I’m a political guy. I used to dig the chess match. The one upmanship. The battle. I made a decent living for a while playing the game. I used to care about politics 1) Because I was getting a paycheck and 2) Because I enjoyed the game.
But now I care for different reasons. I don’t enjoy the game like I used to. I view politics as a means to an end. I care about politics because I care about the fate of this country. I care about politics because I care about the unborn. I care about families and schools and defending ourselves from those who seek to do us harm.
And while I’m all for pro-life bills of any variety, this much ballyhooed bill which just passed the Senate in Georgia called The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act which would make it illegal to “solicit,” “coerce” or perform abortions “based in any way on account of the race, color, or sex of the unborn child or the race or color of either parent of that child seems a little too much like political one upmanship for my taste.
This legislation comes on the heels of the dozens of billboards linking race and abortions with messages saying things like “Black children are an endangered species.”
So pro-life legislators seem to capitalizing on the media hullabaloo concerning these billboards. But I’m not sure these laws would actually prevent even one abortion. Not one. Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics don’t follow the laws now. (See Lila Rose) Why would they follow new laws?
But I don’t think the purpose of this bill is to prevent abortions. It’s actual goal is to make super dupe awesome commercials that will make people, especially African Americans, wary of the Democratic Party. Fourteen legislators in the Georgia Senate voted against the bill. Can you imagine the commercials that the state GOP might run against them?
The screen will light up with pictures of the cutest African American babies you’ve ever seen. Like Emmanuel Lewis, Rodney Allen Rippy kinda’ cute. Then you insert the very relatable voice like Morgan Freeman or the dude who played “Roc” to say something like “Your Democrat Senator says he/she is for minorities but he/she voted for legalizing aborting babies just because they were black.”
And look, I’m all for great commercials, especially if they lead to defeating pro-choice legislators but at some point we’ve got to start making real laws that actually prevent the unborn from being killed. And when it’s come to saving the unborn we’ve had a lot more political games than we’ve had actual victories. I’m not saying I’m necessarily against this bill but at some point we’re gonna’ actually stop jockeying for position and just go actually win something for real, right? Lives are actually depending on it.
April 7, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Matthew,
You are right that this might not make such a big difference. However, as long as Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey remain intact these kinds of laws are the best we can do. I agree that we should try to pass truly effective laws. But in the long run, this kind of political one upmanship (as you called it) might have a greater impact by chipping away at pro-abortion assumptions and changing hearts and minds.
April 7, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I agree with you… Sadly, it looks like this really is just a stunt that won't actually save any lives. At this point, we need to start putting our faith and money towards real crisis pregnancy centers that are, and have been no matter what the political climate, working with real women seeking abortions and changing their hearts and minds one at a time. They're the ones that are going to save lives- not some seemingly silly legislation that will do nothing in the midst of federal funding for abortion.
Good post, Matthew.
April 7, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Matt,
It may be political one upmanship but it also brings to the forefront the real PURPOSE behind abortion facilities and especially Planned Parenthood. Most people, and I sincerely believe this, are not sitting home all day googling, researching, and reading blogs. They have NEVER heard of Margaret Sanger and certainly don't know of her connection to the advent of the birth control pill or Planned Parenthood. Abortion is about one thing—killing one's offspring. In such case, whole races of people are ceasing to exist. The fact is the facilities are targeting poor people, the uneducated, convicts, and yes, blacks. It is disguised as concern about poverty and women's freedom. It is really about riding our society of these people. The more poor people we kill, the less the government has to take care of. It's simple. And the whole world needs to know about it.
April 7, 2010 at 5:46 pm
I agree Mom of 6…There is a link between Sanger and Hitler too (they were in the same occult that needed the blood of innocents to appease their god, yuck! And they both sought a master race…Go figure…), but eventually Sanger saw the importance of embracing the civil rights movement to promote her agenda (she even awarded Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through her Planned Parenthood association).
This legislation is as heart rending as the unborn babies pain act, that was pushing to allow anesthetic to unborn babies to ease their pain before being aborted. The legislation was a political jockeying of sorts, I agree, but it had the unintended positive consequence of getting the public talking. Debate is not dead on this subject as long as American citizens keep entering into the conversation. Laws like this make that happen.
April 7, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Our generation will be defined by our stance on this issue. Where you stand says a lot about who you are. You're a good man Charlie Brown.
April 7, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Debate is not dead on this subject as long as American citizens keep entering into the conversation. Laws like this make that happen.
But laws should not be proposed just to generate public debate. That's not what we pay lawmakers for.
I'd agree that this law is just a stunt. It's useless. Even if Planned Parenthood did have a regard for the law, there is just no way a law like this one can be enforced. I doubt there are any pregnant women who enter an abortion clinic saying, "I want to abort this child because his daddy is black" or "I want to abort this child because she is a girl."
April 8, 2010 at 7:19 am
And when it's come to saving the unborn we've had a lot more political games than we've had actual victories.
Right now, that's where the "ball" is; I don't like it, but anything that VAGUELY threatens abortion is attacked. Something that makes a real, solid move against abortion has no chance of being allowed to stand. (We have had a few victories. They're all tied up in court, unenforced.)
I'm sure I've told this story before, but when my (married) sister found out she was pregnant, she wasn't sure what she needed to do to make sure the baby was healthy– she knew the Planned Parenthood name, knew they went into schools and did the STD talks, and they were #1 in the phone book under "unexpected pregnancy." She called, and the conversation was something like this:
"Hi! I just found out I'm pregnant, and was wondering if I could come in…?"
"We don't have any openings today, but let me see if we can fit you in for an abortion tomorrow."
"Uuuhhh—" *slams down phone*
Upside: every single one of her friends now knows this story, AND knows that sweet, smiling little Mouse gets down-right ANGRY if PP is brought up. How much more effective will associating abortion with attempted genocide be? It's not as if it's untrue.
April 9, 2010 at 3:11 pm
melinPR – Genetic engineering is already happening in other parts of the world. In India there is a shortage of women, because of the huge costs associated with their sex. Therefore there has been an increase in kidnappings for sex slave trafficing as more and more young girls are becoming a "commodity".
And if this forces PP to explain why they "set up shop" in the poor, predominantly black, areas of our country, then I stand that this law will self-validate.