Ode to Bobby Franklin

A clip from 'The Meaning of Life'

Franklin bill urges felony for abortion

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Bobby now 'Feminist' Franklin is trying to hoodwink the public with junk science in hand claiming that abortion is public enemy number one. Sheesh. I thought that fatherless families were the du jour culprit of choice. It's the cause of all of our contemporary social problems dag nab it!

South Dakota's abortion ban was rejected by voters and in Kansas, where Bobby's not in anymore, the Attorney General's plan for obtaining abortion records was trounced as was the California ballot initiative for parental notification. Yet, this is Georgia, sigh, and we're not in Kansas, South Dakota or California. Democrats won big across the country, but not here. No telling how successful Bobby's bill will be.

ATLANTA - A Cobb lawmaker is trying - again - to outlaw abortion in Georgia.

State Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-east Cobb) filed the first bill Wednesday for the upcoming legislative session that begins in January. If passed, the bill would make it a felony to perform an abortion in Georgia in nearly all cases.

[...]

In the previous year, he proposed a bill that would require a woman to receive a "death warrant" from a judge before getting an abortion. He also filed an anti-abortion bill in 2005.

Some members of Franklin's own party didn't show support for the new bill, despite having not reviewed it Wednesday evening.

"As in the past, this bill has not moved through the legislative process and I believe that will be its fate again," said Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-east Cobb).

[...]

Rep. Judy Manning (R-Marietta) said she supports the right to abortion in cases involving rape and incest. She added that the bill would only create problems for the state's already crowded jails.

"I'm pro-life. But as a woman I have some reservations with a felony conviction," Ms. Manning said.

Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) said she thinks Franklin's bill is far-fetched and unconstitutional.

"You are punishing someone because of a private decision they have made between their doctors and their mate," Ms. Morgan said.

She added that the bill infringed on personal and privacy rights like those established by the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. "It is important to have a woman's right to choose," she said

.

LC 18 5850T

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

To amend Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes against public health and morals, so as to make certain findings of fact; to define certain terms; to provide that any abortion shall be unlawful; to provide a penalty; to provide for severance; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.
Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes against public health and morals, is amended by revising Article 5, relating to abortion, in its entirety as follows:

ARTICLE 5

16-12-140.
(a) The State of Georgia has the duty to protect all innocent life from the moment of conception until natural death. We know that life begins at conception. After three decades of legal human abortion, it is now abundantly clear that the practice has negatively impacted the people of this state in many ways, including economic, health, physical, psychological, emotional, and medical well-being. These, too, are areas of legitimate concern and duty of the state. The General Assembly therefore makes the following findings of fact:

After three decades of legal human abortion, it is now abundantly clear that the practice has negatively impacted the people of this state in many ways, including economic, health, physical, psychological, emotional, and medical well-being. These, too, are areas of legitimate concern and duty of the state. The General Assembly therefore makes the following findings of fact:

Findings of fact? Whoa. More like Findings of fulsomeness...
[Every Sperm/Embryo is Sacred]

(2) A fetus is a person for all purposes under the laws of this state from the moment of conception;
(3) Even if the answer to the question of when life begins were unclear, the Georgia Constitution, at Article I, Section I, Paragraph II, provides: 'Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws.' Because a fetus is a person, constitutional protection attaches at the moment of conception. It is therefore the duty of the General Assembly to protect the innocent life that is currently being taken;
(4) As a direct result of three decades of legalized abortion on demand, the nation has seen a dramatic rise in the incidence of child abuse and a dramatic weakening of family ties, with the infamous Roe v. Wade decision pitting mothers against their children and women against men;

[C’mon Bob. You know that isn’t true. Where’d you get your stats from, the angry fathers’ rights organizations? It’s the FROs/MROs' theme song. I looked up the pro-life women’s groups and they’re funded by pro-life men. And who would have thought that the Feminists for Life have fathers' rights stories on their website?]

(5) Studies of the three decades since Roe v. Wade have revealed that women have been deeply wounded psychologically, with one researcher reporting that 81 percent of the women who have had an abortion had a preoccupation with an aborted child, 54 percent had nightmares, 35 percent had perceived visitation with an aborted child, and 96 percent felt their abortion had taken a human life;
(6) Studies have shown that women who have had an abortion require psychological treatment of such symptoms as nervous disorders, sleep disturbances, and deep regrets, with 25 percent of one test group of women who have had abortions visiting a psychiatrist while only 3 percent of a control group did so;
(7) Another random study showed that at least 19 percent of women who have had an abortion suffered from diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, with 50 percent suffering from many, but not all, symptoms of that disorder, and 20 to 40 percent of the women studied showed moderate to high levels of stress and avoidance behavior relative to their abortion experience;
(8) Approximately 60 percent of women who have had an abortion and who reported post-abortion trauma also reported suicidal tendencies with 28 percent actually attempting suicide, of whom half attempted suicide two or more times;
(9) Abortion results in increased tobacco smoking, and women who have had an abortion are twice as likely to become heavy smokers and suffer the corresponding health problems as women who have never had an abortion;
(10) Abortion is linked to alcohol and drug abuse, with a two-fold increase in the risk of alcohol abuse among women who have had an abortion and a significant increase in drug abuse;
(11) Most couples find abortion to be an event which shatters their relationship, causing chronic marital troubles and divorce;

imnotsorry.net disagrees with you Bobby.

[And oh just great. Stats from an electrical engineer! David ‘Rear-don’ who coined the term post-abortion syndrome or PAS and founded the Elliot Institute. Hah! As in the case of Richard Gardner’s – and oh by the way he stabbed himself to death -- parental alienation syndrome the other PAS leading scientists have panned it both PASs has being downright sloppy science, basically not peer reviewed, crappy methodology, corporate junk science and downright dangerous to women.]

Just loved Reardon’s study on Lorena Bobbit.Reardon analyzed the trial in 1996 and came upon the idea that her abortion led her to cutting off her husband’s penis. Never mind that she was repeatedly raped, battered, had numerous affairs and severe financial problems. But then there’s the traumatic consequences of abortion, in Reardon’s peevish world, abortion trumps overwhelming evidence that Lorena Bobbit was a battered woman.

Other witnesses provided supporting testimony, saying that they had seen the results of Lorena's abuse, such as bruises and cuts on her body. Even John's friends said that he often bragged "about how he liked to force Lorena to have sex and how he controlled and dominated her," Pershing reported. The defense suggested it was only a matter of time before Lorena snapped. At the time of the wounding, psychologists claimed that she was suffering from clinical depression and possibly posttraumatic stress disorder.


[…]

John also managed to wrack up a considerable criminal record. Tanith Carey reported for The Mirror that, "he was arrested seven times for offenses ranging from assault to grand larceny." Some of the charges included domestic violence, such as when he allegedly beat his ex-fiancée, Kristina Elliott, and punched his third wife, Joanne Ferrell, on two occasions. To date, John continues to live in Nevada where he is trying to eke out a new life and stay out of trouble.

More evidence against Bobby, Brind and Reardon

Anti-abortion advocates like Brind and Reardon, ones who wear the lab coats but not the respect of scientists, have not been deterred by the response of the scientific community. Even though a panel at the National Cancer Institute has concluded, "Induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk,"21 and the American Psychiatric Association does not recognize PAS as a legitimate syndrome, such high status pronouncements are irrelevant to the followers of B.A.D. scientists. The success of their performances relies on volume before a general audience, not on the fidelity of their technical merits.”

(12) Abortion exploits women, treating them and their children as mere property, and abortion is contrary to feminist values, and the great suffragette Susan B. Anthony referred to abortion as 'child murder';

Bob you're taking this out of historical context. Abortion was legal in the 19th century. Some fathers forced women to have abortions against their will. It was MALE doctors who fought against so-called 'untrained practioners' ergo midwives mid-1800s to out of business by criminalizing abortion.

As in the New York Times article Deperately seeking Susan Stacy Schiff explores the question on what Susan B. Anthony and her colleagues would respond to 21st century debates. Since most women aren't forced into abortions now, taking away the right of self-determination probably wouldn't set none to well with them.

What Susan B. Anthony did say: “We demand that woman shall be given the means to assert herself, regardless of whether she ever uses it or not..."

And this: "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires."

And this: “For a people is only as great, as free, as lofty, as advanced as its women are free, noble and progressive.”

There's absolutely nothing in anything that she [Susan B. Anthony]ever said or did that would indicate she was anti-abortion," said Gloria Feldt, an activist and author who formerly served as head of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

She [Susan B. Anthony] never voiced an opinion about the sanctity of fetal life," Gordon said of Anthony. "And she never voiced an opinion about using the power of the state to require that pregnancies be brought to term.

(13) Thirty years of abortion on demand have resulted in an increase in breast cancer, and a study has shown that women who had an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy before experiencing a full-term pregnancy may be at increased risk for breast cancer;

[No. No. No. & Not. Bob. The National Cancer Institute says otherwise. You must have found these specious stats from reading the fundy-neocon National Review Online.]

(14) The practice of abortion has had a profound detrimental effect on the health and well-being of the citizens of this state as well as the health of the economy; and

[Abortion hasn’t affected me or anyone in my family either positively or negatively. And please do tell us how abortion affects the economy? I would just love to learn about that.]

(15) The practice of abortion has caused the citizens of this state an inestimable amount economically including, but not limited to, the costs and tax burden of having to care for individuals and their families for the conditions cited above, as well as a significant reduction of the tax base and of the availability of workers, entrepreneurs, teachers, employees, and employers that would have significantly contributed to the prosperity of this state.

[WTF? A financial and tax burden for non-existing syndrome? Okey-dokey Bob, you’re presuming that more children would be born into financially stable circumstances – a father in every pot syndrome – and all said children, even those poverty stricken, would grow up and get great jobs, et rich and pay taxes. Maybe we should have someone sponsor a bill requiring legislators to take I.Q. and competency testing?]

b) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Abortion' means the intentional termination of human pregnancy with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus; provided, however, that if a physician makes a medically justified effort to save the lives of both the mother and the fetus and the fetus does not survive, such action shall not be an abortion. Such term does not include a naturally occurring expulsion of a fetus known medically as a 'spontaneous abortion' and popularly as a 'miscarriage' so long as there is no human involvement whatsoever in the causation of such event.
(2) 'Fetus' means a person at any point of development from and including the moment of conception through the moment of birth. Such term includes all medical or popular designations of an unborn child from the moment of conception such as zygote, embryo, homunculus, and similar terms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygote

Zygotes are people too!

(c) The practice of abortion is contrary to the health and well-being of the citizens of this state and to the state itself and is illegal in this state in all instances.
(d) Any person performing an abortion in this state shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in subsection (d) of Code Section 16-5-1. The license of any physician indicted for an alleged violation of this Code section shall be suspended until resolution of the matter. The license of any physician convicted of a violation of this Code section shall be permanently revoked. The provisions of this Code section shall be in addition to any other provisions relating to the killing of a fetus or any other person.ʺ
SECTION 2.
If any portion of this Act is found to be unconstitutional by the courts, the remaining portions of this Act shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.