Put a Stake in the Wedge Issues
Although the Indiana General Assembly is still a couple days away from convening, I’ve started to skim through some of the bills that are being filed so see what’s on the minds of lawmakers.
I’ve maintained on this blog and in other media that the best thing the Republican-controlled legislature can do is focus on jobs and education reform. If a bill has nothing to do with creating jobs, putting more money in the pockets of Hoosiers, improving education or bringing more accountability and transparency to government, what’s the point?
So when I saw Senate Bill 50 all I could do was scratch my head and ask is this legislation really necessary? The measure would require any woman seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure. I assume the logic of this is that the woman who went through all the internal processes of whether to have the procedure will change her mind when she sees the images. Of course such a bill could also have the reverse effect and make the woman even more determined to have the abortion.
For me the bigger question is does this bill create a job? Do mandatory ultrasounds improve education or make Indiana more competitive in the marketplace? Does it streamline local government? It does put more money in the pockets of Hoosiers, but only because it forces the woman to pay for the ultrasound. Other than that, what purpose does it really serve?
And before anyone accuses me of not wanting to protect the unborn, I have two responses. First if you want to protect the unborn make sure the there’s an economic climate where the already born can prosper and you’ll find that the abortion issue tends to take care of itself. Also, making sure people who are not prepared to deal with the responsibility of children never get pregnant in the first place because they have access to contraceptives solves a multitude of issues.
And legislation like this really won’t stop abortion because if a woman really wants one, all she has to do is hop on I-74 west or I-65 north and drive a couple hours.
Indiana has a lot of crucial issues to face, I don’t see this as being one of them right now.
