Posted on 06/03/2015 11:55:18 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said this week that he was prepared to sign a measure banning abortion at 20 weeks without an exception for rape or incest because it’s only “in the initial months” that victims are “most concerned” about access to care.
Walker, who is expected to announce his run for president at the end of the month, said that such an exception didn’t matter and that he would sign the bill regardless.
“I mean, I think for most people who are concerned about that, it’s in the initial months where they’re most concerned about it,” Walker said. “In this case, again, it’s an unborn life, it’s an unborn child and that’s why we feel strongly about it. I’m prepared to sign it either way that they send it to us.”
The measure, which the state House and Senate will vote on next week, mirrors the federal legislation that caused a rift among House Republicans earlier this year. And this bill, like Arizona Rep. Trent Franks’ version, is designed around the medically discredited claim that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks.
The bill also instructs physicians to “terminate the pregnancy in the manner that… provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.”
From the measure:
Under the bill, the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain if the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child is 20 or more weeks. When the unborn child is considered capable of experiencing pain and the pregnant woman is undergoing a medical emergency, the bill requires the physician to terminate the pregnancy in the manner that, in reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.
And as Laura Bassett at the Huffington Post first noted, the measure also allows men to sue for emotional damages. More from the bill (emphasis mine):
The bill allows the woman on whom the abortion was performed or attempted, and the father of the unborn child, unless the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest, to bring a claim for damages against a person who violates these limitations and requirements. A prosecuting attorney may also bring an action for injunctive relief for intentional or reckless violations of the limitations and requirements.
Last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Idaho’s 20 week ban to be “unconstitutional because it categorically bans some abortions before viability.”
Roe v. Wade holds viability, as a legal concept, somewhere between 22 and 24 weeks. But viability is much more complicated than this legal framing would suggest, as Dr. Stephen Chasen, the director of high-risk obstetrics at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center whose practice focuses on prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities, told me last month. Commenting on a study about survival rates of very premature babies, he said: “The bottom line is that viability has never been a set number, it has always been determined by doctors based on the pregnancy.”
And that’s why laws that interfere in a patient’s access to care and a doctor’s medical judgment — like the 20 week ban working its way through the Wisconsin legislature — are so dangerous. Dr. Kathleen Morrell, a New York-based OB-GYN, put it this way: “You can’t legislate this [kind of medical decision]. A woman and her family need to be able to have all options available to them.”
But Scott Walker called the pre-viability ban “rational and reasonable.”
“Whether you’re pro-life or not, that’s a good time to say that shouldn’t be legal after a time when an unborn child can literally feel pain,” Walker told CNN last week.
Governor Scott Walker Wants Wisconsin to Pass Bill to Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks
Not to make a litmus test case or anything but they only begin to ponder it after 4 months of pregnancy?
NotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFaultNotTheBaby’sFault
Another editorial gem from Katie kill-a-kid McDonough.
That was my thought too! Do women normally wait 5 months to decide that they need to abort the baby that was a result of a rape?
The Left are scared to death of this clean-cut, pleasant, bright, insightful, and charismatic guy who may just be the next POTUS.
Lol
I knew it had to be Salon
My advice to pols is to avoid gotcha abortion questions
Walker, too.
Walker’s “rumbling” under their feet, and they know what it means - he’s going to be a disaster for their “causes” — their “justice.”
And, their legal right to murder innocent babies.
"Scott Walker made his reputation busting unions and attacking K-12 teachers. It was only a matter of time until he turned his guns on higher education. Not only has he slashed the funding of the University of Wisconsin, but now he is going after tenure. He long ago signaled his belief that universities exist for workforce training, not to develop independent-minded citizens or creative thinkers.
If you are opposed to Scott Walker’s assault on intellectual freedom, sign this petition.
This email just arrived:
Diane,
Please help get the word out–
Tenure is literally dying as we speak. Last Friday the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee passed an Omnibus Bill that creates Act 10 for Higher Education..................."
“...Walker’s political opponents painted his position as extreme. “Once again, Scott Walker has placed his own rigid, backward ideology ahead of the best interests of the people of his state,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “Already, this bill takes away a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor. Already, it doesn’t allow for any exceptions even for survivors of rape or incest. And now, shocking new details show that Scott Walker wants to go even further to take away a woman’s say in her own health. Rape survivors deserve more protections under the law, not less.”
....“The Democrats were painting us as the caveman party,“ says Katie Packer Gage, a former top aide to Romney and founder of Burning Glass Consulting, a firm that has focused on helping male Republican candidates talk about issues important to women.
Packer Gage acknowledged Walker’s comments could hurt him. But she said the 20-week abortion ban, if properly handled, could be a winning issue for Republicans in the general election. “We have [Democrats] a bit backed into the corner because the public support is there, even among women,” she told TIME. “Many people believe that if you haven’t figured this out in 20 weeks, well, the decision has probably already been made and you should probably go forward.”
Liz Mair, a Republican strategist and former adviser to Walker, noted that many women who support the right to an abortion draw a distinction between late-term abortions and those performed during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Mair, who supports a woman’s right to an abortion in the first trimester, argued it is extreme to support abortions during the final three months of a pregnancy if the mother’s life is not at risk.”
http://time.com/3908468/scott-walker-abortion-ban/
Saloon. Hic!
Or worse...
Does it take them 3 months or more to realize that they were raped? Or that they were dating their First Cousin?
I don't buy it.
But then, the Left never tells the truth...
For a different perspective that the article posted, try this:
http://minka.littlethings.com/minka-reunites-with-daughter/?utm_source=LTas&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=shocking
The rape canard. If the victim, and for her I do have sympathy, has carried the child for 20 weeks, has she not come to terms (npi) with the LIFE growing within??? I can see a first trimester decision - still another tragedy - but at least is understsndable. But this opposition is simply playing the “rape card” as a ruse to forward a different agenda.
The Left has played the "rape" card on Walker before.
Scott Walker Removes Campus Rape Reporting Requirements After University's Request [UPDATE] UPDATE: Feb. 28 -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker deleted campus rape reporting requirements from his new two-year budget this month at the request of University of Wisconsin Systems. The network of campuses said the federal government already required them to report rape statistics, and the Wisconsin state requirement forced them to duplicate those efforts.
A report by Jezebel on Friday suggested that Walker deleted the rape requirements as a policy move. Walker's office and UWSystems have since confirmed that was not the case.
Previously: ......."
The leftard rags like “Salon” have directed much of their fire at Walker in recent weeks... they must’ve gotten the directive from the lead ‘rats to start in on him. They must be seeing survey data that tells them he’s a threat.
You’re right.
It’s been a drumbeat about Walker’s “war on women,” his “racism” his fight against unions/education..... [their top 3 voter targets - women, minorities, unions]
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