by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Yesterday I used this space to wax indignant about the new anti-abortion law in Texas which makes the women's healthcare procedure illegal if a fetus is old enough for a heartbeat to be detected - something that some experts say occurs around six weeks - and others believe takes longer.
The white Republican men who control the Texas state legislature and the state's executive branch - as well as its judicial branch, are adamant in their support of life, from the moment of conception right up until the child is born. Unfortunately for children and families in Texas all of that righteous support for life dries up and blows away like so much prairie dust on the day the fetus leaves the womb and begins breathing on its own.
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, a loud opponent of abortion under any circumstances, is not so protective of children who have matured beyond the fetus stage. School children, in fact, seem to have become targets of the attention-seeking governor. Abbott has implemented an executive order banning mask mandates in public schools, an order that a few brave school districts have so far chosen to ignore. Texas schools also do not have to notify members of the public if there is a COVID outbreak among staff or students. And, if there is a significant COVID outbreak in a school, one that should necessitate closing the facility, the Texas legislature has yet to pass a plan that would fund on-line education for this year.
The Texas legislature has been too consumed with other things to focus on the actual needs of real children. Not only have legislators been unusually busy in protecting the fetuses over women, they have also been intently focused on ways to limit the voting options of minorities and developing strategies to keep them away from the polls. Important policies like those take a lot of time and concentration.
And then there is the other overriding concern of Texas legislators: finding ways to increase gun sales. Former Texas congressman, Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat and a continuing pain-in-the-ass to Texas Republican politicians like Greg Abbott, is actively fighting the right-wing hate groups in Texas, particularly the governor and legislature. Yesterday Beto sent out an email to supporters in which said this about guns in the state of Texas:
" . . . anyone can now carry a gun in public without getting a permit, or going through a background check or receiving any kind of training. This, in a state that has four of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history and a crisis in gun violence against women (women in Texas are 24% more likely to be murdered with a gun than women in other states)."
So any moron in Texas who is sober enough to pull on his boots can step out onto the public streets armed to the teeth, with no weapons' training or license from the government, and stand before the whole world as some sort of bent tribute to freedom - while posing a direct lethal threat to anyone whom he might regard as having disrespected himself, his pickup truck, or even his dog. And God help his wife if she says anything wrong!
Yup, that sure as hell sounds like a pro-life state of mind to me!
4 comments:
Radicalized Republicans replaced science with the "heartbeat" demagogic. Fact is there is no fetus at 6 week. What there is is called a zygote and its about the size of a lentil, that's smaller than a split pea. A zygote is not a fetus and neither a zygote or a fetus is a baby. That needs to be said because radicalized Republicans have been eliminating correct scientific terms in state statutes and replacing them with demagogic terms. What misguided believer will get riled up when their pastor says "zygotic heartbeat"?
Anyway, as much as I adore constitutional challenges, courts are loathe to reach the big question and tend to make findings on lesser issues. The humdinger for Texas SB8 is standing. Our friend Justice Scalia, who would have thought, leads the way to the demise of this horrific Texas statute. In Lujan v. Defenders of Wilderness, 504 U.S. 555 (1992) Nino, writing for the Court, wanted the three traditional standing requirements satisfied.
A plaintiff must have suffered “an invasion of a legally protected interest” that meets two additional criteria: (1) it is “concrete and particularized”; and (2) it is “actual or imminent,” as opposed to “conjectural or hypothetical.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560. It does not need to be an economic injury, but it needs to be something that has directly affected the plaintiff.
The plaintiff’s injury must be “fairly traceable” to the conduct that is the subject of the lawsuit. Id. It cannot have resulted from actions by someone who is not a party to the lawsuit.
A decision in the plaintiff’s favor must be likely to provide an adequate remedy for the plaintiff’s injuries. The court specified that “redress[] by a favorable decision” must be “likely,” rather than “merely speculative.” Lujan. at 561.
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife was also case involving disinterested citizens bringing suit.
Nino Scalia! Who would of thought!
Xobekim, my only disagreement with your comment is that you called the embryo a zygote.
Your comment about a 'misguided believer will get riled up when their pastor says "zygotic heartbeat"' was clever.
Sorry that I can't create a link that you can just click. Cut and paste to see these illustrations.
Check out the illustration of a six week old embryo by the Mayo Clinic site. It is not distinguishable as "human" compared with other non-mammalian species at the same stage of development.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/prenatal-care/art-20045302.
Other genera comparison:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=wl1dbq9n&id=9928D7923977F736A700FB55780FCF2A1C7C2539&thid=OIP.wl1dbq9nvnYMIPHIQcscEQAAAA&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthumb1.shutterstock.com%2Fdisplay_pic_with_logo%2F1121657%2F180855353%2Fstock-vector-different-stages-in-the-early-embryonic-development-of-vertebrates-a-fish-amphibian-reptile-180855353.jpg&exph=394&expw=450&q=illustrations+of+bird+embryonic+development&simid=608004044518664812&form=IRPRST&ck=5B07D5FFAD9FFA3B7D346582BC636708&selectedindex=0&qpvt=illustrations+of+bird+embryonic+development&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=0&sim=11&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.c25d5d6eaf67be760c20f1c841cb1c11%3Frik%3DOSV8HCrPD3hV%252bw%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&pivotparams=insightsToken%3Dccid_HFjtQPQO*cp_77C9B140283C537B46C452F1AA6735A7*mid_1D55507DFEA43D5782AA56DE60C33F6DA48B789C*simid_608017384699611082*thid_OIP.HFjtQPQOe2UaPNlouBAWfgAAAA&iss=VSI
Ranger Bob, I will concede that at 6.5 to 7 weeks that zygote matured into an embryo. Some experts firmly believe the rudimentary heartbeat begins much earlier, as soon as 3 or 4 weeks. The "abortion stops a beating heart" demagogic has been preached for decades from pulpits both Protestant and Catholic. But yes definitely by 6 weeks it is an embryo.
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