The One-Handed Economist

At least nobody here is proposing death certificates for fetuses.

Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Republican, said his bill would provide a way to track how many abortions are performed. He predicted it would pass in the Republican-controlled Senate but would have a hard time making it through the Democratic House.

First of all, I simply cannot take a man named Stacey seriously. Secondly, I have to say that this is one of the strangest, most horrifying ideas I’ve heard recently. The problem in the abortion debate, and I use the term loosely to describe a series of shouting matches, is one of axioms. One side believes that sperm + egg = baby, a human with the same rights as a grown adult; the other does not believe this is the case. Both try to manipulate through emotion, and both go on with equal fervor.

That said, proposing death certificates for aborted fetuses is a callously transparent attempt to manipulate the emotions of people in a pretty difficult spot. Getting pregnant accidentally (through voluntary sexual acts) probably indicates that you’re probably not all that bright, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to make a decision about what to do without being hassled by a bunch of pruritanical busybodies. Like it or not abortion is a perfectly legal act in this country, while I disagree vehemently with those who think it shouldn’t be*, the appropriate way to change abortion’s legality is through lobbying and legislative efforts addressing the issue directly.

Rather than attempting to pass feel-good laws that will probably discourage abortion by unduly evoking guilt in the unwantedly pregnant, abortion opponents should try to pass actual anti-abortion legislation. That’s more honest, but it’s also more likely to fail…which probably explains why Stacey *snicker* Campfield is trying this death certificate stunt.

_______________________________________________________
*I’m not pro-abortion, I’m anti-fetus.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 15th, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under VITRIOL, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.