…but why would history and judicial precedent stop him?
Instead of focusing on job creation, congressional Republicans have spent their time passing socially conservative legislation like the “Let Women Die” bill that would allow hospitals that receive federal funds to deny women life-saving abortion procedures.
Now Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), one of the most die-hard anti-choice lawmakers, has jumped on the bandwagon by sneaking a radical anti-abortion amendment onto a completely unrelated piece of legislation. DeMint’s amendment would ban women and their doctors from discussing abortion over the Internet:
Anti-choice Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) just filed an anti-choice amendment to a bill related to agriculture, transportation, housing, and other programs. The DeMint amendment could bar discussion of abortion over the Internet and through videoconferencing, even if a woman’s health is at risk and if this kind of communication with her doctor is her best option to receive care.
Under this amendment, women would need a separate, segregated Internet just for talking about abortion care with their doctors.
via GOP Senator Pushes Radical Bill To Restrict Discussion Of Abortion Over The Internet | ThinkProgress.
Look, Senator, I know it was before your time in Congress, but you might want to take a look at the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which criminalized any discussion of abortion or distribution of information about abortion on the Net. Violators of the provision would have had to pay up to $250,000 in fines and/or spend five years in prison.
Or, rather, that would be the case if my former company BiblioBytes and a bunch of friends at the ACLU didn’t challenge that law, and the Supreme Court didn’t strike down that law as unconstitutional back in 1997.
If you think there’s a single thing that makes your hypothetical law any less likely to be overturned, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise, I’d like you to actually live up to the oath you took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Still, it’s nice to see you aren’t opposed to making busywork for government employees. But there are more productive forms of government stimulus. Maybe you could consider passing a jobs bill.
Related articles
- Sen. Jim DeMint uses spending bill to push his abortion agenda (dailykos.com)
- He’s not giving up. (maureenholland.wordpress.com)
- Jim DeMint’s Newest Abortion Ban: Discussing It Online (crooksandliars.com)
- A Bill That Would Ban Discussing Abortion On the Internet (slog.thestranger.com)
