If you had any doubts that the wacky 'pro-life' Christians were living in a fantasy world bearing only a slight resemblance to our own, get a load of this:
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (Reuters) -- A Texas legislator has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies.
Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick, who also is a conservative radio talk show host, said Friday the money might persuade the women to go ahead and have babies, then give them up for adoption.
He said during a legislative conference in New Braunfels, 45 miles south of Austin, there were 75,000 abortions in Texas last year.
"If this incentive would give pause and change the mind of 5 percent of those women, that's 3,000 lives. That's almost as many people as we've lost in Iraq," Patrick said.
Patrick has filed legislation to make the payment state law, but the legislature has not voted on it.
His proposal calls for giving any woman going to an abortion clinic the $500 option, to be paid no more than 30 days after the baby is born and given up for adoption.
Critics say the proposal would violate Texas and federal laws against buying babies, which Patrick rejected as "the typical ridiculous criticism."
Heather Paffe, political director of Planned Parenthood of Texas, said Patrick's proposal "is very cynical and insulting to women and their families."
"It's insulting to think women would make that kind of decision so easily," she said.
Take a moment to let this proposal roll around in your mind and imagine all the ways it could go wrong, all the ways it could be gamed, and all the ways it could be abused. Intense, isn't it?
8 comments:
I'm Dan Patrick, and I'll give you $500 for test driving an abortion today! Come on down to Planned Parenthood and you could be eligible for $500!
(Money not paid for 10 months; void where prohibited. State does not protect you from sexually transmitted diseases or being attacked by Jesus freaks while walking into the abortion clinic.)
Whoa! A whole new cottage industry! We could call it Operation Babies for Iraqi Freedom, and we could send replacement babies to the families grieving over the loss of their loved ones in the war. They'd all be so distracted by their new responsibilities that they would forget all about that son, daughter, or whoever-it-was just blown to bits by that roadside bomb.
I like the symmetry, don't you?
Let's imagine his plan worked, and those 75k abortions turned into 75k ACTUAL BABIES. It costs more than $500 to raise a newborn to adulthood. But since DHS is so well funded and managed, 75k more children in the system shouldn't cause ANY problem at all. I mean, we're the richest country in the world, right? No poverty here!
*bangs head on desk*
Actually,
If I were a woman, and If I genuinely wanted a baby...
... I could just play pretend about the whole abortion thing and make out with $500 bucks, woohoo!
So your calculations are a little off I am afriad goblinbox, because you would have to count in the clever chicks who catch on. You may as well be adding on the actual birthrate of the state of texas in addition to the potential abortees.
ZOMG! let's make it even BETTER!!
Well If I were a shrewd oklahomian(?) gal, I could just cross the state and employ the same strategy as above and again, get $500 courtesy of the great state of texas. After all, what does residency matter if we could save a LIFE people!
I wonder how long they could keep this up without raising taxes...
...meh, it wouldn't matter they'd just blame it on the "libs" anyway
Considering that one of Dan Patrick's issues that got him elected was holding the line on taxes (even though we can't figure out how to pay for schools here), this is pretty rich.
If you want a real look into the minds of Patrick and his people, check out the "news" web site he helped found, Lone Star Times (I think it's at www.lonestartimes.com).
Could the payment be retroactive? Because I didn't want my kid, but we had him anyway and now I'd like my $500.
I would definately have second thoughts about giving birth to a Texan, even for five bills.
New Braunfels is about 30 miles north of me. It's a nice little town founded by a bunch of German immigrants, but the political climate there is frightening.
Just recently, I peppered the editor of The New Braunfels Herald Zeitung with demands they drop Anne Coulter's syndicated column.
The chickenshit didn't even bother to reply.
It's embarrassing to learn of this new wrinkle.
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