Intro: "Under Arizona's H.B. 2036, the state would recognize the start of the unborn child's life to be the first day of its mother's last menstrual period. The legislation is being proposed so that lawmakers can outlaw abortions on fetuses past the age of 20 weeks, but the verbiage its authors use to construct a time cycle for the baby would mean that the start of the child's life could very well occur up to two weeks before the mother and father even ponder procreating."
Under a new Arizona bill the start of an unborn child's life will begin 2 weeks prior to conception. (photo: public domain)
GOP Bill Declares Pregnancies Begin Two Weeks Before Conception
11 April 12
On Tuesday afternoon this bill passed the Arizona House. Having already passed in the Senate, the bill now moves to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) for her signature or veto. The bill defines gestational age as 'calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,' which would put the beginning of a pregnancy at two weeks prior to conception. The bill bans abortion after 18 weeks and includes no exceptions if the fetus is found to have a life-threatening condition. 18 weeks is too early to conduct many medical tests which would detect abnormalities. Brewer has a long commitment to pro-life issues. -- CW/RSN
new bill up for vote in the state of Arizona would ban abortions for some expectant mothers, but that’s only the start of what lawmakers have in store. If the legislation passes, the state will consider a child to exist even before conception.
Under Arizona’s H.B. 2036, the state would recognize the start of the unborn child’s life to be the first day of its mother’s last menstrual period. The legislation is being proposed so that lawmakers can outlaw abortions on fetuses past the age of 20-weeks, but the verbiage its authors use to construct a time cycle for the baby would mean that the start of the child's life could very well occur up to two weeks before the mother and father even ponder procreating.
On page eight of the proposed amendment to H.B. 2036, lawmakers lay out the "gestational age" of the child to be "calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman," and from there, outlaws abortion "if the probable gestational age of [the] unborn child has been determined to be at least twenty weeks."
The architects of the amendment say that prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks — except in cases of medical emergency — is necessary for the safety of both mother and child. By designating a life to begin weeks before even possible, however, some critics are condemning Arizona lawmakers for looking for a way to involve itself in abortion matters before it can even become an issue.
"Certainly, they are trying move the gestational cutoff from what had been over the last two years a 20-week gestational cutoff to an 18-week gestational cutoff," Guttmacher Institute’s State Issues Manager Elizabeth Nash tells Raw Story. "At the same time, they are trying to say, ‘Oh, this is a 20-week abortion ban.’ And they get away with that with the definition of gestational age that’s in the bill."
"Considering that it’s anti-choice nuts we’re talking about, it’s safe to assume that they’d simply prefer a situation where all women of reproductive age are considered to be pregnant, on the grounds that they could be two weeks from now," RH Reality Check’s Amanda Marcotte adds in a recently-penned editorial. "Better safe than sorry, especially if that mentality means you get to exert maximum control over the bodies of women of reproductive age."
In extending her support for the legislation, however, sponsor Nancy Barto, a Republican senator representing the Phoenix, Arizona area says that fetuses are able to feel pain after the 20-week mark. Also favoring the proposal, Senator Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) adds that lawmakers also need to consider "the 50 million-plus children who have been killed" since the US Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v Wade.
"I would like to listen to the 50 million-plus children that have been aborted and killed since Roe v. Wade,'' the senator says."I would like to listen to what they think of this bill.''
Mother Jones adds in their own reporting, however, that while the law could be explained as an effort to deter complications that come from late-term abortions, opening up the window for the gestational age to begin before conception can hurt the parents in the long run. Essentially the act would outlaw abortion after 18 weeks, not 20 as the legislation claims, which could keep some concerned parents from making a decision about pregnancy before some medical procedures that gauge the health of the child are able to be determined. While some tests can be conducted soon after conception to catch potential life-threatening conditions and other impairments, outlawing abortions after the eighteenth week could keep parents from opting for abortion after other tests can be carried out (before the 20-week mark).
H.B. 2036 passed in the Arizona Senator by 20-to-10 and will soon go before the state’s House. To Raw Story, Elizabeth Nash says she believes the bill has a "very good chances of passage."
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Comments
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You can always get pregnant again, but if you wait too long for an abortion than you could end up being trapped with a child that you don't want, is defective, or can't be handled by you circumstances.
Maybe it's best to get your tubes tied or have you partner get a vasectomy just to eliminate risk of being trapped in an unwanted pregnancy. What if you lose your job -- increasingly likely -- and can no longer afford a child, in a society where you can't get any help because all the social services are gone, or you aren't rich enough to afford medical care, or send the tyke to college?
(And what child would want to grow up in a country run by fascists or Republicans anyway?)
Better safe than sorry -- abort NOW! It's the conservative thing to do.
Best new slogan I've heard in years!
You know, I feel as if we're trapped in a surreal spin that is getting more and more surreal by the day...and so, so scary. America is reeling out of control more and more, and I feel as if I can only watch its demise, because no one in power is listening to "wiser, reasonable minds"; they're all brain dead!
But to stay silent, to do nothing, would be the greatest oppression. As Robert Reich has said, our expressions of outrage about these things is good, but it is now time to go beyond outrage and to act to keep these dim bulbs who want to destroy our country (and are doing just that at every turn) OUT of office.
OUST THE BUMS NOW!
N.
OVERPOPULATION; HOW DENSE CAN WE GET?
Anyhow it is very hard to understand how people can be so fixated on fetuses but apparently care not one little bit about raising the children. That's my impression anyway, but i'd appreciate being corrected if Steve Smith has a record of supporting child care, education, and training of Arizonans (including of course non-Anglos).
Their definition of when life begins (2 wks before conception) is typical of their actions. It's stupid at best and a pander to the twisted values of their right wing evangelical supporters at worst. As an Arizonan, we've come to expect this from the clown chorus we call our legislators. Truly sad...
We are going to have to BOYCOTT Florida, Tenn, & now the Grand Canyon state? They'll be monitoring menstruation & giving ultra-sounds & pregnancy tests at state borders & airports. The Three Stooges States are making their move.
OUT WITH THE BLUE DOGS & RED ELEPHANTS!!!!
VOTE 2012! GIVE THE SENIORS RIDES TO THE POLLS OR DELIVER THEM ABSENTEE BALLOTS! VOTE EARLY! VOTE ABSENTEE BALLOT!
I beg to differ - these people are dangerous and a real threat to our liberties. I find nothing entertaining in that.
Ovulation does not occur until right at two weeks AFTER menstruation. So - are women going to be responsible for every damn ovum in their ovaries, but men get a pass on every sperm?
Most of those legislating life don't even know the difference between a zygote, an embryo, or a fetus. That's because they have no clue what is involved in science, especially human biology.
I don't mean to validate efforts by AZ and other states to take away from women the rights to their own bodies etc. But in terms of how the weeks of pregnancy are counted they have changed a thing.
VOTE IN NOVEMBER.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/2r/adopted/s.2036jud.doc.htm not only passes law defining gestational age, it makes specific reference to the literature, such as "L. Bartlett et al., Risk factors for legal induced abortion-relate d mortality in the United States, Obstetrics & Gynecology 103(4):729–737 (2004)." and "J. Pregler & A. DeCherney, Women's Health: Principles and Clinical Practice 232 (2002)."
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