Every Sperm is Sacred
The North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill (House Bill 1572) this week that officially defines the age at which life begins. Unlike previously proposed abortion ban bills, instead of trying to “ban” abortion, this bill provides protection under the law to “any organism with the genome of homo sapiens.”
Although the authors of the bill have cleverly disguised what it truly is with semantics, it is in fact an abortion ban. Should this bill come to fruition, abortion in N.D. would literally be murder and could be prosecuted as such.
The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, was quoted in a recent AP article saying, “This is very simply defining when life begins, and giving that life some protections under our Constitution — the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This bill is intended to challenge Roe V. Wade. As the Supreme Court precedent stands, Roe V. Wade legally protects the practice of abortion, but only before a fetus becomes “viable.” Viable means that the fetus is “potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb, albeit with artificial aid. Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks.”
The recently passed N.D. House bill attempts to redefine the age of “viability.” That’s quite a jump in fetus age from 24 weeks to the moment of conception, but why stop there? Why not define sperm and ovum cells as life and protect them under the law? Sperm do swim, after all, and seem to have a reasonable sense of direction. Is that not intelligent life?
Let’s call the willful waste of sperm and ovums murder. Then we can finally make male masturbation illegal, and menstruation would have to stop as well. Quit wasting those ovums, ladies, we need you pregnant at all times, or at least give your used tampons the proper burial they deserve.
Why stop there? We might as well go a step further and ban sex altogether. Maybe someday we could be a happy nation of test tube babies, finally free from sin. That’s the direction we’re headed. We banned smoking in bars, we’re trying to ban abortion, and we even made it illegal to abstain from seatbelt use. Granted, seat belts are a good idea, but if people wish to choose comfort over safety, that’s their business. Only the individual making that decision could be harmed. We’re slowly making it more and more illegal to make decisions for ourselves.
More Ban News
Speaking of banning sex, another interesting bill passed in the N.D. House this week – House bill 1553. Bill 1553 is attempting to ban adult entertainment from the state. Although the provisions dictate that many of the already existing adult establishments be grandfathered in, this bill is aimed at preventing future adult businesses from being established, or at least keeping them out of sight.
At the time this article is being written, the final version of the bill was not available for viewing. The version that passed had some last minute amendments that have yet to be seen. The previous version, however, had some interesting concepts. The restrictions on the location of such businesses, for example, leave little options for prospective business owners.
The Bill reads: “One thousand five hundred feet [457.2 meters] of a place of worship, child care facility, park, playground, public library, recreational area or facility, school or walking trail, or residence.”
Granted, adult businesses should be kept out of view of playgrounds, child care facilities, etc., but 1,500 feet from a sidewalk? This leaves no option other than to set up shop in the middle of nowhere. Merchants rely on location for good sales. It would be nearly impossible for any merchant business to survive under such conditions.
What would this bill accomplish? Presumably, the aim is to stop any additional adult stores from springing up, and hopefully the remaining ones will peter out over time. Adult entertainment is as old as history itself. Why are we wasting so much time, money, and effort on pursuing such vendettas? Bills like this are a distraction from our state’s greater concerns.
We could be getting more homeless people off the streets and into warm shelter. We could be spending time and effort growing N.D.’s renewable energy resources. We could be spending our time and effort on a lot more important things.
Does the N.D. House really think they can overturn Roe V. Wade? Are we seriously going to go up against the Supreme Court over this? Who is going to pay the legal fees if we do? Hopefully not North Dakota taxpayers. Thankfully, Bill 1572 has a long way to go before it comes to that. It still has to go through legislative crossover, and then get further approval, etc., etc. In the meantime, we must keep a watchful eye on what our legislatures are up to.
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