Evil in South Dakota: State Forces MDs to Lie.

South Dakota's unbelievable new abortion law. - By Emily Bazelon - Slate Magazine

Satan is alive and kicking in South Dakota, if you use deception, lies and trickery as a marker of evil - as I would. Doctors providing abortions in SD will soon be forced by the state to say things they know to be false, like "the fetus you are carrying is an unique, separate human being" and just downright misleading like describing adverse effects of abortions like "increased risk of psychiatric stress and suicidal thinking."

First the "unique, separate human being" part. A fetus is a sort of parasite. The fetus lives in a symbiotic relationship with its host, the mother, in which it derives a long-term one-way benefit of nutrition, growth, and protection. I have no idea how any doctor will be able in good faith to say that a fetus is "separate" since it is unlikely to be viable until at least 24 weeks of gestation (at 28 weeks it is considered viable). So what does "separate" supposed to mean? Potentially separate? Separate in terms of DNA? Separate in terms a "soul," that is a central nervous system (I'm partial to a neuroscientific explanation of the soul!)? Perhaps the SD constitution will allow MDs to fill in what this "separate" is supposed to mean - I certainly hope so, otherwise this is a patently false statement.

Calling a fetus a human being doesn't particularly bother me, unless the intention to do so is to persuade a parent-to-be that having an abortion is just like killing a living child (this is different than calling a fetus a person, which has a distinct legal meaning). And that is the whole point of the SD requirement.

Abortion and homicide are as legally and sociologically different as night is to day. Abortion is private and only affects a few individuals. Homicide is deeply disrupting to the community at large. I might not agree with daughter or friend having an abortion, but it doesn't threaten my sense of security or freedom to pursue happiness and prosperity. Having a killer next door does. Hence, the irrefutable and objective need to legislate one type of killing - that of people.

So here' s my pitch to Christians who oppose abortion: indeed, God may not see the difference between killing people and fetuses important - but that is an issue between him and mother (or parents). Frankly, everyone else's views are irrelevant to that very personal relationship a mother has between her fetus and God. Let a woman make her choice and take the issue up with God.

Permitting abortion is a win-win if you think about it. We can protect constitutional rights and preserve freedom without rebuking God's disdain for abortion! If God doesn't like the mother's decision to have an abortion, she will get her punishment, right? And isn't this how free will is supposed to work? Didn't he endowed us with free will so that we could choose between good and bad, and learn from the consequences?