Wow. Nebrakska’s taking a completely different tack in their quest to limit abortion – based on fetal pain.
Without dragging out all the science (much of which actually shows that the unborn most certainly feel pain) here’s how I check if I like an abortion bill – I check my pro-abort freakout-ometer readings. And let me tell you something, this newly minted Nebraska law is making my pro-abort freakout-ometer readings fly off the chart. Daily KOS, Huffpo and Reality Check (unlinked) have all got pieces up screeching that…gasp… women might not be able to kill their babies at will and that’s very very mean of conservatives to not let them.
The AP is reporting:
Nebraska lawmakers on Tuesday passed a groundbreaking bill banning abortions at 20 weeks based on assertions that fetuses feel pain then. Gov. Dave Heineman planned to sign it into law in the afternoon.
If upheld by the courts, the bill could change the foundation of abortion laws nationwide. Current restrictions in Nebraska and elsewhere are based on a fetus’s ability to survive outside the womb, or viability.
Viability is determined on a case-by-case basis but is generally considered to occur at 22 to 24 weeks.
This law which has already been signed by the Governor is a slap in the face of late term abortionist and all around creepy weirdo Dr. Leroy Carhart.
The Legislature makes the following findings:
At least by twenty weeks after fertilization there is substantial evidence that an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain;(2) There is substantial evidence that, by twenty weeks after fertilization, unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner which in an infant or an adult would be interpreted as a response to pain; (3) Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who have developed twenty weeks or more past fertilization who undergo prenatal surgery; (4) Even before twenty weeks after fertilization, unborn children have been observed to exhibit hormonal stress responses to painful stimuli. Such responses were reduced when pain medication was administered directly to such unborn children; and (5) It is the purpose of the State of Nebraska to assert a compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.
I’m honestly unsure how effective this will be but it’s a new tactic to limit abortion so I’m all for it. It’ll obviously end up in the courts. But I’m unsure that if judges don’t care about the life of the unborn why would they care about the pain of the unborn?
Maybe it will. Maybe many people still don’t believe that there’s a baby in the womb and when confronted with the prospect of fetal pain people will have to admit there’s a sentient being in the womb. Maybe it’ll work. I pray to God it will.
Chelsea Zimmerman of Reflections of a Paralytic has a piece about the senses of the unborn.
LifeSite News has details on the story.
April 14, 2010 at 3:39 am
The 2 bills passed today in Nebraska are headed for the courts. The other bill passes takes Roe v Wade head on. It will be interesting to see how they play out in the courts.
April 14, 2010 at 4:14 am
I wonder if things will progress along the route of this scenario . . .
"Anesthesia will be routinely administered to unborn children who have developed twenty weeks or more past fertilization who undergo abortions"
Pretty horrendous but entirely possible in the twisted view of pro-"choice."
April 14, 2010 at 4:42 am
(5) It is the purpose of the State of Nebraska to assert a compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.
Extremely ironic. The courts must soon realize that a period is missing between the words 'children' and 'from', after which the rest of the words are plainly immaterial.
April 14, 2010 at 10:01 am
But the bill means abortion up to 20 weeks is supporter, and anyone who voted for the bill thus just supported abortion up to 20 weeks. What a pro-abortion crew this is.
April 14, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Anonymous,
Absolutists like you are one of the biggest hurdles the pro-life community faces. Yes, I want to end the slaughter completely. However, Roe prohibits enactment of laws banning abortion. So, what can pro-life legislators do to undermine Roe? They can keep working around the edges, chipping and chipping away until they can reach the right seam that can crack the millstone that is Roe in half.
If laws like this prevent the slaughter of 10 babies next year, that's 10 more babies alive in Nebraska then there would have been otherwise. That in no ways means that legislators don't give a damn about the hundreds/thousands of others that aren't saved.
You would rather have a "pure" law that was immediately invalidated by the courts and saved no one. Get off your high horse and stop condemning those who are doing literally all they legally can to prevent the slaughter.
April 14, 2010 at 2:30 pm
anon.,
Abortion prior to twenty weeks is legal, yes, but not supported by these people (as nowhere in the bill does it state that abortions prior to 20 weeks should be performed at the will of the mother). They are taking the legal steps they can to get around Roe v. Wade, which obviously has their hands tied. Let's not make the assumption that these people desire in any way for Roe to be the law of the land.
April 14, 2010 at 3:50 pm
"Maybe many people still don't believe that there's a baby in the womb and when confronted with the prospect of fetal pain people will have to admit there's a sentient being in the womb."
Isn't that interesting? When you think of all the uproar they have for a puppy mill and PETA's cause with animals and their treatment and experience of pain etc. Yet, they would turn around and feel compelled to ignore the pain of a human!
April 15, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Anon,
The intent of this bill is to fence in the abortion practice at the edges. The Pro-Abortion Lobby will now have to spend money, hire expensive lawyers and litigate this in court. By equating the pain of the child with that of animals, the pro-abortion lobby will be put on the defensive. And there is no way an "absolutist bill" would ever see the light of day, as the minute the govenor signed it into law, the pro-abortionists would get a federal judge to issue an injunction. And then, a few months later an appeals court would rule the law violated existing court opinion.
This new bill is anything but perfect. But as long as the abortion procedure is held beyond the democratic process (ie the legislature), this is the best we can do.
April 17, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Thanks for the link, Matt! Here's another one you might like: Study Finds Unborn Babies Respond to Mother's Mood http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10031112.html