Last week, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced House Resolution 3, legislation that would have banned federally funded abortions with the exemption of pregnancies caused by “forcible rape.”
Unfortunately, due to misinformed public opinion, this clause was taken out and replaced with the original language from the Hyde Amendment, meaning federal funds are banned from being used to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life.
The rumors that have been going around insist that Republicans are trying to re-define rape by limiting the definition to forcible rape as opposed to coerced rape, et cetera.
The deal breaker for these rumors is that even if Republicans were to exempt every type of rape from being paid for with federal funds, it still wouldn’t change the existing rape legislation. Rather, it would only change which of these abortions can swallow up money from unwilling taxpayers.
It’s clear that abortion is a tricky topic. It not only involves the debate between whether a fetus or an embryo constitutes a sovereign human life but also whether it is the mother or the father who owns this life in the case of a split decision.
I personally think abortion is a despicable act that shows no regard for the sanctity of life. Then again, I also think that getting drunk or high shows no regard for the sanctity of consciousness, and that sleeping around with people you barely know shows no regard for the sanctity of love.
But would I ever stop anyone from doing these things simply because I find them morally unjust? No, of course not. And I expect those people to give me the same level of respect.
Opponents of the clause keep shouting out that rape shouldn’t be defined by bruises or broken bones. They say that it should be defined only by an absence of the other party’s consent. Yet, in the meantime, they’re trying to fund abortions by stealing my money… without my consent.
The illegal acquirement or use of someone else’s private property against that person’s will or consent is known as theft. You can try to work around the words however you want, but there is no difference. Rape is the sexual derivative of theft.
And, even if I were to love abortions as much as I love pizza and soda, why the hell would I want to pay for someone else’s decision to purchase pizza and soda? The only difference is that federally funded abortions force people to pay for a procedure that may be 100 percent against their conscience and possibly against their religion.
This false conflict will end up doing the same thing to our medical system that the War on Drugs is doing to our society. You absolutely cannot legislate morality.
If you want people to follow your beliefs, have faith in those beliefs with all your heart and set a good example for the rest of the world to follow. If we can’t do that, all will fail.
Reach Brian at brian.p.anderson@asu.edu
