The Arkansas House of Representatives approved an amended version of SB 134 yesterday, the "Heartbeat Protection Act" which would ban all abortions at 12 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and to save the woman's life — you know, the rare occasions upon which anti-choice politicians concede that the heartbeat of a living, breathing women might be worth listening to, too.
The bill, which would be the earliest and most extreme abortion ban in the country, will head to Governor Mike Beebe's desk if the Senate approves the House's version, as is expected.
The U.S. Supreme Court has decreed over and over again (Roe, Planned Parenthood v. Casey) that states cannot ban abortion prior to fetal viability. But that sure won't stop lawmakers from trying!
Image via ankudi/Shutterstock.
DISCUSSION
Democrats think women and their partners are too irresponsible or stupid to not get pregnant.
Let's face it: the number of unplanned pregnancies is much higher than it needs to be. A year's worth of condoms is dirt cheap. Generic birth control isn't that expensive. You can't afford these cheap, widely-available prophylactics? Maybe you should set your priorities straight and focus on things other than getting laid. This applies to men and women. We require background checks for guns, extensive licensing for cars, yet popping out unlimited kids is viewed as a sacred right.
If you take all these precautions and *still* manage to get pregnant, deal with it. It's life, it's what is supposed to happen. Life/health of mom and rape are very rare cases and we shouldn't set unrestricted abortion policies based on those exceptional circumstances.
But yes, unplanned pregnancies are an unfortunate reality. So many social problems would be reduced or eliminated if we could get rid of unintended babies. That doesn't justify abortion though. Honestly, we should subsidize willing men and women who meet certain income criteria to get tubal ligations or vasectomies. I'm pretty sure paying a poor person $10,000 lump sum would encourage a lot of poor people to take up the offer. It's a willing transaction, society gets a huge cost savings down the rode, poor person gets cash - how could you oppose this plan? Obviously, this is on top of free condoms and birth control for poor people.