Laci Peterson and George Bush's hypocrisy
At the behest of a friend whose opinion means much to me, I have to blog about this. So Bush-Cheney '04 ("Because you don't know any better") started running a new ad today about Kerry, in which they claim he has missed 2/3 of his Senate votes while running for President. One vote they feature, because they're evil and like to convince people that someone's coming for their kids, is the Unborn Victims of Violence act. Their text: Kerry voted against the Laci Peterson act (with a shadow image of a woman with baby).
Well, we know what their friggin' storyline here is - we care about children (especially the "unborn" kind), and John Kerry is for violence against helpless pregnant mothers and their "unborn" children. I'm not going to go into Kerry's voting record (if you know me, you know where I stand on that), but I want to fuck with BC04 about this point.
They're going to claim that the "Laci Peterson" law is about violence to women. It isn't; don't believe that shit for a minute. This is all about getting the thin edge of the wedge on abortion, and winning a few political points in an election year. See, if you really oppose something that most people are willing to accept (choice), you can't just legislate against it. You have to redefine it. The unborn children meme still hasn't stuck, despite decades of effort. So, they have to start small. "Partial-birth" was one edge of the wedge. They convinced huge swaths of people that liberals are running into hospitals in massive numbers and having the doctor kill their baby as it's being delivered. This is untrue - it's an exceedingly rare procedure, done only in cases where the mother's health is threatened. It does involve a nasty procedure which moves the fetus to the edge of the womb before being destroyed. It's awful, but there is no epidemic. The important thing, for Republicans, was that it redefined a form of abortion - and allowed them to bring abortion into the bill as a rider, using ambiguous language that could allow doctors to be prosecuted for certain early-term abortions.
The Laci Peterson law is another example of this. By outlawing violence against a fetus, you win electoral points - who doesn't love a politician who finds a way to double-prosecute a murderer, and who can argue with the logic? The flip side is that now a fetus has been legally defined as an unborn child. Next time the Republicans want to bring up a bill to outlaw abortion, and they will, they will argue that the Laci Peterson law legally defines a fetus as an unborn child, and it's illegal to kill a child, therefore abortion is illegal.
Don't believe the Laci Peterson law has everything to do with abortion, and nothing to do with violence against women? Check this...
Republicans to Victims of Domestic Violence: Politics Before Protection
Murray amendment to protect women and children from violence fails on partisan 46-53 vote
For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 25, 2004
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – An attempt by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to help prevent violence against women and children was defeated today by a partisan vote. Murray's amendment to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act would have given battered women the support they need to escape violent relationship before it is too late. Murray's amendment was defeated 46-53 while the Unborn Victims Act passed 61-38.
"Instead of providing women an escape from domestic abuse, the U.S. Senate today only provided more excuses. The majority party said that domestic violence prevention wasn’t relevant to a bill about victims of abuse. They stood up and said that preventing domestic abuse was somehow bad for business. They said we didn’t have time to deal with these issues. This is exactly what victims of domestic violence hear every day and it is precisely why Senate action on this measure is required," Senator Murray said.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act that passed the Senate today only focuses on penalties after a woman has been killed or seriously injured. Senator Murray's amendment provided resources to help prevent that abuse from happening in the first place.
Murray's amendment would have:
- Extended UI benefits for victims of abuse
- Offered emergency leave so a victim can go to court or to the police to stop abuse
- Ended insurance and employment discrimination
- Provided help for children who witness abuse
- Offered access to health care for victims
- Improved the way health care providers screen for domestic violence
"Today the Senate had a very clear choice: Either help battered women and prevent deadly violence or cave into interest groups and play politics with this issue. It's a tragedy that the majority made the wrong choice."
Well, we know what their friggin' storyline here is - we care about children (especially the "unborn" kind), and John Kerry is for violence against helpless pregnant mothers and their "unborn" children. I'm not going to go into Kerry's voting record (if you know me, you know where I stand on that), but I want to fuck with BC04 about this point.
They're going to claim that the "Laci Peterson" law is about violence to women. It isn't; don't believe that shit for a minute. This is all about getting the thin edge of the wedge on abortion, and winning a few political points in an election year. See, if you really oppose something that most people are willing to accept (choice), you can't just legislate against it. You have to redefine it. The unborn children meme still hasn't stuck, despite decades of effort. So, they have to start small. "Partial-birth" was one edge of the wedge. They convinced huge swaths of people that liberals are running into hospitals in massive numbers and having the doctor kill their baby as it's being delivered. This is untrue - it's an exceedingly rare procedure, done only in cases where the mother's health is threatened. It does involve a nasty procedure which moves the fetus to the edge of the womb before being destroyed. It's awful, but there is no epidemic. The important thing, for Republicans, was that it redefined a form of abortion - and allowed them to bring abortion into the bill as a rider, using ambiguous language that could allow doctors to be prosecuted for certain early-term abortions.
The Laci Peterson law is another example of this. By outlawing violence against a fetus, you win electoral points - who doesn't love a politician who finds a way to double-prosecute a murderer, and who can argue with the logic? The flip side is that now a fetus has been legally defined as an unborn child. Next time the Republicans want to bring up a bill to outlaw abortion, and they will, they will argue that the Laci Peterson law legally defines a fetus as an unborn child, and it's illegal to kill a child, therefore abortion is illegal.
Don't believe the Laci Peterson law has everything to do with abortion, and nothing to do with violence against women? Check this...
Republicans to Victims of Domestic Violence: Politics Before Protection
Murray amendment to protect women and children from violence fails on partisan 46-53 vote
For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 25, 2004
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – An attempt by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to help prevent violence against women and children was defeated today by a partisan vote. Murray's amendment to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act would have given battered women the support they need to escape violent relationship before it is too late. Murray's amendment was defeated 46-53 while the Unborn Victims Act passed 61-38.
"Instead of providing women an escape from domestic abuse, the U.S. Senate today only provided more excuses. The majority party said that domestic violence prevention wasn’t relevant to a bill about victims of abuse. They stood up and said that preventing domestic abuse was somehow bad for business. They said we didn’t have time to deal with these issues. This is exactly what victims of domestic violence hear every day and it is precisely why Senate action on this measure is required," Senator Murray said.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act that passed the Senate today only focuses on penalties after a woman has been killed or seriously injured. Senator Murray's amendment provided resources to help prevent that abuse from happening in the first place.
Murray's amendment would have:
- Extended UI benefits for victims of abuse
- Offered emergency leave so a victim can go to court or to the police to stop abuse
- Ended insurance and employment discrimination
- Provided help for children who witness abuse
- Offered access to health care for victims
- Improved the way health care providers screen for domestic violence
"Today the Senate had a very clear choice: Either help battered women and prevent deadly violence or cave into interest groups and play politics with this issue. It's a tragedy that the majority made the wrong choice."
posted by switzerblog at
3:40 PM
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