Roe v. Wade: The Next Round

Scott Hardie | March 8, 2006
As expected, South Dakota has banned abortion. (link) I think the Onion said it best: "Slow down, South Dakota. Alito and Roberts were given lifetime appointments. What's the rush?"

For some reason I'm tickled about what a previous edition of this article mentioned: There's only one abortion clinic in the state of South Dakota. One. Women could have gone to other doctors, sure, and they can still cross state lines. But I'm just plain amused that a groundbreaking law has been drafted on pure principle alone, since there's only one clinic affected by it. Wouldn't it be funny if a judge ruled that the law is inappropriate because there aren't enough clinics to justify it, and then pro-life groups would have to open more clinics themselves to get the test law to stand? There's just something ironic about all this.

In all seriousness, I do applaud the pro-life movement for being organized enough to do this. Pickets and protests achieve nothing, and obviously, assassinating doctors is no solution either. I don't agree with their politics, but I cheer them for doing the right way what they believe in.

Scott Horowitz | March 8, 2006
Here's the thing with the abortion thing, even if the court overturns Roe v. Wade there will still be abortions. State law supercedes federal law except if it is in the constitution. If there is a constitutional amendment about abortion, then it would be done. However, Let's assume Roe V Wade is overturned. The more liberal states will not ban abortions, people will just have to travel to these states to obtain one. You'll see a whole bunch of unwed mothers from the bible belt travelling to Massachusetts for an abortion.

Amy Austin | March 10, 2006
Here's a forward from a friend of a friend who read this on another board somewhere. I thought it was kind of funny. The first paragraph is part of his preface; what follows is from the posted message:

Eleven additional states already have similar legislation pending, working its way through the system. They were just waiting on the "right" (pun intended) people to be appointed to the Supreme Court.


Hey men of South Dakota... I think you overlooked something:

When a woman got pregnant before abortion was legal, there was no way for her to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who the father was. All a guy had to do was spread rumors about the girl, claim she was a slut, trash her reputation by getting a few buddies to say they slept with her or that they knew other guys who slept with her, etc. It was her word against yours and since she was a fallen woman, no one was going to believe her. She was forced to leave town for almost a year. You (or your son) simply walked away and never had to think about it again.

Remember all that sex you had in college? You never had to deal with any consequences, did you? You just assumed that you never got anyone pregnant because no one ever told you that you did. You don't believe that abortion rights were ever an issue in your life and you don't expect them to be an issue in your son's life either. You taught him to be "careful" - just like you always were.

I bet it never even occurred to you that your college girlfriend may have gotten an abortion without telling you.

Well, my friends... you just eliminated choice from a woman's life, so she'll probably end up having a baby that was conceived while you were being "careful". But wait... it gets better. There is now a little thing called DNA testing. The girl can PROVE the kid belongs to you (or your son).

If you're the one who did the deed, you'll have to pay child support and your wife will find out that you've been a naughty boy - which means you may end up having to pay alimony as well. If your son did the deed, he will also be forced to pay child support, but if he's only 14 and can't afford to do it, you'll be footing the bill! I bet you never thought his college fund would be spent on diapers and baby food! It looks like his Ivy League future just flew out the window, huh?

No more rumors... no more "muddying the waters" to make people think the father could be one of a dozen guys... no more walking away without a care in the world. Guys, you're going to pay for the next 18 years... and if the girl wasn't quite legal yet, you'll be paying a different price!

I bet you never dreamed that controlling someone else's body was going to be so damn expensive, did you?

Jackie Mason | March 10, 2006
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