Mississippians soundly rejected an anti-abortion bill that would have given a zygote the same rights as a grown woman. The bill was voted down in a referendum and sent to the dumpster where it belonged. It now seems that Delegate Bob Marshall has done some dumpster-diving of his own and retrieved the darn thing. He has introduced it as Bill # 1 in the House of Delegates.
From NARAL Pro-Choice America:
Anti-choice zealot Del. Bob Marshall has already filed the very first piece of legislation for the 2012 General Assembly session that begins in January. His bill would give legal rights to a fertilized egg, which would jeopardize the right to abortion and could potentially ban other reproductive health-care services like birth control. That’s right: House Bill 1 will be a “personhood” measure!
From CBN:
Beware of unintended consequences. As long as Roe v Wade stands, this bill would be meaningless even if it passes. However, if Roe vs Wade or even part of it were overturned, technically, regardless of what the video says, abortion could be illegal, again after nearly 40 years, and contraception could also be illegal in Virginia.
Should this bill pass, probably the most sensible thing to do would be to file a retroactive tax form claiming your children for the year before their birth, if they were born any time before August. It probably wouldn’t work with the feds but I don’t see why it wouldn’t for Virginia income tax.
The second thing might be to go stock up on contraception. All it takes is one lunatic to take something to court to make contraception inaccessible. That is the main reason I want churches out of politics. I am sorry that I laughed at Mississippi. It appears that the ignorant are just as prolific here in the Old Dominion. The sad thing is, Delegate Bob isn’t ignorant, he just has extremely repressive religious beliefs that he insists on sharing with others.
I take things like this very seriously. I have a daughter and granddaughters and a daughter in law. I don’t want them not to have easily accessible birth control and I certainly don’t want them to have to endure a back alley abortion if they should chose to terminate a pregnancy. So as long as religious zealots want to inflict their religion on others, I will vote for a president who will give me a Supreme Court Justice who I am reasonably sure will uphold Roe vs. Wade and Griswald vs. Connecticut.
There are so many important attributes for a president to have. What a shame that some of us feel we must select one based on a Supreme Court nomination. Meanwhile, Delegate Bob and his followers need to mind their own business.
