he's talking about the warm and fuzzy feeling we're supposed to get when we realize (because it hadn't occurred to us before) that at fetus is a living thing with a heartbeat. We all know that a heartbeat signifies life and love and we should reconsider our stance on the issue in light of this very insightful information. It's not at all the reasoning of a simpleton

[anitram]

Originally Posted by INDY500

ban abortions prompted by genetic defects;

Really good to know that women will be forced to carry anencephalitic babies (ie babies born without a brain and essentially without the top of their head who die within hours of being born) to term. Nine months of horror and as an added bonus, if they have children, the whole family gets to be traumatized. Such decisions are best made by the government, not by families in private.

Great to have conservatives around. We wouldn't want the guvmint making personal decisions for anyone.