SENATE BILL: Late-Term Abortion Restriction Act (On the President's Desk)

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I strongly support Ben's amendment and if it is made plan to vote in favor of the bill.

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Nay

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Nay. Also, with the passage of the last amendment I no longer support this bill.

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If the funds were completely opt-outable, would you change your mind?

It is possible yet unlikely. I got to thinking a bit after a brief exchange with Sam awhile back and decided the federal government of Atlasia makes a habit of tackling some issues better left to the individual regions. That's not to imply I am about to go libertarian on ya'll, but I am going to start dragging my heels when I think this highest tier of government is not doing something imperative to fulfilling its core function of upholding the social rights of the people.

In this case, regulating late-term abortions is consistent with that mission of state. The funding in question, in contrast, has a more diffuse yet nonetheless significant cultural impact. Each region ought to generate strategies of their own, with those policies representing both the values and social mores of their respective peoples better than would a one-size-fits-all approach - in effect addressing the issue in a more decentralized, culturally sensitive manner.

Even if a region could opt out, its taxpayers would still have to fund this in the other regions.

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With all due respect to the good Senator Marokai...

This is a low-priority issue to me, and as is such I can afford to be staunchly idealistic and refuse to compromise without any feelings of regret if the bill fails. Adding funds for sex education and the provision of contraception is not outrageous to me (to the contrary, I think it is a wonderful idea), yet having the federal government handle that matter conflicts with my overarching convictions about which responsibilities of state ought to be vested in which tiers of a federalist government.

In regards to the exemptions for rape and incest, my attitude is the original language needlessly complicated the bill, created some potential for abuse of the provisions (e.g. falsely claiming to be a rape victim to get a third-trimester abortion one otherwise would not be allowed to have), and I am not convinced a reasonable person who was a rape victim or committed incest would take more than the first six months of their pregnancy to decide whether they should terminate. From my perspective, in the third trimester it's fair for the fetus to attain a handful of rights - with some of those coming at the expense of the mothers' being reduced.

Also, I will not deny being weird. xD

And NC Yankee, I am afraid I do not have any ideas. Under a more ideal set of conditions I would have plenty of time to spend on deliberating this bill, but as things are I haven't. That is one of a handful of reasons why I am not seeking re-election to the Senate anytime in the short-term future. My apologies for needing to bow out, but I now have other matters demanding my attention. I may come back here to discuss the bill before the final vote, but it is rather unlikely.

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Aye, though I still object to the section three rider.