A Person In the Process of Being

Florida and many other States governed by Republicans, are diligently trying to reverse “Roe vs. Wade” because according to the Religious Right – who are the ones funding their own campaigns – an embryo is a baby. With this in mind, they are systematically submitting bills granting a fetus personhood and this will make it more difficult, not to say impossible, for a woman to get an abortion.

They began by referring to a zygote, embryo or fetus by the incorrect term of “baby” or “child”. By doing this, anyone who is against it will be labeled as a baby-killer. Pro-Choice people have never wanted to “kill babies”, actually many Pro-Choicers will not have an abortion themselves, but they do not want to force on a woman their personal opinion or beliefs thus allowing women to make a decision about having or extending her family, after all it will be her and no one else the person responsible for that child until the ripe age of 18.

There are many reasons why a woman decides to have an abortion – but whatever the reasons might be, a woman has the right to decide to have a family or not. It is not the government’s choice (a government that is constantly trying to place obstacles for a family to survive), it is not up to the legislators, representatives, senators, neighbors or a church. It is a woman’s personal choice, period.

Some governors are suggesting inserting probes into a woman’s vagina to make sure she is not pregnant before undergoing certain procedures, to make sure an abortion is really needed, etc. Amendment IV clearly states this to be against the law. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…” For me, introducing an object inside a person against his or her will is an unreasonable search and violates the right of the people to be secure in their persons, and therefore breaches the Fifth Amendment.

The Religious Right arguments to overturn Roe vs. Wade are not based on science; they’re solely based on their religious point of view. The Religious Right fails to recognize and accept Amendment I of the Constitution that clearly defines that Government shall not make decisions or impose on We, the People a religious agenda. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” but for them all that means is that no one can tell them their God is not the ultimate God or their religion is not the only path to that God… but of course, the opposite doesn’t apply.

There are bills being submitted in Florida that, at first glance, look reasonable and we tend to agree with it, but we must be very careful and pay attention to the wording. Bill HR 579 called “Offenses Against Unborn Children” introduced by Rep. Larry Ahern might sound great but it is not. Bill HR 759 states:

“Amending s. 775.021, F.S.; providing a rule of construction that a person who engages in conduct that violates any provision of the Florida Criminal Code or of a criminal offense defined by another statute and causes the death of, or bodily injury to, an unborn child commits a separate offense if such an offense is not otherwise specifically provided for; providing for criminal penalties for such an offense;”

This particular bill is changing an already existing Bill that already brought a fetus closer to personhood by calling it a “quick child” but since that wasn’t enough the Floridian Legislature want to get rid of the “quick” and change it to unborn and, if it's unborn then by definition it is not a child but a fetus. If we accept this bill, then we are accepting the term “unborn children” and there is no such thing, according to The American Heritage Medical Dictionary the definition of child is:

Child
n.

1. A person who has not yet reached puberty.
2. A son or daughter; an offspring.
3. A person not of legal age; a minor. 

And these are the medical definitions for an “unborn child”: 

Fetus (L.) the developing young in the uterus, specifically the unborn offspring in the postembryonic period, in humans from nine weeks after fertilization until birth. 

Zygote
n.

1. The cell that is formed by the union of two gametes, especially a fertilized ovum before cleavage.
2. The organism that develops from a zygote. 

Embryo

n. pl. embryos

1. An organism in its early stages of development, especially before it has reached a distinctively recognizable form.
2. An organism at any time before full development, birth, or hatching.
3. The fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal following cleavage.
4. In humans, the prefetal product of conception from implantation through the eighth week of development.

The legal definition of a child, according to Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill is: 

Child 
n.

1. a person's natural offspring.
2. a person 14 years and under.  A "child" should be distinguished from a "minor" who is anyone under 18 in almost all states.

We all have said at one time or another some absurdities such as the moon is made of cheese, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, etc. but just because the populace says it, it doesn’t mean it’s true. We are all guilty of referring to a fetus as a baby when talking to a pregnant woman, it’s natural and at that moment we are not medically or legally consulting the pregnant woman or drafting a legislative bill. But using the incorrect medical and legal term in a bill it’s inexcusable and we should not allow it. The only reason why these Governors and Legislators are using the terms “baby” or “child” when referring to an embryo or a fetus is to impose on others their twisted religious views. It is to grant personhood to a future person… I guess that they do not have eggs and bacon, what they have for breakfast is unborn chickens and bacon!

Republicans and Teabaggers keep shouting that they want a smaller government, but are willing to create a whole department to interfere with a woman’s right to her body and finances. Finances because bringing up a child is not free by any means, it is not free to raise a child, to provide them an education and a secure environment. But the Religious Right couldn’t care less, they keep putting pressure to reduce or close the programs that help women with children survive. They are against Medicaid; they’re against public education, against food stamps and against all “entitlements” designed to help the poor. I’ve said it many times and I’ll repeat it again, the Right loves “children” while there are inside the woman’s uterus but once those “children” pass through the birth canal and take their first breath of air, that’s the exact moment when that child becomes an enemy of the state and a parasite for society who should be punished, restricted and not allowed to have a decent life.

If these extremists get their way, a woman who has a miscarriage will be a suspect of murder. If a woman needs an abortion to save her life, she will have to die because an abortion will mean murder and no doctor would perform the life-saving procedure.

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