Monday, May 08, 2006

ACLU of Michigan opposes bill to address abortion coercion

From Jivin J:
Kary Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, has an editorial in the Detroit Free Press today in which she attacks bills in Michigan which are designed to make it illegal to coerce a woman into getting an abortion. The Coercive Abortion Prevention Act is a set of five bills (H.B. 5879-5883 and S.B. 1177-1181) which you can read by visiting the web site of the Michigan Legislature. The main bill, H.B. 5882, outlines methods of coercion and punishments for certain actions taken to coerce a pregnant woman into abortion. Read the bill and the others and try to explain to me how someone who is supposedly "pro-choice" could be so against these bills.

Of course an abortion fanatic would hate the bill, which I think is a good start but doesn't go nearly far enough:
(i) If the act results in the death of the pregnant female, the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 15 years or a fine of not more than $7,500.00, or both.
(ii) If the act results in great bodily harm to the pregnant female, the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or both.
(iii) If the act results in serious or aggravated physical injury to the pregnant female, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 6 months or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.
(iv) If the act results in physical injury to the pregnant female, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.

In other words, the guilty party is only punished if the woman suffers physical harm. And frankly, I'd like to see anybody who coerced a woman into a fatal abortion charged with, at the very least, manslaughter. Fifteen years prison isn't nearly long enough for sending a woman to her death.

Still, it's a start, and of course the abortion fanatics are up in arms because to them, the only bad abortion is one that doesn't happen.

No comments: