ACLU Calls Senate Anti-Choice Vote Misguided; Reproductive Freedom Could Be Undermined

aclu.org ^

[chance33_98]

ACLU Calls Senate Anti-Choice Vote Misguided; Reproductive Freedom Could Be Undermined By Bill’s Passage

March 25, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON - Following the Senate’s adoption of the so-called "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," the American Civil Liberties Union today called the measure an ill-advised assault on reproductive freedom, saying that pregnant women could be protected without adopting the bill’s approach of undermining the right to choose abortion.

"This thinly veiled attempt to create fetal rights is an effort to further erode the reproductive rights of women," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Supporters argue that this would deter violence against pregnant women, but we know that they are not serious because the Senate rejected an amendment that would have bolstered programs to do just that."

The bill (HR 1997) seeks to amend the federal criminal code to create a new, separate offense if, during the commission of certain federal crimes, an individual causes the death of, or bodily injury to, what the sponsors call a "child in utero." Because HR 1997 applies to all stages of prenatal development, it would be the first federal law to recognize a zygote (fertilized egg), a blastocyst (pre-implantation embryo), an embryo (through week eight of a pregnancy), or a fetus as an independent "victim" of a crime with legal rights distinct from the woman who has been harmed by a violent criminal act.

The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 61 to 38. The House passed its version of the measure in February. President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which would be the first federal law to recognize a fetus at any stage of development, from conception forward, as an independent "victim" of a crime with legal rights distinct from the woman who has been harmed by a violent criminal act.

Sponsors of the latest version of the bill have linked it to the Laci Peterson murder case, exploiting that tragedy for political purposes.

"Violence against pregnant women that results in the loss of or harm to a wanted pregnancy is a criminal act that should be appropriately punished," Murphy said. "We can do that by focusing on the devastating loss or injury to the woman without undermining reproductive freedom. It is unfortunate that the Senate today refused to take that route."

The ACLU’s letter to the Senate Urging Opposition to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/ReproductiveRights/ReproductiveRights.cfm?ID=15299 &c=143

[OpusatFR]

Reproductive freedom? Oh..that's the term for infanticide..

[watchin]

Those nasty, dispicable right-wingers ... they just want to save babies. Think of it!! Those vile nazis won't stop until they get all the slaughter stopped.

[Redcoat LI]

The lenghts those people go to in defending their "peculiar institution" is sickening.

[LiteKeeper]

an ill-advised assault on reproductive freedom

A well-advised defense of the unborns' right to live!

[1stFreedom]

>>This thinly veiled attempt to create fetal rights is an effort to further erode the reproductive rights of women,"

Whine whine whine!

The problem is that abortion erodes the right of the fetus.

Look, it's not our fault their abortion position eliminates the rights of unborn children. They should be with us on this, after all, if it isn't a "choice" but rather forced abortion, why wouldn't they be with us?

We can't help it if their justification for abortions are flimsy to begin with.

[Mike Bates]

You can almost always count on the ACLU - to be on the wrong side of an issue.

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[kimmie7]

I'll gladly give up their so-called "Reproductive Freedom". Such pretty words for such horrendous acts.

[watchin]

Reproductive freedom, pro-choice, women's rights, privacy rights - the euphemisms of vile, wicked murderers.

All of it means one thing - abortion. And killing babies can only be accomplished if you can convince the public that they're not really babies.

I think we need to take some of the propaganda away from them. Maybe a "pro-choice" march for school vouchers.

[ShandaLear]

So, I guess this really isn't about freedom of choice for women. I mean if women are free to end the lives of their unborn, shouldn't they also be supported when those same lives are ended in an act of crime against their bodies? Or is it just about the killing for the ACLU.

I wonder how they would feel is women were suddenly denied pre-natal care or fetal surgery under their health insurance policies. After all, why should anyone care a wit about the unborn, they are nothing, right?

[minus_273]

funny such a reply coming from a group called a "Civil Liberties Union". I guess human rights only apply to some people. It like articles like these becasue they show no matter how contradictory with their own statements, the left keeps on assuming they are right. Come to think of it, weren't these the same people who protest the death penalty.

[Xenalyte]

What's the uproar? We can reproduce as freely as we want.

[watchin]

"if it isn't a "choice" but rather forced abortion, why wouldn't they be with us?"

Good point. The answer is all too obivious. They're commited to killing babies. Choice has nothing to do with it.

[muawiyah]

This is not really news. The ACLU always takes the side of the murderers (unless, of course, they are doing it themselves and then they might elbow a few of the bad guys aside)

[watchin]

The liberals actually have the gall to attack conservatives for inconsistancy on that score, since there are many who are both pro-life and pro-death penalty.

That argument should always blow up in their faces. If we defend the innocent, and execute the guilty, what's the problem?

The liberals find themselves executing the innocent and defending the guilty. That point should be shouted from the rooftops.

[TRY ONE]

Original: "that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness --"

ACLU Version: that all people evolved equally, that they are endowed with certain government entitlements, that among these are Life benefits (but not while in the womb), and the Pursuit of Happiness, as approved by your loving government --

[<1/1,000,000th%]

"This thinly veiled attempt to create fetal rights is an effort to further erode the reproductive rights of women," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

Disingenuous.

Since 80% of the "women" who get abortions are under the age of 18, she really means, "erode the ability of men to get abortions for the children they got pregnant."

[Dionysius]

The bastards feel that fetal tissue research is going to keep them alive forever and they will never have to face the wrath of God.

[xrp]

Reproductive Freedom?

What part about making a baby do people not understand?

[Alberta's Child]

I don't think this has been mentioned before, but I've got a problem with this law that has nothing to do with "reproductive rights."

The Federal government has no business involving itself in matters that should instead be left to criminal statutes in individual states -- unless, of course, it involves matters specific to Federal law (crimes involving interstate commerce, for example) or involves a clarification of constitutional matters as they pertain to groups of people (the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example).

The only legitimate Federal involvement in this case would have been a law that codifies full constitutional protection for the unborn child -- or a law that eliminates all constitutional protection for unborn children. There is no room for anything in between.

To get an idea of how useless and irrational this Unborn Victims of Violence Act is, imagine how preposterous it would seem if Congress had passed a Civil Rights Act in 1964 that only applied to people living in states east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Mississippi River.