A Prosecutor weighs in on fetal personhood and criminalizing abortion

[Stonepounder]

Just happened to stumble across this, but wow, what a cogent rant. I've excerpted a little below (3 paragraph thingy), but please go read the entire post. Totally awesome! This guy is a prosecutor, writing from the perspective of one who has prosecuted rape, and child abuse and murder for a number of years. He shows exactly what is wrong with the idiotic laws that Republicans are passing at the state level and trying to pass at the Federal level:

But I’ve been watching a lot of Republican candidates for federal office saying a lot of stuff about pregnancy and rape, and pregnancies resulting from rape, over the last several weeks, and I am simply unable to keep my mouth shut any longer. Because as all of my friends know, I’ve been prosecuting rape, child abuse and homicide for over a decade and a half, and this is a subject that I happen to know quite a lot about. And I am deeply disturbed by the personhood movement, by the idea that there should be specified exceptions to a blanket criminalization of abortion, and by the fact that the group of mostly men propounding this policy seem to have absolutely no FREAKING idea what they are actually trying to do here. Since I think that my perspective as a prosecutor might be relevant, I intend to provide it. Read on if you want to hear it. Skip this if you don’t.

First off, I want to talk about an abortion ban that leaves exceptions in place only for instances of rape, incest or life of the mother. The first thing that I want to say about this policy is this: this is a pro-choice position. The proponents can call it whatever the hell they want, but the bottom line is that this position is pro-choice. A person who takes this position is acknowledging that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy. What we are actually quibbling about here is who gets to decide when the woman’s reason is good enough. With the classic pro-choice position, the person who gets to decide if the woman’s reason is good enough is the woman. Herself. The rape/incest exception people – their position is that they get to decide if someone else’s (i.e., some other woman’s) reason is good enough. I am pro-her-choice. They are pro-their-choice.

--<snip>--

So, personhood for a cluster of cells means that abortion could equal aggravated murder. Really, do Republicans want us prosecuting girls and women for the aggravated homicide of their zygotes? Is that the plan here? Do they actually want to impose the death penalty, or will life in prison be sufficient to satisfy their pathological need to punish women for the crime of being sexually active? Of course, if the woman is guilty, so is the man who facilitates her in procuring an abortion – boys, if you take your girlfriend to Planned Parenthood for an abortion, we’re going to imprison you both for murder. It’s called a “conspiracy.” In case you were wondering.

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Much, much more at:
http://thedeadauthorsclub.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/fetal-personhood-and-criminalizing-abortion-a-prosecutors-perspective/

[Demoiselle]

1. Yes. Thank you. nt

[PDJane]

2. No matter how you slice it, it will lead to deaths. And not of a cluster of cells.

Women WILL abort. Trust me on this. Abortion will not go down if you make it illegal. What will happen is that you will end up with dead women. Women who can't afford a pregnancy. Women who are too tired or too ill to make it through another pregnancy. Children barely past puberty whose bodies can't carry a child to term. It's an idiotic position, and it's profoundly anti-life.

[Stonepounder]

3. Of course it is.

I honestly believe that the whole "pro-life" thing is about men who have a need to abuse women 'legally'. If the actually cared about the 'child' they wouldn't be trying to cut off access to contraceptives, they wouldn't be treating rape as a joke, and they would be working to make sure that the unwanted and/or disabled children that are born as a result of their mean-spirited laws are taken care of and nurtured. Instead of frothing at the mouth about food stamps, and school-lunch programs, and screaming about having to provide insurance that covers contraception.

And of course women will always find a way to get an abortion. The rich ones will fly off to where abortion is legal and the poor ones will return to the back-alley abortionists. And yes, many will die. And the 'pro-life' crowd ill just see it as 'their punishment'

[freshwest]

6. Excellent OP and post. Thanks. K & R.

[freshwest]

7. Please put this post and OP in your Journal for others to learn the effects of 'pro-their-choice.'

[Control-Z]

9. You've got it right.

I would say "welcome" but I see you've been here a few years already. So I can only welcome more posts from you. Your OP is excellent. (I actually tweeted it - my first tweet ever. I've been waiting to find a perfect opening tweet.)

I hope we hear from you often.

[cui bono]

4. "I am pro-her-choice. They are pro-their-choice."

That's such a great way to put it.

"The rape/incest exception people – their position is that they get to decide if someone else’s (i.e., some other woman’s) reason is good enough."

Thanks for posting this.

[KT2000]

5. this is fantastic

this person needs to be the lawyer who goes before the Supreme Court when the abortions cases come up.

[PotatoChip]

8. The entire piece is excellent.

Righteous rant!

[Trailrider1951]

10. K&R

This guy gets it.