05-12-2012, 03:30 PM
(05-12-2012, 01:38 PM)Ma Huang Sor Wrote: Failed late term abortions? Is he chatting about third trimester D&C's where the life of the mother is clearly at risk?
Nah, BAIPA was passed unanimously by the Congress in 2002. It was a bill enacted because some elective (and medically-required) abortions simply fail and a baby is born with a heartbeat. There was widespread evidence that they were then discarded or just left to stop breathing.
Obama voted against the Illiniois state version of the bill 2 times when he was Senator; citing that he felt it could interfere with Roe vs. Wade and add extra burden on the woman. A clause was then added stating that the bill had no impact on right to choose or Roe vs. Wade (making the Illinois version exactly the same as the Fed version), and Obama voted against it a third time. BAIPA clarifies that once the fetus is no longer in utero and a live breathing entity is born, he/she is considered a person and entitled to legal rights, under the Constitution. It didn't really create a new law so much as specify/clarify that these babies are considered persons with legal rights with rights to be cared for.
A good many of us Pro-Choicers support BAIPA, but there's a lot to it when you consider costs and options for those babies born, but unwanted. That's a much bigger issue. While gay couples are having more babies and I'm sure that some will/have face the difficulty of requiring late term abortions, it's not really related to the issue of gay marriage rights, imo.