The Non-Abortion Case Against the NY Abortion Law

This law has been the subject of much discussion and debate. Intentions were there to write this right after the law was passed, but legal research is time consuming, you must read the recently passed law, reference all the other subsections touched on in the newly passed law, and generally read the entire code those sections are from in order to have a handle on what the law makers have actually done. The burden of this delicate entanglement demands time to absorb it all, and weigh the moral and legal ramifications of this morass.

What considerable research has uncovered is that this amendment to the law made a number of changes that all reduce the protections women, and their unborn daughters, used to have.

For starters it changes the definition of a person in the penal code, in effect an unborn child (fetus) is no longer considered a person. This prevents prosecutors from being able to press charges for murder of the unborn. The law removed abortional acts from the manslaughter laws on the record. This again, removes options for prosecutors to protect women, and the wanted children they carry, in a court of law.
This removes options, and protections that were in the law. Abortional acts are still separate crimes, however it is 2 tiers lower in the sentencing guidelines, from class C felony for Manslaughter, to class E for abortion. Murder itself, which is no longer an eligible charge for the unborn due to the redefinition of a person, has been reduced from a Class A felony in these cases.
The law removes abortion related cases from the private court, thrusting them into the public’s eye, further reducing protections of women from public scrutiny in what should clearly be a very private matter for a recently traumatized family.

It reduces the burden on doctors, making it easier for them to pressure young, scared, and vulnerable families into procedures that are not medically needed. By way of simply stating “necessary to protect the patient’s life or health” a doctor can recommend, and then perform the procedure for any medical reason, regardless as to how tenuous. No platform was left for the doctor to be called out for it not being reasonable. This removes protection from women, protection from being offered a dangerous option for medically unnecessary reasons. As anyone that has been in the emergency room, drugged, unsure of what to do, and scared about what tomorrow may bring knows, a doctors opinion, is more often than not received as an only option to patients in such positions.

Regardless of your pro-whatever position on this matter. I think we can all agree the above changes are not improvements for women. They are not helping women to make better choices for their health. These changes don’t help prosecutors imprison violent criminals. These changes only seem to help doctors pressure scared potential parents, and murderers get much reduced stays in jail.

The Ionian School

The philosophers of the Ionian school sought a rational explanation for the origins of the world and physical phenomena, rather than resorting to supernatural explanations and mythology. They are sometimes referred to as cosmologists, since they were largely physicalists who tried to explain the nature of matter. The Ionian school is usually divided into the Earlier Ionians, including Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes; and the Later Ionians including Heraclitus and those who followed him.

In that vein, we reopen the Ionian School to discuss politics. We want strong opinions. We want hardcore debate. We want folks who live what they believe. But we also want any opinions shared to be individual thoughts and fact based. We are not looking for a regurgitation of unchecked talking points that one can find strewn all over the internet. We want new ideas supported by facts and data. We also do not want fact checkers here telling other people why they are wrong. When you disagree with an opinion on the Ionian School, do not tell us why they other person or their facts is incorrect, tell us why your opinion is right and back it up with your own facts. Who know? Some of us may discover that we are not omniscient and are, on occasion, as likely to be as full of crap as the next guy.

So, welcome to the Ionian School.