(Berlin, 1941. A darkened office.)
Goebbels: "You know what would be neat?"
Himmler: "Killing Jews?"
Goebbels: (mildly irritated)"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Let's require some sort of state-approved license to allow people to reproduce!"
Himmler: "Good God…..you're a genius, man!"(Exeunt)
Fast forward to Indiana, a middling state in the richest and most powerful nation on Earth in 2005.
(Indianapolis, 2005. A darkened office.)
Republican Senator Patricia Miller: "You know what would be neat?"
Staff: "Killing Jews?"
Republican Senator Patricia Miller: (mildly irritated)"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Let's require some sort of state-approved license to allow people to reproduce!"
Staff: "Good God…..you're a genius, man!"(Exeunt)
Yes, welcome to George Bush's America, v2005. It seems that State Senator Patricia Miller, a woman after W's heart if I ever saw one, decided that unmarried people should require a "reproductive license" (I wish I was making this up) from their local probate court to pursue medical fertility treatment. Violators are subject to punishment for "Unauthorized reproduction," a Class B misdemeanor. The criminal penalties apply to women who become pregnant outside of marriage via "means other than sexual intercourse." Sperm donors, you're fired.
She doesn't look Asian, but she's learned a lot from Chinese social policy
While dozens of blogs have leapt on the main premise of this proposal, very few seem to have read all the way through it and grasped its full depravity. The definition of married couples that can receive fertility treatments is restricted to:
I almost don't even know what to say about this. For once, I'm speechless. It speaks for itself, and it's saying "AHHHHHHHH! I AM FUCKING INSANE!" If you ever needed any proof that the "pro-life" movement has nothing to do with "life" and everything to do with psychotic Bible-thumping extremists controlling every aspect of your (apparently non-existent) right to your own body from conception to vegetative brain death, this is it.
I think this quote from her interview with Indianapolis' NUVO magazine says it all:
When asked specifically if she believes marriage should be a
requirement for motherhood, and if that is part of the bill's
intention, Sen. Miller responded, "Yes. Yes, I do."
Feel free to email Senator Miller and let her know how you feel about new-age Republican eugenics via this online form or directly at (317) 232-9489. Use the word "fuck" liberally. Tell'em Ginandtacos.com sent you.
Samantha says:
Jesus. Fucking. Christ. is about all I can think to say about that. I will most definitely be contacting Senator Miller with a few choice words from the (so-called) Constitution.
mike says:
I almost wonder, if with the Supreme Court and Iraq troubles heavy this week, Bush sent a special coded "Do Something Insane and Stick with it" message to Indiana to divert people's attention. It's the only thing that makes sense.
Does rural Indiana get sad it's not in the rural south, and accordingly acts more crazy than normal to compensate and impress the south? The idea that you can't have a sperm donor if you have a criminal record or don't attend church enough seems, ummm, wrong.
J. Dryden says:
Not to get this site in trouble, but at what point does the violent overthrow of the government become the right thing to do? I know we're not there just yet–but it looks like it's coming and I need a head's up so I'll know when it happens.
Liz says:
In defense of Hoosiers (I never though I'd begin a sentence that way), the leak of the NUVO story resulted in her and the rest of the Senate being so completely bombarded with phone calls and e-mails all day yesterday that Senator Miller (still a member in full of the Stupid Cunt Club) withdrew the bill from consideration in a one-sentence press conference last night.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051005/NEWS01/51005006
I think it's safe to say that this woman's political career is over.
Samantha says:
Thomas Frank addresses some of what Mike is asking of Indiana fairly concisely in his book "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Essentially, he purports, far-right conservatives have won over unsuspecting members of the working class – who obviously have the least to gain from a conservative administration – by drawing their attention away from the little man behind the curtain (huge government subsidized corporations, military industrial complex, Bush/Cheney energy conspiracy) with talk of hot-button issues that they have no real power to change (homosexuality, abortion, prayer in schools). Once in office politicians rarely address these issues again in any way other than as occasional party rallying rhetoric – mostly because they have no constitutional grounds. In addition, the far-right has alienated the center right by asking for litmus test proof from otherwise intelligent moderate conservatives, forcing them into a position of "us or them." Anyone not far enough to the right is tagged with the evil "liberal" label. The midwest has pretty much caught up with the deep south.
Ed says:
The religious right are no different than my 3 year old nephew. Every once in a while they decide to push it and see how much they can get away with, then they get reprimanded.
Valerie says:
Maybe she's just trying to get onto W's radar for any future Supreme Count spots?
jenn says:
holy fuckin shit!
K says:
Liz, thanks for including that link–I really needed to read that so I would stop hyperventilating. One question arose from the short article though: it reads "married couples who needed donor sperm and eggs to become pregnant would be required to go through the same rigorous assessment process of their fitness to be parents as do people who adopt a child."
Does this mean that in Indiana, you have to "prove" you're a God-fearing Christian couple to adopt a child? Do they already have these separation-of-church-and-state-wall-leaping rules in place in another section of the law?
scarysquirrelman says:
enjoyed this post (if such can be done considering the topic). you'll be pleased to know that this bill request has been withdrawn from consideration due to the uproar it caused. unfortunately, the chairperson of the commission said she was withdrawing only because of the controversy, not because it's discriminatory or filled with narrowminded venom.
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