Been a while since this page updated
Posted by Raznor

So I'll get busy.

Pandamanda received an interesting e-mail from one of her readers:

The Florida parental consent law goes into effect shortly.
To me, the part of the bill that makes it stand out is one of the exceptions. You see, the contention of the "moderate" pro-lifers is that children should never have non-emergency medical procedures performed without parental consent -- that this is the same as making sure parents are notified of, say, a dental procedure.

And when you look at the exceptions to the bill, this falls apart completely.

You see, if the girl already has a child, she can have an abortion without parental consent. Why? It's still a medical procedure. She's still underage. So why doesn't she have to tell her parents?The answer: because they already know she's not a pure and holy virgin.

This isn't a bill to prevent abortions. It's a bill to force girls to tell their parents they're having sex, even when that might have negative consequences. The reason there's an exception for those who already have kids is that their parents won't be horrified and angry that the girl is pregnant.

Mark my words: pro-lifers WANT these young girls to be hurt by their parents. They WANT the parents to be stunned and angry and to lash out. That's not just a secondary effect of the law, it's the primary purpose. If it wasn't, if this really was about making sure all children's medical procedures were approved, those exceptions wouldn't be there.

Not that that's at all surprising, or anything, but it's always shocking when anti-choicers barely even try to hide thier intentions.

Meanwhile, posting at This Modern World, Billmon has a nice little summary of the Bush Administrations desperate Orwellian attempt to redefine the insurgency.

And if you missed last Thursday's The Daily Show, you must watch Stephen Colbert's report on Marie Carie. Damn fine television.