Abortion Discussion Thread

[Sour Masher]

I find the arguments against abortion even in cases of rape or incest wholly and completely unconvincing, even though I am a product of a rape myself. If my mother had aborted, I would have been none the wiser at the time, since I had no conscious thoughts. I'm happy to be alive now, especially since I have had my own children, but there are times in my childhood where I'd have very aggressively refuted the notion that I had been done a favor. Even if my childhood had been all peaches and cream, I don't think any version of me could have ever have been persuaded by the notion that it is the obligation of a woman to raise a child after pregnancy had been forced upon her by a rapist.

On a related note, it is incredibly sad to think that a state had the capability to reduce the number of rapes, but did not, and is promising to do so now to shield criticism of new restrictions on abortion. The idea that a single rape will be prevented now that was not before is an admission that not enough was being done before, and tying rape prevention as a quid pro quo to these new laws--I can't see how anyone can defend that.

[Sour Masher]

There is also no exemption for any "fetal anomalies," which seems to be more controversial ground than incest/rape for some. Not for me. There are conditions that ensure a short, painful life, and others a long painful one, and since we cannot fix those currently, I don't see the argument against abortion in these cases either. To be clear, I am completely pro-choice for any stage of pregnancy that is not viable outside the womb, but I understand arguments against abortion in general far more than in cases of incest, rape, and severe fetal anomaly.

I see abortion as a a serious and somber choice, not an equivalent choice to using birth control, but I also just don't think it is any of my business to make that call for a woman. By my estimation, the vast majority of abortions are carried out with cause and contemplation, and in all cases, except for if it is my wife, it isn't my place to judge or evaluate those causes or contemplations, because I am not the one who is pregnant. And even in that one case, with my wife, even though I think I should have a say, ultimately, it is not my call and should not be my call.

[Bene Futuis]

Dept of Justice to sue Texas over new abortion restrictions.

[Bene Futuis]

Six week embryos are the size of a pomegranate and do not have a heart. The heartbeat bill concept, predictably, is based totally off of a lie by religious extremists. The sound you hear is the machine itself.

Unphased by the misleading moniker "heartbeat bill", Christian Sharia law enthusiasts are trying to replicate this psychotic law all over the country in an effort to punish all women in the U.S. who dare to have sex instead of just those unfortunate enough to live in Texas. Meanwhile, the hyperpartisan religious right members of SCOTUS have embarked on a speaking tour in which they try to refrain from laughing out loud as they claim to not be partisans.

[madducks]

[Kevin Seitzer]

The Texas enforcement mechanism is abominable. Having said that, I imagine this Supreme Court will find a way to apply it only to abortion and not allow it for gun control. I really don't think Republicans have a lot to worry about here. The "ha, ha, got you now!" chorus from the Democratic side assumes, falsely, that the Supreme Court is constrained to play fair or by the rule of law in any consistent fashion.

[revo]

The Texas enforcement mechanism is abominable. Having said that, I imagine this Supreme Court will find a way to apply it only to abortion and not allow it for gun control. I really don't think Republicans have a lot to worry about here.

It's amazing to me that the highest court in the land has become a landfill of partisan hacks.

[DMT]

It's amazing to me that the highest court in the land has become a landfill of partisan hacks.

Obama should've appointed Garland, a serious blunder to concede the upper hand to Moscow Mitch.

[Bene Futuis]

Obama should've appointed Garland, a serious blunder to concede the upper hand to Moscow Mitch.

How would you have proposed Obama do that?

[umjewman]

Obama should've appointed Garland, a serious blunder to concede the upper hand to Moscow Mitch.

He clearly just assumed Hillary was a lock and then Garland would get confirmed afterwards. Or, Hillary would go for the maximum Republican head explosion move of withdrawing Garland and appointing Obama. Serious misstep.

[umjewman]

How would you have proposed Obama do that?

He could have done the recess appointment, although it almost certainly would have been deemed unconstitutional. That being said, it could have tied up the Trump administration and kept them focusing on that. After all, Trump can't pay attention to more than one thing at once.

[Bene Futuis]

He could have done the recess appointment, although it almost certainly would have been deemed unconstitutional. That being said, it could have tied up the Trump administration and kept them focusing on that. After all, Trump can't pay attention to more than one thing at once.

Ah, gotcha.

[Bene Futuis]

It's amazing to me that the highest court in the land has become a landfill of partisan hacks.

As Edwin Chemerinsky said:

If Supreme Court justices don’t want to be seen as “partisan hacks,” they should not act like them.

In a speech last week at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville Law School, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, “This court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.” She added, “Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties.”

Setting aside the irony of uttering these statements at an event honoring Sen. Mitch McConnell, who blocked the confirmation of Merrick Garland to the court and rushed through the confirmation of Barrett precisely because of their ideologies, the reality is that time and again the court’s Republican majority has handed down decisions strongly favoring Republicans in the political process.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-09-19/supreme-court-justices-amy-coney-barrett-politics

This is clearly the worst SCOTUS in a very long time. That's not surprising, given that a twice impeached halfwit who lost the popular vote by millions of votes appointed three of them on plainly partisan grounds. And now they're throwing five decades of jurisprudence away seemingly on a whim and promoting crackpot extremists like the former guy through their shadow docket. It is broken, perhaps irretrievably so.

[madducks]

So, according to this story, Pro-Life Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was a paid escort (for a Koch family member) who had two abortions when Ted Cruz met her and said "Hey, you should run for Congress."

[madducks]

So, according to this story, Pro-Life Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was a paid escort (for a Koch family member) who had two abortions when Ted Cruz met her and said "Hey, you should run for Congress."

Despite a damning letter from Rep. Lauren Boebert’s legal team denying all of the accusations against her, David Wheeler, the president of American Muckrakers, said his organization is fully prepared to defend their claims in court.

“If she really wants a civil lawsuit against us for defamation, bring it, because we haven't told anything that we did not believe to be true,” Wheeler said, adding that they would like to depose everybody involved, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Boebert’s family members.

“We will get to the bottom of whether we're lying or she's trying to lawyer us to death.”