John in May-retta (driven through there…takes less time to drive than to say) posted about this chick’s post about the Freedom of Choice Act. First introduced in 2004 by the usual suspects, this is supposed to prohibit the government from interfering “with a woman’s right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy…” but it’s going to do so by pre-empting state laws.
Now, I’m far more libertarian (kindly note the small “l”) than Republican, so I firmly believe the government should be nowhere near my bedroom or my girl-parts, or any other part of my body. While I don’t agree on the why of it, I do agree that this has no business being law. (Then again, I think 97.45% of every law on the books, federal and state, has no business being law.) To wit, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of these United States:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
This FoCA says in Section 2, article 15:
(15) Congress has the affirmative power under section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce and to prevent State interference with interstate commerce, liberty, or equal protection of the laws.
Kindly note these lying bastards are trying to loophole this under the guise of preserving Interstate Commerce, presumably because the practice of medicine is a business.
Mister Liberty Girl is the Constitutional scholar of the family, so he’s going to have to do the rant on the Interstate Commerce boondoggle – I speak Government-ese about as fluently as I do French (3 years of indifferent high school classes, kthx) – but the fact remains that the above piece of legislation is a load of horseshit, for a great many reasons. But when you can say that about 3/4 of the things dealt with by every Congressional session where does that leave you?
In desperate need of a new, more efficient form of government, that’s where.
Hmmm… when Health Care ceases to be a business and becomes a right underwritten by the government…
Joan of Argghh!
November 18th, 2008
@Joan of Argghh!: Sweartagad, it’s enough to make you start looking under sofa pillows for fuckin’ conspiracies, ain’t it?
Liberty Girl
November 18th, 2008
Liberty Girl,
Off topic and being mysterious… can you contact me by e-mail?
I have something I wish to discuss with you. I promise I’m not a spammer, even though this would be a creative way of doing that.
Kati
November 18th, 2008
I’m reminded of Princess Leia’s statement to Governor Tarkin on the Death Star in Star Wars:
“The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
(Yes, I’m kind of a scifi geek
)
The state governments will soon have to decide whether they want to remain a part of the Republic, completely subservient to the federal government, or go their own way. Aside from this issue, I think the 2nd Amendment concerns may come earliest to the fore.
Somehow, I think we’ve been through this before…
D.W.
November 18th, 2008
This is getting close to PJ O’Rourke’s comment about buying and selling becoming subject to legislation; the first things bought and sold are legislators.
In an old Prince Valiant series the pivotal character is an Icelandic girl who announces that every year an elder has to recite all their laws from memory, to keep them from having too many.
no, not THAT Glenn
November 19th, 2008
@NNTG: I’ve always said that lawmakers should be constitutionally required to put expiration dates on every new law; it might help to rein them in.
D.W.
November 19th, 2008