Posted on 02/24/2005 3:04:40 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
AUGUSTA — A conservative lawmaker is again drawing criticism for a bill he says is about gay rights but some of his colleagues say is about political posturing. State Rep. Brian Duprey, R-Hampden, wants the Legislature to forbid a woman from ending a pregnancy based on the projected sexual orientation of a fetus. He said the bill looks into the future in case scientists find what he described as a "homosexual gene."
"I have heard from women who told me that if they found out that they were carrying a child with the gay gene, then they would abort. I think this is wrong," said Duprey, who got the idea while listening to The Rush Limbaugh Show.
But some lawmakers say Duprey is neither interested in creating new policy to protect gays and lesbians nor seriously discussing the issue of abortion. The bill, they say, is a way of forcing some lawmakers to choose between abortion rights and gay rights.
"It will be seen as some kind of political gamesmanship," said House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings, D-Portland.
Duprey drew attention to the issue of gay rights last month. He proposed a bill to legalize same-sex marriages but opposed it himself. He said he put it forward after a constituent asked him to.
The Baldacci administration and gay rights advocates questioned Duprey's motivation. Advocates said the bill disrespected the legislative process and prevented them from having time to build support for the issue.
Legislative leaders at first were unsure what to make of Duprey's new bill, which Planned Parenthood of Northern New England believes has never been proposed in any state.
Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, questioned the bill's premise. "You cannot test for it," he said.
After seeing the proposed legislation, Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, and Cummings called Duprey's efforts disingenuous. They questioned why he has opposed gay rights legislation protecting adults while pushing for legislation protecting those not yet born.
"It is just something to get him press time. It is not a realistic proposal," Edmonds said.
Duprey conceded that scientists are still debating the relationship between genetics and sexual orientation. He believes they are not connected but fears if proven wrong the number of abortions in Maine will rise.
"Technology is changing every day. They could map the homosexual gene tomorrow," Duprey said.
Finding a gene that determines sexual orientation is a hotly debated issue. Sujatha Byravan, executive director of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Council for Responsible Genetics, said the issue continues to be controversial and has not been settled. She added that it is not at the forefront of current debate in the scientific community.
The issue of a so-called "gay gene" came up at the State House last fall when the head of the Christian Civic League of Maine issued a statement questioning whether Gov. John Baldacci had one. This was in response to the governor's support of bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
A spokesman for the governor's office said the administration will review Duprey's bill but declined to comment on it.
Duprey, who is a fervent opponent of abortion, said he believes support will grow for the measure, though he has no co-sponsors.
Duprey said the success of the bill will depend on its presentation to lawmakers. He sees it as a way to keep people from aborting children based on sexual orientation, basically a hate crime law for the unborn.
"I like to push the envelope. I have no problem with it," Duprey said.
Leaders in both parties, however, question whether the bill will attract support. Assistant House Minority Leader Joshua Tardy, R-Newport, said Republican leadership does not police what legislation representatives submit, but the proposal is not one of the caucus' priorities in the current session.
"He put it in. The caucus did not put it in," said Davis, the senate minority leader.
Equality Maine, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, is still reviewing the bill.
Lisa Roche, executive director of the Maine Right to Life Committee, said her group is concentrating on tightening state reporting requirements around abortion. Duprey's bill, she said, is a distraction that could cast a negative light on those pushing for real reforms.
Staff Writer Mark Peters can be contacted at 623-1031 or at:
mpeters@pressherald.com
Jesus said: "And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." -from THE BIBLE: Matthew 19:4-6
how many joes ?
This legislator is very pro-traditional marriage. He's trying to make a point here.
No gay gene has ever been detected, so this law prohibits something that cannot happen.
Here's the recipe:
1 absent/emotionally absent father + 1 domineering mother = 1 "gay" son.
I know too much about this stuff.
Here's another link. Take a look at these testimonials:
http://exodus.to/testimonials_left_HomoSexuality.shtml
It took me years to realize that what I dreamed of was within me all along. I found my security in a God who accepted me as I was, loved me enough to talk to me in my dirtiest condition yet not leave me there, and showed His commitment to me by providing the help I needed to get out in a tangible way. He was a God I could trust and follow....
In 1998 the ultimate earthly dream came true when I married my best friend. Leslie is the embodiment of all I consider to be godly, pure and beautiful. She is not my diploma for healing, nor is she proof that I have changed. She is, however, evidence of God’s grace in my life, a part of the ‘best’ that God promised me back in that gay bar. God uses her in my life to bring constant encouragement as I grow in my manhood. I am a better man today because of my life with her and because of God’s continuing work in me. My life with Leslie is abundantly more than I could have ever hoped for and the dearest earthly blessing God could have ever given me aside from His Son.
The lawmaker in question simply has too much time on his hands.
He is working on the premise:
"Technology is changing every day. They could map the homosexual gene tomorrow," Duprey said.
What does that have to do with people that say they would abort a child they thought might be gay?
1 absent/emotionally absent father + 1 domineering mother = 1 "gay" son.
And if the family consists of 4 male children?
1 gay and the other 3 straight.
I can't accept your equation.
The gay gene is a myth...and so it goes...
Please don't be silly. You're smart enough to get my point.
If a homosexual gene is ever found, I can guarantee that homosexual rights groups would all support such a ban.
It sounds like political posturing to me...
My "smartness" is still "out" on this subject.
Let's just say that it's far easier for gays to believe there's a gay gene, than for them to do the hard work of changing their lives.
If they want to live gutless lives, rather than meet the pain head on, and break through to the other side, that's their business. But I know what's available, and I refuse to give gays a pass. There exists in reality God's grace - NOT a gay gene.
"He's trying to make a point here."
And I think he's a genius. What he says is true. In China, they were aborting females. I think it is wrong to abort based on any of those decisions. Yes, I also believe abortion is plain wrong, unless it's to save a life.
But standing up for the gay unborn is only right. Who can argue with that?
"This is just one example of how the pro-life movement keeps cutting its nose off."
Making people stop and think is a good thing. Look at the battle to stop partial birth abortion. That's what made me take the abortion issue seriously. When you cannot completely eradicate a terrible evil, seek to temporize it.
How about this idea? I propose the DELAYED ABORTION option. For example, a woman believes that if she gives birth to a child, even if she gives her child up for adoption, that her child will turn out unhappy.
Very well then. How can she be sure? I think she should give the child a 'trial period'. She should let the child live adopted for five years, then investigate to see how unhappy her child is. If her child is too unhappy, having been adopted [or the hypothetical orphanage], then she can have her child 'aborted'. I mean, how can you be sure how your child will turn out when the child can't even speak? Kick the tires first. Do the trial run.
People say, "You can't murder a five year old!" Why not? I think it makes more sense than murdering a child who hasn't even had a chance to say he or she doesn't want to live. Give the child a chance to prove himself or herself. See how things work out. Maybe the kid will say she wants to be aborted-- who knows?
This is really making me think. Consider this:
What if scientists claim they discovered a 'criminal' gene? So pregnant mothers begin aborting all of those future 'criminals', and then they find out later that the 'criminal gene' was actually a 'higher tendancy' toward crime, but also linked to a higher tendancy toward creative thinking, inventiveness, and everything that makes America great? The gene pool would suffer terribly.
In fact, I'm sure many homosexuals believe they have all those qualities-- creativity, innovativeness, etc. Trying to see this from their perspective, we would be inhuman and foolish to not seek their genetic code's protection. And who knows? A gene that tends toward homosexuality could, in fact, be linked to many qualities which enrich our world.
At the same time, science could make breakthroughs in how to neutralize negative affects of undesirable genes, such as through medicine or herbs, and only the good aspects of those genes would remain. Long term, we need variety in our genetics.
I've always said: All bad things must come to an end.
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