A vote Thursday on a bill to outlaw sex-selective abortion is the latest step in an awkward dance between the House Republican leadership and the large faction of passionate abortion opponents in the caucus.
Anti-abortion bills percolate constantly in committee, but leadership has not been pushing to get them to the floor as they attempt to stay focused on an economic message, say sources close to anti-abortion Republican members. But for this bill, anti-abortion advocates say sponsor Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) got a vote scheduled as a concession when he agreed not to try to attach the measure to the Violence Against Women Act, which has been bogging down Republicans on a divisive social issue.
Are you people nuts? How do you control something like that? Why are Republicans continuing to bring up social issues and scuttling attempts to bring up ideas that help the economy? In the first place, how many abortions a year are performed for the purpose of sex selection? Unknown. (and likely to stay that way) Why would anyone say they were going to have an abortion because they were pregnant with a boy and they wanted a girl? Insanity.
Republicans–you bloviate and carried on before the mid-term elections that you were going to solve the economy. You haven’t. Get busy and live up to your promise. Stop screwing around with this kind of absurd, ridiculous stuff. Any congressman or woman voting yes on this kind of
legislation should be dunked in the Potomac.
We have a tax crisis coming up at the end of the year. Work on that for a while. Do something. Democrats, don’t go running scared rabbit on this stupid legislation. Vote NO.
“Why are Republicans continuing to bring up social issues …” You’re kidding right? The Dems are nothing but one huge social issue. That’s ALL Obama cares about it seems. After all he was a community organizer, and he does want to spread the wealth before there isn’t any left in this country. It’s the economy stupid! (referring to Obama)
So the train of thought here goes right past “we support sex-selective abortion” station, huh? I mean, talk about a “war on women”!!!
War on women? You assume that women would abort girls and keep boys? That seems sort of unfair. I were inclined to do that I would probably keep the girls.
I think you are thinking of the Chinese and that is why different than Americans. Furthermore, it has always been legal to abort for gender selection. Every know anyone who has? I don’t. In all these years I have never heard of one person who did that. Weird that we would need a law to tell us not to do something we don’t do in the first place.
I wanted my first kid to be a girl. I lucked out and got what I wanted.
SA, Obama has done a great deal more than social issues. Look at all the other things you hate him for. There are almost no social issues.
GM, AHC, cash for clunkers, undoing NCLB, Killing Bin Laden, Bring troops out if Iraq, not too much social there.
Why deal with real problems when you can make stuff up! How about the housing crisis we are cannot seem to get out of. Let’s start there shall we.
Wait? It’s illegal to only want to abort females???
Heavy hand of government regulation!!!
@Marinm….smarta$$
is this actually a problem that needs to be addressed?? Show me the facts that say that this is a real problem, and not a problem in someone’s mind.
There are better things to do with all of our time than this nonsense, no wonder why Congress cannot get anything done. I have a suggestion – deal with the Fiscal Cliff before they all have to start working all nighters (just to get some credit for working hard).
@Elena
No, smartass would be if I told you that I insisted that my boy came out before the girl. He ranks her by 2 minutes. 😉
That way my lands, my wealth and my titles can flow down to my male heir… Just gotta make sure she marries well. I’ve been trying to arrange a marriage but haven’t gotten any offers yet that move me.
I know. I know. The word that your thinking of is “MAN”.
@marin, MAN never entered my mind……
This bill was defeated.
I keep hearing social conservatives bellowing about our social engineering. Just because something isn’t illegal doesn’t mean people do it.
I still haven’t heard of one person in the United States to abort for gender reasons. How would you ever prove it anyway?