Hopefully the courts will overturn this trashy bit of legislation. If allowed to stand there's always a horrifying possibility that poor women in backward areas would might return to the old days turning to semi-competent abortionists who'll do anything for money.

What amazes me is how little press this is getting -- abortion is a major hot-button issue, why isn't this being talked about more? I also wonder what it's going to take to wake people up to how repressive this regime, er, administration is -- it's particularly scary with both houses of Congress being controlled by right-wingers as well.

Does this government really reflect the make-up of our country, or are the moderates just lying down and taking it?

I think I've hit outrage overload -- there are so many things going on right now to be pissed about it's like I've blown a fuse. Maybe that's the plan...

It's not being talked about because of the SCLM (so-called Liberal Media), who are anything BUT Liberal.

Partial birth abortion talk gets me so steamed. First of all, what woman would put herself through a late-term abortion unless her health were at risk or the child was expected to be born with serious birth defects? If you just want an abortion, of course you'd choose to terminate earlier and not go through a full-blown surgery. The psychological effects of a late-term abortion are intense. Second-- I have never heard of a case where a viable fetus was aborted. Usually these are instances where the child, if carried to full-term, would be stillborn or die soon after birth. This is just a right-wing attempt to erode abortion rights.

<sarcasm>
when are you women going to learn to just stay at home, clean the house and stop thinking? leave that to the men in washington. they're only passing laws to protect you and keep you safe. you can't possibly know what's best for you ... THEY do. sheesh. you're so ungrateful.
</sarcasm>

I'm so frustrated with the constant attacks on abortion rights...after the serious onslaught we just went through in the Texas legislature (James Graham, Executive Director of Texas Right to Life, "Our political situation in Texas is the envy of Pro-Lifers nationwide.") And now this? Just when I think this evil administration couldn't get any worse, they do...p.s. fish, 'fucktard' is now my new favorite word.

I wonder if you would post exactly what is done during a partial birth abortion, just so I can be sure exactly what it is.

As a woman who is pro-choice, I feel compelled to comment here.

While I agree that government has no right to legislate what a woman does with her body, I do feel very strongly that partial-birth abortions are barbaric. In my opinion, there is no reason to carry out a partial-birth abortion. The decision to abort should be made and carried out early in the pregnancy.

A partial-birth abortion is sanctified murder. So if it's legal to kill a child in the latter stages of gestation, why not just legalize destroying a newborn, or euthanising the elderly?

To Stacey: Here is a diagram of the Partial-Birth Abortion. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/diagram.html

Sue - just a word here... Partial birth abortion is a term created by the anti-choice agenda. 85% of abortions are performed within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. The remaining are spread out over the remaining weeks, so only a small portion of those 15% are considered "partial birth" abortion. If you're having an abortion in the late stages of your pregnancy it is usually for a very good reason, not because you've decided you randomly don't want to be pregnant. You can decide that it's a "barbaric" procedure, but if your health will be seriously at risk if you deliver a child, well, than call me a barbarian because I think my life and health are worth preserving.

I made one comment and then stayed out of that debate as well. I have no idea why I try to participate in a discussion with people who compare abortion to murdering my child, who is 10 years old, and call me an "angry lady" and "feminazi." I mainly sent you that link because I was just appalled at the opinion some men have of contraception, unplanned pregnancies, and women in general. It still surprises and shocks me.

A partial birth abortion is a late term abortion where labor is actually induced for a miscarriage and the birth of the fetus takes place. A D&C abortion can only be done for a certain amount of time during the pregnancy (I believe it's 12 weeks). I don't want to be any more graphic than that because it just gives people fuel for the debate. I so agree that late term abortions should only be allowed when there's a risk and not as an option/choice.

However, here's the sad part. A lot of women are scared and/or uninformed when they become pregnant and stay in a state of denial for awhile until it's too late to have a D&C abortion and there are doctors out there who charge an exorbitant amount of money to do these late term abortions. If women were not pressured and caused to feel so much guilt regarding abortion and it made to be her actual choice instead of a legal/political/religious issue, this would not occur. No woman is ever happy to have an abortion and it's a very difficult choice. Making that choice more difficult causes more harm to the emotional and physical state of the woman.

In my opinion, late term abortions occurring today are comparable to back alley coathanger abortions done when abortion was entirely illegal.

I could write a book about this topic, and I'm still so incensed by that post yesterday saying that only women are responsible preventing pregnancy and should not have sex if they don't want to face the possibility of pregnancy that I can't even gather my thoughts.

Sorry for hogging your comments box, lol.

This whole thing pisses the hell out of me and when I read statements like these I really lose it.

Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey-- "Today, we can stop some of this violence against children."

The Bush administration declared today that the ban was "...morally imperative..."

Why is it that the Bush administration only gives a damn about children when they're in a woman's body? Meanwhile the current proposed budget cuts services for thousands of needy children. So where is the concern then? They're cutting funding for head start programs and making it harder for children to receive free lunches (among other things). So what's the plan here? Save them from partial ban abortions so we can starve them later on down the road?

Yeah, that's ever so much better.

It's all about control and power. Some men have been watching women gain confidence in themselves and their careers for quite a while now. It makes them feel threatened.

I say "some men" because not all men are ignorant control freaks with no clue as to the fact that women are human beings and not property to be done with as they choose.

Now you can understand why so many of them constantly made fun of and put down Hillary Clinton -- she's most likely going to be the first female president... and they're frightened that she'll do to them what they've been doing to us.

Could you see it? Passing laws that told men what they could and couldn't do with their bodies?!!

As for the moron who thinks women are responsible for preventing pregnancy and that they shouldn't have sex it they don't want to become pregnant... what the fuck planet are you living on? You think it's just coincidence that the woman that gets pregnant due to having sex -- got pregnant because a penis was involved in the equation?!

America, once the land of the free, is fast becoming the land of the ignorant and oppressed.

In a case where a decision between a mother's life, or an unborn's life MUST be made; then, (and only then) I feel it would be acceptable to consider a PBA.

Abortion, in and of itself is a personal decision (at the very least), and I agree that in theory it has no place in government. But my concern is; if late term abortions are legalized, can anyone guarantee that they will be used only in extreme cases where the mother's life is clearly in jeopardy? The answer is no...and it isn't necessarily women who might decide to terminate their pregnancies who concern me most... it's the money-grubbing amoral doctors (using the term loosely) who would stand to profit from it.

Yes, unless a mother's life was in clear and present danger of ending, I do deem PBA's barbaric. On many levels.

And I thank you for letting me voice my opinion here.