"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill that defines fetuses as human beings passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, after hours of partisan debate over whether this definition would erode abortion rights.

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act would make it a federal crime to harm a fetus -- defined as 'a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb' -- during a violent criminal attack on a pregnant woman.

President Bush, whose administration has acted to restrict abortion, commended House lawmakers for passing the measure."

i don't even know where to start on this one. to begin with, EVERYONE START BUGGING THE HELL OUT OF YOUR SENATORS NOW!!! this doesn't become law until the senate passes it and the president signs it (yes i did watch my schoolhouse rock), so there's still hope.

ostensibly, this is an effort to protect the unborn against attackers, so that if the mother is attacked and the fetus harmed, there will be a stricter penalty. in the subtext, though, is where the dangers lie. the fact is, this is the first bill which defines as a human being a fetus at any stage in its development. obviously, there is concern over the implications for abortion rights. if you can define the embryo as alive and human, and there is a law against doing it harm, how does this relate to an abortion?

from the same article:

"Minutes after the vote, Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts issued a statement on the bill, taking aim at abortion rights supporters.

'They lied to us about the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion, and now they are trying to tell us that there is nothing inside a mother's womb that ought to be protected from a murderer,' Watts said. 'This is wrong. We must stand up for mothers and their children.'"

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i have several problems with this whole thing. the first is that this doesn't seem like much of a preventive law. i would wholeheartedly agree with stronger domestic violence legislation, stronger laws against violence on women of any kind. i would even advocate for a law that strictly specified pregnant women. but to have a law which protects only the fetus both seems ineffectual and sends a message that protecting the mother is less of an issue.

the primary supporter/ poster mother for this law is a woman who lost her baby shortly before birth because she was savagely beaten by her husband . here's the thing--why was she still in an abusive relationship? where were her alternatives? secondly, she was something like 8 months pregnant. this law covers the entire pregnancy, from conception on. not only do i wonder about the validity of using this woman as a model for the law, but i have to wonder at the sheer propaganda motives for using a nearly full-term fetus in a campaign for a law covering all stages of pregnancy.

this is not to say that my heart doesn't ache for this woman, and for all women who have lost a child in this way. no one should have to feel that kind of pain. there NEED to be stronger laws protecting women. there are other women that i feel for just as much though; the women who find themselves in a situation, of whatever kind, that requires them to have an abortion. i can't believe that there is a single woman in this world who wants to have an abortion. i heard once that a woman who chooses to have an abortion is like a wild animal in a trap who must choose to gnaw off its own leg in order to survive. it's not a choice i ever want to make, and in an ideal world, every pregnancy would be planned, every baby would be expected and wanted. this is not a perfect world.

so long as girls aren't taught to take charge of their bodies (because conservatives block sex education in schools too), so long as women don't have enough access to contraception (and for that matter so long as it remains women's responsibility to provide most contraception), until incest and rape stop, there will be a need for abortion. until Roe vs. Wade in 1973, it was practiced in alleys and backrooms, with dirty knives and folding tables. if the law is overturned, that's where it will go back to. so long as abortion is necessary, shouldn't it be safe? trying to deny the fact of abortion is like trying to deny the existence of gravity. you can outlaw it all you want, but it keeps on happening just the same.

there need to be changes, but not this kind. pass stronger laws against domestice violence. build up the battered women's shelters and rape ciris centers across the country. educate girls about their bodies and their sexuality, and give them a safe place to grow and build their self-esteem. give women access to inexpensive and effective birth control methods. teach everyone about alternatives to violence, from the time they're children. but don't think you can pass a few laws for the surface issues and make it all go away.

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