Monday, February 13, 2006

Anti-Abortion Plans: Step 32,679



You might be keen to learn what the next stage in the so-called pro-life movement might be after getting Alito on the bench. It looks like this: Create a state law somewhere which pretty much bans all abortion. Then take it to the Supreme Court as a test case. Hope that Roe v. Wade falls. (Then start on the banning of all contraception.)

The first state to volunteer for this valiant deed is South Dakota:

A measure seeking a court fight aimed at overturning the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion was approved Wednesday by a South Dakota legislative committee.

The House State Affairs Committee voted 11-2 to approve a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in South Dakota.

HB1215, which next goes to the full House of Representatives, would make it a felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison for doctors and others to perform an abortion. However, abortions would be allowed to save the life of a pregnant woman.

Notice that abortion would only be legal if it was needed to save the life of a pregnant woman. As medical diagnosis is rarely precise enough to absolutely differentiate a case where death is sure to follow from one where death might follow or not, I can see how the five-years-in-prison would affect the physicians' choices a lot, especially if there is no punishment for letting the woman die.

In case you wondered what South Dakota thinks this law would do to women, rest assured: They have the women's interest at heart:

Hunt said the bill also recognizes that abortion should be prohibited to protect women and unborn children and to protect a woman's right to a relationship with her unborn child.

A new type of feminism, perhaps?