Lawmaker's goal: Overturn Roe v. Wade
State Representative Troy Woodruff is probably best known for breaking a promise to his constituents in Knox County. The promise was that he would vote against daylight savings time. The people in Knox County are livid, so Woodruff has resorted to the ultimate wedge issue--abortion.
From the Indianapolis Star:
Abortion would be illegal for most women in Indiana, including victims of rape and incest, under a bill filed this week in the Indiana House.
Indiana's legislators have chipped away at abortion for decades, imposing waiting periods and other restrictions, but the measure proposed by Rep. Troy A. Woodruff, R-Vincennes, is the first direct attempt in years to outlaw most abortions.
The only exception allowed under House Bill 1096 would be for women whose health or life would be permanently impaired if a pregnancy continued. The bill would define life as beginning at conception and make it a felony to perform all other abortions. Anyone convicted would face up to eight years in prison.
From the Indianapolis Star:
Abortion would be illegal for most women in Indiana, including victims of rape and incest, under a bill filed this week in the Indiana House.
Indiana's legislators have chipped away at abortion for decades, imposing waiting periods and other restrictions, but the measure proposed by Rep. Troy A. Woodruff, R-Vincennes, is the first direct attempt in years to outlaw most abortions.
The only exception allowed under House Bill 1096 would be for women whose health or life would be permanently impaired if a pregnancy continued. The bill would define life as beginning at conception and make it a felony to perform all other abortions. Anyone convicted would face up to eight years in prison.
posted by torporindy at 1/06/2006
8 Comments:
honestly? I think the Indiana GOP has no intention of seriously trying to outlaw abortion (outside of the religious right part of it). I think what they're doing is very smart politics, and was planned ahead of time. They have at last count four potential wedge points to write up and send out at election time - the latest being the prayer in the statehouse and this bill. Anyone against it is anti-life and anti-God, which as you know, plays well in the heartland getting out the crazy people vote. I think the GOP wrote this bill, and gave it to Woodruff to compensate and/or reward him for being the patsy to fall on his sword on Mitch's pet daylight savings bill. This makes it MUCH more likely he'll be reelected, because he was in deep trouble over his broken promise and the fact that it was a fluke he got elected in the first place. It has the added bonus of getting lots of play in the media and in the statehouse, and if it gets assigned to commmitte (which it might) and the committee calls it for a hearing (which it might), they can take names of those who speak against it publicly or privately and add them to the endangered D list. It's very, very smart politics.
Woodruff may very well believe that any abortion, even to save the life of the mother, is murder. But he's too smart a politician to think this bill in this session in this climate is going to do anything by die on the vine. It's not going to get the US Supreme Court to be the heroic measure that finally overturns the evil Roe v. Wade. But it gets him votes, and that's all they care about.
Exactly.
The GOP does this so well. They used the gay marriage issue last election. I couldn't believe some of the ads I heard last time when I would drive home to see my parents. Each ad had some alarmed citizen talking about how the democratic candidate was ruining families. I would have laughed at them if I didn't know some of the yokels were bobbing their heads in agreement.
In the unlikely event the Indiana lawmakers succeed in criminalizing the practice of medicine of Indiana, I imagine those who seek medical care will discover that it's no more than a five-hour drive to Chicago or Cincinnati.
A friend of mine from Knox County (Woodruff's district) said Knox County is very pro-choice. WTF? I find that extremely hard to believe but thats what he claims. He also said that a very popular school teacher will be running against good ol Troy-boy. Should make for an interesting election down in God's country.
I don't know what circles he hangs out in because I grew up in Knox County and there are a lot of pro-life folks there. I do not remember many pro-choice advocates.
Moulton, I would hate to think my state is so bad that I would have to seek Cincinnati as a refuge.
My concern is that the US will get to be so bad, we'll all be clamoring to resettle in New Zealand.
with a loop hole like
"the mother's health or LIfe will be permanently impaired..." well, heck that's hardly outlawing it isn't it?
-eb
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