Court Rules It Was Unconstitutional For Mike Pence To Tell Indianans What Kind Of Fetuses They Can Abort

In March of 2016, just a few months before he would accept Donald Trump's offer to be his running mate, Mike Pence signed a law in Indiana that would make "selective abortions" illegal. This banned women and others from having abortions based on the sex, race, or disability. It was a stupid law, but nonetheless a law that other states have also passed or attempted to pass.

Here is the drivel that came out of Pence's mouth on the day he signed the law:

"HEA 1337 will ensure the dignified final treatment of the unborn and prohibits abortions that are based only on the unborn child's sex, race, color, national origin, ancestry, or disability, including Down syndrome," he said in a statement at the time. "Some of my most precious moments as Governor have been with families of children with disabilities, especially those raising children with Down syndrome."

Yes, and those families wanted those children and were probably well-equipped to raise those children and give them a good home. No one is saying they shouldn't do that. There is a vast difference between someone having a child they want and another person being forced to have a child that they do not want.

On Thursday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling finding the law unconstitutional, which it very obviously is!

The non-discrimination provisions clearly violate this well- established Supreme Court precedent, and are therefore, unconstitutional. The provisions prohibit abortions prior to viability if the abortion is sought for a particular purpose. These provisions are far greater than a substantial obstacle; they are absolute prohibitions on abortions prior to viability which the Supreme Court has clearly held cannot be imposed by the State.

The impetus for these kinds of laws, other than banning abortions, is a deeply held desire among conservatives to "beat us at our own game." Basically, they think that we only say things are sexist or racist or ableist in order to "make them look bad," and not because we actually think anything they do or say is actually bad.

This is most evident in their obsessive claims that we call them racist or sexist or whatever in order to "shut down debate." They see it as moral posturing and "virtue signaling" rather than combatting something that causes actual harm to actual people. Thus, they think of laws like this as a big "GOTCHA!" when they are not. Even if there were piles of Hoosiers actually having abortions based on the "national origin" of the fetus -- which, you know, would be AMERICAN -- that would not cause any actual harm to actual living Americans. Because abortion is a private decision between a person and their doctor and therefore none of anyone else's business.

[ CNN ]

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