David Weigel | December 22, 2006
Kansas' rabid anti-abortion attorney general Phill "God meant for me to have two Ls" Kline - last seen by Jacob Sullum taking a sweet consolation prize after voters ousted him - is making one last, futile attack against the state's most controversial abortionist. A final "surge" of lawsuits, if you will.
Kansas' attorney general, a vocal abortion opponent, has filed criminal charges against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the doctor's attorney said Friday.
...
Tiller's clinic, known for being one of the few in the country to do late-term procedures, has been a high-profile target of anti-abortion protesters for decades. The clinic was bombed in 1985, and Tiller was shot in both arms by a protester in 1993.
Kline, who lost his re-election bid in November and leaves office in three weeks, has been investigating whether Tiller and other abortion providers performed illegal late-term abortions in Kansas or failed to report suspected child abuse as required by law.
Laugh if you want. In a few years, we'll all be begging for representation from Nifong Kline LP.
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Why would I laugh? If a pro-lifer is using his office to try and
stop late term abortions in court, what's the problem? Why would
"we" need Nifong, who hides evidence in a case that is filled with
questions, to defend us? Are you trying to say that the corrupt
Nifong is somehow morally superior to the outgoing prolifer?
Not all libertarians are prochoice. The whole "do no harm"
principle easily applies to the unborn.
The whole "do no harm" principle easily applies to the
unborn.
That's right it applies to the unborn. Therefore, when an fetus is
about to ruin the life of the mother, it should be aborted.
Call it self-defense.
Yelowd,
The point here is that these are both examples of overzealous
prosecutors applying a microscope to particular parties in order to
try and find something prosecutable in their behavior. That's not
really how it's supposed to work.
Akira,
Brilliant twist. The problem is with that rational you are
admitting the fetus is a human which opens up all sorts of legal
and philsophical cans of worms. The other problem is you are
claiming that the mother was unknowing of the possible results of
sex (prepare your rape and incest arguments). I guess I should just
toss the whole personal responsibility thing right out the
window.
Brian,
I get what Weigel was trying to do, but the overzealous prosecutor
link doesn't really work in this case, which makes for a lousy
joke.
Yeah, to any choicer they'll see an overzealous prosecutor. OTOH,
the prosecutor believes the abortions are murdering real people. If
you believe that, than he's about as overzealous as an
abolitionist.
Nifong wasn't exactly overzealous about finding white, rich kids to
prosecute for raping black strippers. He was political, won his
election, and is now a pragmatist. If he has a history of going
after white, rich kids, I'll take it all back and get the joke.
The problem is with that rational you are admitting the
fetus is a human which opens up all sorts of legal and philsophical
cans of worms.
Not it doesn't. If a mad dog or wild animal is going to kill you, a
human should have the right to kill it.
Ditto with a fetus. Abort the little fucker. Hell, legalize
infanticide for all I care. It's not as if the loss of a child who
isn't providing jack or shit to civilization is going to matter.
Weep for the death of the experience and educated, not blank
slates. We can breed more of those.
The other problem is you are claiming that the mother was
unknowing of the possible results of sex (prepare your rape and
incest arguments). I guess I should just toss the whole personal
responsibility thing right out the window.
So do you see pregnancy for a punishment for sex outside the prison
called marriage?
I would say that a woman who doesn't abort a fetus when it's
obvious that they don't have the means or inclination to care for
it is being irresponsible.
I guess I should just toss the whole personal responsibility
thing right out the window.
In a sense, yes. What other undesired conditions easily linked to
behavior do we "hold people responsible for" by refusing treatment?
Heart attacks in the obese? Lung cancer in smokers? Hardly.
Personal responsibility only goes so far. In a world where
_everyone_ takes risks, we would all be in serious trouble, both as
individuals and a society, if there weren't ways to ameliorate the
consequences.
It's the castle principle. If someone's in your house stealing
your stuff, and if they pose a threat to your life, have a right to
defend yourself. If they're in your belly, metabolising your
glucose, and they pose a threat to your life (childbirth still
isn't risk free) you certainly don't have to sit around and ponder
the ontological riddles of when human existence begins. They're a
threat, and may be eliminated if the need is felt by the owner of
the body in question.
Yes, I'm being flippant, but still, the point here is that the AG
in question makes no bones about the fact that he's intentionally
going after this guy because he doesn't like the doctor's LEGAL
activities. Kline doesn't exactly go after doctors who treat
underage miscarriages to see if they've failed to report alleged
sexual assault, like he does with abortionists. Because he's not
interested in finding doctors who don't report underage
pregnancies, he's interested in putting people who do legal
abortions in jail. It's abuse of power, and it's wrong.
Yelowd- The thing is that a prosecutor is supposed to enforce
the law, not his particular view of morality. That's the job.
Looking for anything prosecutable because you don't like the legal
business a person is running is not the job.
That has nothing to do with life/choice. It has everything to do
with his responsibility as a prosecutor.
Did this abortion doctor actually break the law (even if many
people, myself included, may disagree with it)? Is it a scofflaw
situation?
I'm thinking this is not an irrelevant distinction here,
particularly if you want to make comparisons to Nifong (where
there's little evidence to suggest the accused broke any kind of
law).
"Personal responsibility only goes so far"
So should we scrap involuntary manslaughter? Heart attacks, lung
cancer, etc. are a result of poor decisions that at the core only
affect that person. It doesn't do any harm to another person.
Whatever you want to say, everyone knows sex makes babies. You
could argue that sex resulting in a child that is then aborted was
actually reckless endangerment of another human. It's a sad state
of affairs when those who can easily excuse their actions are
making arguments for why it's ok to off someone who can't defend
their rights in any way (and can't even really do that for years
after being born).
Akira,
Hilarious. Either you're bat shit crazy or you're just trying to
give me a hard time.
Kline, who lost his re-election bid in November and leaves
office in three weeks, has been investigating whether Tiller and
other abortion providers performed illegal late-term abortions in
Kansas or failed to report suspected child abuse as required by
law.
OK, so it's Kansas, and the fundie wackos there are about the worst
in the nation. Still, there is the law, and it's quite possible
that this doctor has violated it.
Kline should have left the decision to press charges to the
incoming AG, though, instead of being a prick by playing "gotcha"
politics and forcing the new AG into a bad spot as he enters
office.
However, sometimes pricks in government pull shenanigans as they
leave office. Just ask Marc Rich.
Akira, speaking as one pro-choice person to another: you're not helping.
I'm guessing that most prosecutors are generally looking for
possible crime violations, in the same way the police are always
out and about, in the same way the IRS is always watching. If there
is talk of law breaking abortions, then it is fair game to
investigate and press charges.
Can any of you tell me how the unborn are to defend themselves?
They didn't choose to bring themselves into the world. Two people
chose to have sex or mix a cocktail in a turkey baster and made a
kid. Since everyone seems to be conceding that the unborn are
humans (castle principle, self defense, etc.) what rights do they
have and why should they start only at birth when the child still
can't defend itself. Now to reverse the situation, should we be
able to sue our parents for making us, for not being the best
parents? What harm do our parents do us and should we be able to
kill them if that harm is a great burden? Should I be able to off
my mother if she goes to a nursing home? Should I be able to off
any retiree who is bleeding me of my hard earned dollars through
medicaid, medicare, social security, etc.? They are a burden,
individually and a whole. In fact everyone is a burden when you get
down to it. How far do we take individualism?
Count me as one who concurs entirely with AKIRA's admittedly
provocative commentary above.
If a female knows full well she has no commitment to raising a
delivered baby to adulthood, she would do well to terminate the
little scudder ASAP.
yelowd,
I've never been able to come up with a coherent answer to your
question.
Sadly, by Akira's logic, if a mother realizes two months after
birth that she is unable to raise it, or the kid is just too much
of a damn burden, well, the kid can't take care of itself, so it's
fair game.
"How far do we take individualism?"
I don't know exactly, but I do know that there is no objective
principle upon which the determination of a fetus as a person, or
non-person can be made. It is simply personal belief. As a result I
don't see how your belief should trump mine as a matter of
government intervention. In other words, if you think a fetus is a
person, then don't have/(participate in) an abortion. Others who
disagree, finding a fetus to be no more a person, yet no less human
than a liver can do what they feel is right for them.
But thats just my two cents, and I mean no offense.
but I do know that there is no objective principle upon
which the determination of a fetus as a person, or non-person can
be made
We establish reasonable and unreasonable legal definitions and
standards for many things, like when life ends and whether you're
drunk.
Although it wouldn't satisfy the life-begins-at-conception crowd
nor the infanticide-is-okay-until-puberty group, there is no real
reason why we cannot establish a legal definition of when a
person's life begins.
Phill's off base here but there is plenty of precedent for these kinds of presecutorial shenanigans.
Judge dismisses charges Kline filed against Wichita doctor
Clark signed his one-page order only hours after Kline's complaint
against Tiller was unsealed.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/16300454.htm
Akira, speaking as one pro-choice person to another: you're
not helping.
Jennifer, you and I both know that sooner or later some Christard
is going to play the "infanticide" card and claim that if we can
allow abortion because a fetus can be an inconvenience we should
allow infanticide. They expect us to backpeddle in hopes that if we
can see the immorality in the latter act, we'll see it in the
former. I was once anti-abortion, so I know how these people think,
and I'd rather be thought of as a callous baby killer than ever
give philosphical ground to any Christian pile of shit.
Akira,
Frankly, I like your style.I find you less offensive than those who
claim abortion is morally wrong, but ok for others. If it is
morally wrong because you believe that someone is killing a person,
than you actually have a duty to defend those who can't defend
themselves. If you're going to be for abortion, why be ashamed?
Jennifer, Akira, is right. The reason that Akira isn't helping is
because in quite course terms, that's the reason people are
aborted. Any hint of being ashamed, any hint that pulling the baby
out except for the head and then driving a spike through the brain
makes you squeemish calls into question the morality of the very
act. If you can't look upon the 88,000 aborted people in New York
and not think "wonderful," you're giving ground. If you can't look
upon early stage abortions at tiny, severed hands and feet, at
chemically burned fetuses, without any twinge of disgust, then it
is hard for me to actually believe you are pro-choice. If you only
want abortion to be seen as a "sanitary procedure" it's simply not
the case. If you want to think there is some better reason, than
selfishness in most cases of abortion than you shouldn't argue. At
the core, Akira is right. But again, Akira, opens up pandora's box
and returns us to Hobbes state of nature. And in that state of
nature when Akira gets older or becomes a burden, Akira's children
or society abort Akira because "...when an fetus is about to ruin
the life of the mother, it should be aborted." So why not dispose
of Akira when he is about to ruin the life of the child.
Having said that, I'm actually even more disturbed by the notion.
The child isn't ruining the life at that moment, but it is the
belief or perception that the child is "about to ruin the life of
the mother" that justifies killing it. Swell. Let me complicate
things more, what if the father wants his life "ruined"?
Yelowd, I have no interest in discussing whether an unborn fetus
is a human or not in some existential term. As a matter of law, it
is not. Therefore, abortion is not legally murder, even if that
particular form of abortion is outlawed, it is a different crime
than murder.
We were being a bit flippant, and I do appologize at least for my
own remarks. However, I do think that regardless of what Phill here
thinks about abortion, what the doctor he's persecuting does is
legal. Even if Phill think's the doc's committing murder, it's not
LEGALLY murder, so it's none of Phill's business. It's ALSO not
Phill's job to find a person legally doing something Phill doesn't
like and then to keep digging, with no evidence, to find something
he can prosecute on. If strip clubs are legal, it's not acceptable
to raid them three times a month to see if they're serving underage
drinkers if you're not doing the same thing to non-sex-related
bars. You just don't take your personal likes and dislikes and use
that to decide whom you're going to investigate. You investigate
people for whom you have evidence of a crime, not people you
hate.
At the core, Akira is right. But again, Akira, opens up
pandora's box and returns us to Hobbes state of nature. And in that
state of nature when Akira gets older or becomes a burden, Akira's
children or society abort Akira because "...when an fetus is about
to ruin the life of the mother, it should be aborted." So why not
dispose of Akira when he is about to ruin the life of the
child.
Yeah, because an idividual with a lifetime of knowledge and
experience is somehow as great a loss to society as drooling
babbling baby.
But, don't worry your brainless Christian head. If that day comes
that I am no longer capable of taking care of myself, I'll do my
hypothetical spawn a favor and do myself in... of course, your
fucking religion seeks to deprive me of my right to suicide just as
it does women the right to control what goes on in their uterus,
all in the name of your non-existent "God."
You just don't take your personal likes and dislikes and use
that to decide whom you're going to investigate. You investigate
people for whom you have evidence of a crime, not people you
hate.
Lunch, you obviously haven't been watching House.
I wonder how long Richard Dawkins has been posting comments here
under Akira MacKenzie's name. (Oh, and thank you A.K., I'd say
you're helping articulate the morality of your position
perfectly.)
Speaking of House, how long before Tritter or his wife or
child gets rolled in on a gurney with a mysterious, life
threatening disease?
I wonder how long Richard Dawkins has been posting comments
here under Akira MacKenzie's name.
And you're Pat Robertson and your fellow Jesus-fucker, yellowd, is
Pope Nazi I.
(Oh, and thank you A.K., I'd say you're helping articulate the
morality of your position perfectly.)
While you've shown the fascism of the anti-abortion position
perfectly.
"""Although it wouldn't satisfy the life-begins-at-conception
crowd nor the infanticide-is-okay-until-puberty group, there is no
real reason why we cannot establish a legal definition of when a
person's life begins."""
Sure there is a real reason, it's because we can't agree on a
definition.
I say when it no longer requires a host to survive.
Someone really disagrees with me in 3, 2, 1....
Sure there is a real reason, it's because we can't agree on a
definition.
=======================================
We can't have a consensus definition because we have no clear,
universally-agreed upon analogies. Clearly, a fetus is neither a
baby nor a tumor. It's somewhere in between, and we don't have any
positive law precedent to deal with it.
So let's take a different approach. Western Civilization has a long
history of using story to determine what's just and what's unjust.
Also, we tend to agree that there are a couple of "tie-breakers":
when in doubt, side with the party who has the most to lose, pay
special attention to the party who has no recourse other than law,
etc.
A fetus isn't a baby. It may or may not be, in some objective
senses, a person. But it is an entirely helpless party who is
dependent on the good graces of the person with whom it shares the
closest of human relationships. Should it be legal to break this
connection by performing an act that would be infanticide under
slightly different circumstances?
I think that it shouldn't be legal. I can't prove it with a
syllogysm or make recourse to any tried and true legal axioms, but
I can make the judgement that the act in question isn't conducive
to preserving the set of attitudes we call human nature.
Lunch,
I find the legal / not legal thing fascinating on libertarian
website. While Akira thinks I'm some nutjob, I'm simply a firm
believer in a human's right to life, liberty, and property (yes,
with much influence from my Christian beliefs). How often does this
magazine and everyone on it push or promote something that is
currently illegal or bemoan something becoming illegal, all the
while believing in the rightness of their position?
Kline is simply another person who is fighting for a cause and
pushing the boundary. Where would the libertarians be on the issue
of slavery in America. Would you be a little "r" republican and say
that the blacks were not fully men because they didn't fight to
free themselves (a widely accepted notion at the time) or would we
recognize their humanity despite the fact that slavery was legal
and even spread to the north due to the Dred Scott decision? If you
believed slavery to be wrong is it "ok" to fight that fight by
stealing slaves, writing papers, legally challenging it, using
official offices to try and rid the country of it, helping slaves
escape?
Let's dispense with judging the rightness of Kline's actions
through the legal or illegal lens and look at his actions for how I
would guess he sees it as good man vs. good citizen. Plenty of good
citizens of plenty of states around the world have committed legal,
heinous acts. And almost always its done in behind closed doors in
secret or remote places.
Plenty of good men have committed illegal acts because they had
morality on their side. So to go back to my original point, Kline
should not be lumped in with Nifong for us all to get a good
laugh.
Frankly, I'm a bit saddened that not more than 2 people on this
thread are willing to even consider the very obvious: Sex can
result in a baby. If you're having sex, just maybe there is an
implicit responsibility for whatever may come ... not the people
involved, just a baby. And if we recognize that when sperm and egg
unite it's the beginning of humanity and the fetus begins to
develop more and more and that even out of the womb it can't do a
damn thing on it's own except cry, eat, poop, and sleep (parents,
you know what I'm talking about) and not until it gets much older
can it maybe fend for itself. So if there is a human somewhere in
there, why not say do no harm to it since it didn't chose to do
harm to the mother (or host for Akira). And let's not judge it on
it's value to society (way to throw out individualism). Humans have
value in simply being.
Alright, sorry for the long post. I feel I've got to respond to
several different people. Tear it up, I'll check back later. ps.
I'm not a troll, usually I just read and I'm not witty enough to
add much to things like the regulars, but this one got me
going.
Tricky, I think we can agree on a definition and we have done so
on many thorny issues. For example, we have decided that you can be
put to death for the premeditated murder of another human being.
Some say that ain't right and there is room for argument and
discussion and change. But, we have, in fact, established a legal
standard for when the state may put you to death for murder.
I suggest viability as a standard because it is both a reasonable
standard and an elastic standard that will automatically adjust
itself to a changing world (shrinking toward conception as medical
technology evolves).
If the unwanted freeloader can be removed and survive
outside the womb, either with or without medical intervention, then
it's viable. And, it's yours. Raise it or give it away, your
choice. If it dies, you win.
yellowd, agreed on the irony of the legal/not legal
dichotomy.
I am a big believer that morality trumps law on many issues,
particularly the so-called victimless stuff (typical libertarian in
the respect).
I meant to quote that and respond with this:
Life for conscious humans is a known quantity, but life (or
pre-life) for fetuses (fetii?) is less known because none of us
have conscious memories stretching back that far. Maybe a fetus is
just a lump and everything that makes us human comes later. I doubt
it, but maybe. If I'm facing an ambiguous ethical decision, I will
have to use biases and presuppositions rather than hard facts. I
choose to be biased towards human life, because life is incredible
and I'm certainly enjoying mine. I rarely say this about things I
believe (rather than know), but there truly OUGHT TO BE A LAW
against not being biased in favor of life.
I'd like to answer yellowd, who I would not "excommunicate" from
libertarianism just because he happens to think that an
individual's individuality kicks in before its body exits the birth
canal. There's been a Libertarians
for Life organization since 1976, for cryin' out loud.
Ever since I first started thinking for myself on this topic, my
take has been based on the fact that we judge the end of
life by a mental standard. When someone is "brain dead" we can
declare them legally dead, harvest their organs, turn off the
artificial life support. The determination has to be made that they
are incapable of resuming their life as a thinking and/or feeling
person. If society were ever to negotiate a pre-birth standard for
the beginning of life, it would have to similarly be based on the
normal development of a fetus' brain. When a conceptus is too young
it is physically incapable of feeling, let alone thinking. Is it
scientifically impossible to draw a bright line before which
abortions for convenience would be allowed, and after which some
more serious reason (e.g. saving the mother's life) would be
demabded? I don't care if abortion stops a beating heart, if the
Mark I brain that heart is to be in service of has never "booted
up."
Of course, enforcing a particular theological view without some
alternate explanation that would satisfy those of other or no
religious opinion would be out of bounds in such a
discussion.
One thing Tiller may or may not have been doing that infuriates the
anti-abortion/pro-life crowd is abusing the "health of the mother"
exception. That "loophole" that resulted from the SCOTUS opinions
in Roe and its follow-on cases makes a dead letter of
restrictive legislation, even if it is of the types allowed to the
states in the second and third trimesters. Checking off
"psychological harm" as a reason to allow last minute abortions in
all cases doesn't sound like real doctoring to me. If your
objection is that women and their doctors shouldn't be forced into
such a charade, that's well and good, but it may not be Kansas
law.
Kevin
YELOWD laments: Frankly, I'm a bit saddened that not more than 2
people on this thread are willing to even consider the very
obvious: Sex can result in a baby.
SH: More directly, sex can result in an embryo; an undisturbed
embryo can result in a fetus and a nurtured fetus can result in a
baby.
If you don't want your "sex to result in a baby" and your birth
control fails, thank goodness you can remove the embryo or even the
fetus long before an unwanted baby develops.
God Bless America
"They" will not be able to euthanize "unwanted old people" en
masse without sufficient legal support from the populace.
So spare me any red herrings in that context.
One person makes the decision if a woman will voluntarily carry a
fetus to term. It is not decided by legislative fiat or "majority
rules" or any other spectre one might like to imagine is in
play.
====
AKIRA, if you were apologizing earlier in the thread for your
choice of invective, then cool.
However, in unlikely event you were apologizing for being
supportive of the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, you
never need to say you're sorry.
Three cents for previous three posts.
Plus a nickel
SIC
I wonder how long Richard Dawkins has been posting comments
here under Akira MacKenzie's name.
Dawkins doesn't tend to use words like "Christard" and "Christian
pile of shit."
Still, he would probably agree with Akira's general position.
[quote]If that day comes that I am no longer capable of taking
care of myself, I'll do my hypothetical spawn a favor and do myself
in...[/quote]
No you wouldn't. You'd crap your panties and, given the
opportunity, gladly sacrifice one "spawn" per minute of added life
to your pathetic carcass. Because all that matters is Akira.
Traditional conservative values > Libertarionism.
Nonsense. AKIRA's stated views again reflect my own. I'd be
happy to cut the cord if I found myself in a completley unviable
position and future physically and medically.
I don't fear death, so what's the big deal?
I suggest viability as a standard because it is both a
reasonable standard and an elastic standard that will automatically
adjust itself to a changing world (shrinking toward conception as
medical technology evolves).
hmmm, i don't think so- your reductio points to the hole in that
argument. most people (at least those who aren't hobbled by manic
depression, bigotry, and parent issues) would agree that a
blastocyst is not a human but that a fetus about to crown is. as
technology pushes viability back toward blastocyst, does that make
the little cell clump any more human?
i'll pimp again for what i think is the logical position, covering
fetuses and terri schiavo- the existence of organized cerebral
activity. one's humanity or lack thereof should not be determined
by the state of technology, but rather, should be defined by
endogenous factors.
Akira, when I taught high school and my students had to write a
"persuasive essay," one of the rules was that they could not use
insults or accusations; nobody has ever changed their minds because
their opponents called them evil or, in your case, "Christian
pieces of shit." Also, not all Christians are brainless, despite
what you'd like to pretend. As a pro-choice atheist, I respectfully
request that you stay the fuck away from your computer when you're
having your mood swings, because I am sick and tired of people
assuming that I'm as spiteful, bigoted and irrational as you.
Seriusly, Akira: "all Christians are stupid" is exactly as valid as
"all atheists are immoral." If you're going to argue the former,
stop being offended by those who would argue the latter.
in the spirit of the holidays, i'd like to offer this
prayer.
dear baby jesus, to whom we offer this wonderful day of roast beef
(and maybe some coffee and pie after dinner), can you see it in
your tiny perfect infant heart to get akira a piece of ass before
he turns into an angry atheist version of comic book guy? yea,
verily, for his sorely vexed and vexedly sore, as converts tend to
be, and i doubt any re-readings of eric hoffer's seminal work "the
true believer" will help.
amen.
ps. baby jesus, we must skip the burn victims but bbw is totally
cool. not sure about eyepatches or peglegs, but i will check and
get back to you later. peace.
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