Tag: Abortion Rights

Remind again, what country am I living in?

Rachel Maddow details the abuse of power by ex-Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline to intimidate women who had appointments with the late Dr. George Tiller, and a proposed South Dakota Law that would effectively legalize the murder of abortion providers , and asks what the US is willing to do to protect its citizens lagal rights from such abuses of the law.

It would seem that the Republican anti-abortion crowd can’t get the message either. From David Dayen at FDL:

South Dakota has been at the forefront of anti-abortion efforts in recent years. The legislature tried to ban all abortions in the state in 2006. This led to a ballot initiative overturning the legislation. The people spoke and said they didn’t want their state turned into a war zone for women. A separate abortion 2008 – this time with an exception for rape – went on the ballot in 2008. Again the people spoke and voted it down.

Now, the legislature has responded with another attack on women and the doctors who provide legal medical services for them.

A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus-a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state’s GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon.

   The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Jensen, a committed foe of abortion rights, alters the state’s legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person “while resisting an attempt to harm” that person’s unborn child or the unborn child of that person’s spouse, partner, parent, or child. If the bill passes, it could in theory allow a woman’s father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion-even if she wanted one.

From Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones:

A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus-a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state’s GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Jensen, a committed foe of abortion rights, alters the state’s legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person “while resisting an attempt to harm” that person’s unborn child or the unborn child of that person’s spouse, partner, parent, or child. If the bill passes, it could in theory allow a woman’s father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion-even if she wanted one.

Greg Sargent at the Plum Line, spoke with the legislation’s chief sponsor, State Representative Phil Jensen who defended the bill arguing that it would not legalize the killing of abortion doctors. :

Jensen insisted that the bill’s primary goal is to bring “consistency” to South Dakota criminal code, which already allows people who commit crimes that result in the death of fetuses to be charged with manslaughter. The new measure expands the state’s definition of “justifiable homicide” by adding a clause applying it to someone who is “resisting any attempt” to murder of an unborn child or to harm an unborn child in a way likely to result in its death.

When I asked Jensen what the purpose of the law was, if its target isn’t abortion providers, he provided the following example:

“Say an ex-boyfriend who happens to be father of a baby doesn’t want to pay child support for the next 18 years, and he beats on his ex-girfriend’s abdomen in trying to abort her baby. If she did kill him, it would be justified. She is resisting an effort to murder her unborn child.”

Pushed on whether the new measure could inflame the unhinged to kill abortion doctors, as some critics allege, Jensen scoffed. “You can fantasize all you want, but this is pretty clear cut,” he said. “Never say never, but if some loony did what you’re suggesting, then this law wouldn’t apply to them. It wouldn’t be justifiable homicide.”

Tell it to the jury, Phil, the first time some lame brained jerk is on trial for killing an abortion provider.