Althouse: "Fetal Heartbeat Laws Gain Momentum."

March 27, 2013

"Fetal Heartbeat Laws Gain Momentum."

91 comments:

Anonymous said...: As they should, but look for more OBG's to claim to be hard of hearing...; 3/27/13, 6:59 PM
rhhardin said...: The NYT wants social contention on eleven.

Something is being swamped out.

Economy? Foreign policy disaster?

They become not the narrative.; 3/27/13, 7:00 PM
Alex said...: I've alwasys been consistent. Abortion is killing, but it's her body her rights.; 3/27/13, 7:03 PM
Skyler said...: It's about time someone tried this.; 3/27/13, 7:04 PM
Brent said...: Hmm, stark differences - pro-lifers ultimate goal is to protect a life that had no choice in it's creation from the very beginnng of that life.same sex marriage supporters ltimate goal is the abolition ofmarriage and the acceptance of any and every relationship as equal to every other relationship.

Hmmm . . . Which position is destructive and which one is supportive? Hmmm . . .; 3/27/13, 7:09 PM
m stone said...: A liberal tactic---to chip away at the status quo---that is gaining ground for pro-lifers.; 3/27/13, 7:10 PM
edutcher said...: The Gospel According to Robert Rogers.

And it's the only way to take the country (and the culture) back.; 3/27/13, 7:19 PM
Palladian said...: Hmmm . . . Which position is destructive and which one is supportive? Hmmm . . .

I bet you'd be in favor of abortion if you could prenatally determine that your child was going to be a faggot.; 3/27/13, 7:30 PM
Unknown said...: Masterful.
"Chip away" at Roe v Wade abortion rights. Oh, the humanity.; 3/27/13, 7:31 PM
Palladian said...: But Brent, you are correct, we in the Homosexual Conspiracy, in association with the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the Elders of Zion, are merely pressing this marriage thing as a way to destroy the (admittedly threadbare and moth-eaten) moral fabric of your society. Our ultimate goal is to get the abortion rate up to near 100% so that we can use the fetal blood to both bake our matzos and dye our stiletto drag pumps.; 3/27/13, 7:33 PM
Unknown said...: Faggots aren't born that way. But, you're right, if they were and it could be determined by tests before a child is born many people would abort those children. Not people who are pro life though.; 3/27/13, 7:35 PM
Palladian said...: Faggots aren't born that way.

Cite, please.; 3/27/13, 7:36 PM
Unknown said...: Pro life means we don't believe that babies should be killed before they are born.; 3/27/13, 7:36 PM
Unknown said...: Believe me if there were proof that gay was genetic there would be so much uproar no one would be unaware of it.; 3/27/13, 7:37 PM
Anonymous said...: "But Brent, you are correct, we in the Homosexual Conspiracy, in association with the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the Elders of Zion, are merely pressing this marriage thing as a way to destroy the (admittedly threadbare and moth-eaten) moral fabric of your society. Our ultimate goal is to get the abortion rate up to near 100% so that we can use the fetal blood to both bake our matzos and dye our stiletto drag pumps."

3/27/13, 7:33 PM

Oh Gawd Palladian, you're on a roll! LMAO.; 3/27/13, 7:38 PM
Palladian said...: Pro life means we don't believe that babies should be killed before they are born.

I'm pro-life, then. I may be the only person that is both in favor of outlawing most abortion and in favor of removing the government from the definition and regulation of marriage.

Both are issues of inalienable rights.; 3/27/13, 7:38 PM
Palladian said...: Oh Gawd Palladian, you're on a roll! LMAO.

I forgot to work feminists in there.; 3/27/13, 7:39 PM
Unknown said...: We seem to be in agreement.; 3/27/13, 7:40 PM
Dante said...: I bet you'd be in favor of abortion if you could prenatally determine that your child was going to be a faggot.

For the record, I wouldn't. I think homosexuality is natural. What bothers me is the modern day smugness and self righteousness of the modern day gay. In fact, I have it on second hand information one of my kids may well be gay. It's his life, and he is what he is, and I love him regardless.

To me, what's going on with this gay marriage thing is not about "equal rights." It's about getting something without paying the dues.

I don't find the religious arguments very compelling, but I do find the argument that marriage is a naturally occurring solution to social and human problems quite compelling. That religions have been the vessels carrying this institution to me is immaterial.

And no one has explained to me adequately why gays ought to care except for the benefits. It's pretty clear gays don't care much for what society thinks.; 3/27/13, 7:45 PM
edutcher said...: Palladian likes to make light of the fact that some of us express ourselves in such a way that it sounds as if every homosexual supports the Gay Agenda.

I'm sure the crowd at GayPatriot doesn't, but that doesn't mean there isn't one or that the Lefties use it to achieve their ends.

And the She Devil of the SS thinks with all her sucking up on the same sex marriage issue, it will give her dispensation when she finally gets on Ann's last nerve.

Anybody placing bets?; 3/27/13, 7:48 PM
virgil xenophon said...: Abortionists should well fear the fetal heart-beat movement. Time is not on their side as science marches on back down the time-line to conception. Not there yet, but it increasingly looks as if Michelangelo was more scientifically right than many knew when he brushed his spiritually-inspired vision "The Touch" onto the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel..; 3/27/13, 7:57 PM
Synova said...: I'd go for brain activity instead of heartbeat because it offers a better parallel to how we define death.; 3/27/13, 8:17 PM
Anonymous said...: I'd go for brain activity instead of heartbeat because it offers a better parallel to how we define death.

3/27/13, 8:17 PM

Exactly Synova.; 3/27/13, 8:23 PM
Synova said...: "I bet you'd be in favor of abortion if you could prenatally determine that your child was going to be a faggot."

Honest to dawg... the people who would abort gay babies, if there was a test for gay babies, are the exact same people who currently abort for Downs or sex selection or because she doesn't want to be fat in the summer or have her life disrupted.; 3/27/13, 8:23 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: " I may be the only person that is both in favor of outlawing most abortion and in favor of removing the government from the definition and regulation of marriage."

May be almost the only person. I am also such a person.; 3/27/13, 8:27 PM
Anonymous said...: The Ethical Brain

Found this, discusses neural activity in a developing fetus.; 3/27/13, 8:28 PM
Unknown said...: Now, with Freeman there are three of us.
Not bad.; 3/27/13, 8:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Also brain death.; 3/27/13, 8:34 PM
Synova said...: The problem with brain activity for a starting point (that was an interesting article) is that it can be *brain activity* or someone can try to say it's *conscious thought*.

The danger in a definition other than simple brain activity (I believe that the article said 5 weeks) is that there is a danger of deciding who, among those alive, doesn't have brain activity that counts. So far we're pretty clear on brain death, but there really are people pushing for euthanasia for handicapped people, if they figure someone is handicapped *enough*.; 3/27/13, 8:38 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: "Now, with Freeman there are three of us."

Hey, that's a pretty good start.; 3/27/13, 8:38 PM
Synova said...: I still think that brain activity (it's activity and it's a brain) is the best "beginning point" for life in order to logically parallel "brain death" as the point where we consider a person dead.

(Though I'm pretty much fine with conception, too. I'm just trying to find a logical other-place that also makes sense.); 3/27/13, 8:40 PM
Synova said...: Four. Since we're counting.; 3/27/13, 8:41 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: There you go Palladian, four. You're among brothers... Well, sisters.

I'm sure Shouting Thomas will sleep on it tonight and wake up with a changed mind tomorrow, making a brother and five.; 3/27/13, 8:45 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I had the same instinct as rhhardin.

What's the real story they're trying to hide by inducing blinding apoplexy in their readers?; 3/27/13, 8:47 PM
virgil xenophon said...: Not so sure I wouldn't include myself among y'all, Freeman. Though getting government out of the equation is probably impossible given the governments intrest in child formation for economic growth and the tax aspect that is also part of that same public-policy thrust.; 3/27/13, 8:50 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Never been much of a joiner, but I'm another one. That said, I think Obama and the Left are manipulating and using the Gay ( struggling for a term here because Pal says there isn't
a "Gay Community") Mobilized Collective Will for reasons that have nothing to do with civil rights.; 3/27/13, 8:50 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Five. But the fly in the ointment with quote getting the government out of the marriage business unquote, is that the government still pays to clean up the messes made by people who mate stupidly, and so has an interest in encouraging people not to mate stupidly. I wish that the government did neither--picked winners nor was responsible for the losers. I wish that people could make their choices and then be 100% responsible for their outcomes, positive or negative.; 3/27/13, 8:54 PM
Unknown said...: Erika
I'm on board with the amendment you suggest.; 3/27/13, 8:59 PM
commoncents said...: THE BIBLE - Sneak Peek. . .

http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-bible-series-finale-sneak-peek.html; 3/27/13, 9:00 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: If we didn't have a giant welfare state providing the human results of stupid mating with just enough lousy food and Xbox to keep them from roaming the streets in feral packs--maybe then the Church could do its job again and actually care for the needy, and we could stop using the power of the state to define the family and the norms for mating.

A girl's gotta have dreams.; 3/27/13, 9:02 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Erika,
The government has spent billions of dollars enabling the people who mate stupidly. A big chunk of government depends on it for it's existence.; 3/27/13, 9:02 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Erika, I agree withnthat. That would have to be part of getting the government out of marriage.; 3/27/13, 9:03 PM
Saint Croix said...: I'd go for brain activity instead of heartbeat because it offers a better parallel to how we define death.

Amen!

It's interesting how our brain does not control our heart. It has a little independent motor that runs on its own power. Your heart starts beating and circulating blood before you have any brain activity at all.

It's also kind of freaky how we have dead people whose hearts are still beating. Mary Roach writes about it in her wonderful book, Stiff.; 3/27/13, 9:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I'm pro-life, then. I may be the only person that is both in favor of outlawing most abortion and in favor of removing the government from the definition and regulation of marriage."

That may be the biggest group in here, including me.

Palladian, If gay was able to be proven by genetic testing, and you turned out to be straight, I'd really enjoy being your wing man.; 3/27/13, 9:15 PM
Anonymous said...: St. Croix, in my 30 plus years of nursing I've seen dead bodies do some very strange things, scared the hell out of me the first couple of times.; 3/27/13, 9:20 PM
Saint Croix said...: Thanks for the link, Inga! Although there were such howlers in that article that it made me doubt everything he had to say.

This is the same age at which the Supreme Court has ruled that the fetus becomes protected from abortion.

What I would like to see is some kind of study on why normal people feel this odd desire to twist and rationalize the Supreme Court's work in order to make it morally acceptable. Are you that desperate for authority figures? Did you somehow miss the discussion of dismemberment and decapitation in Carhart I and Carhart II?

This is in the New York Times! The paper of record.

"...the Supreme Court has ruled that the fetus becomes protected from abortion."

And Stalin didn't kill anybody.

It's such a spectacular stupid thing to say. And I'm sure he believes it.; 3/27/13, 9:41 PM
Saint Croix said...: St. Croix, in my 30 plus years of nursing I've seen dead bodies do some very strange things, scared the hell out of me the first couple of times.

What's really freaky is when the dead wake up and the doctors go, oops.; 3/27/13, 9:43 PM
Saint Croix said...: Kid wakes up at his funeral.; 3/27/13, 9:49 PM
Basta! said...: Insty linked yesterday to an analysis of an article by one Samuel H. Lipuma in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, (38: 190–204, 2013), where the author argued that Continuous Sedation until Death (CSD) "is the permanent elimination of consciousness from a patient. To have one’s consciousness permanently eliminated is to die. It is a death of higher brain functioning." Note, this isn't the same as brain death; really, it's just being unconscious.

Wesley Smith, the analyst, thinks the proposed redefinition has several long-term goals, including:

* Making the value of human life subjectively depend on quality of neurological function. e.g., “personhood theory;”
* Allowing the profoundly cognitively disabled to be organ harvested before biological death, in essence killing for organs;
* Allowing experimentation on living human bodies under the pretext that they are mere cadavers;
* Stopping all medical care, as now happens with those declared dead, to save resources.

It's interesting that a move to extend the legal definition of personhood at one of life's termini, using biological factors, is occurring at the same as a move to shorten the legal definition at the other.; 3/27/13, 9:54 PM
Anonymous said...: I've seen one wake up in a body bag, that was freaky.; 3/27/13, 10:02 PM
Sorun said...: How long after conception does the heart start beating? I've heard ~two weeks.

Two weeks won't fly. It has to be longer.; 3/27/13, 10:02 PM
bagoh20 said...: So I'm pretty close to clinically dead when I'm asleep, despite the fact that's when I do my best work.; 3/27/13, 10:03 PM
Anonymous said...: The paramedics said it happens , but rarely when the body gets jostled.; 3/27/13, 10:05 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I've seen one wake up in a body bag, that was freaky."

Maybe it was your snoring.; 3/27/13, 10:06 PM
Caroline said...: @Palladian

If I say I have a complaint about SSM activists with ulterior motives, I would hope you know I am not talking about you or even gay people in particular. I am referring only to SSM activists, who may or may not be gay, some of whom have ulterior motives, and are not being forthcoming. Am I paranoid for thinking such people exist? Perhaps. But the tactics used by some activists, such as the use of the bigotry label to denigrate those who oppose based on religious beliefs, and seeing references to all the "decent people" supporting SSM, led me to where I am.

I know where you stand on the issue. I too would prefer govt. not be involved in marriage. I just don't know if it is possible.; 3/27/13, 10:09 PM
Lydia said...: It took quite a few years for popular opinion to start turning against largely unrestricted abortion.

Wonder if the same thing could happen with regard to a Constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to one man and one woman? Especially if SSM opens the floodgates, and we start seeing major clamoring for polygamy, etc.; 3/27/13, 10:10 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't snore!!; 3/27/13, 10:10 PM
bagoh20 said...: Well, I hope you at least made him breakfast before taking him back to the morgue.; 3/27/13, 10:23 PM
Nathan Alexander said...: I have no objective problem with SSM.

However, the track record of both liberals and the history of the SSM in particular should be a very clear lesson that you can't take the SSM advocacy at face value.

It might not be a trojan horse/bait-n-switch campaign...but I am willing to bet all my material possessions against all yours (whomever wants to take the bet) that the SSM agenda doesn't stop at federally-recognized marriage.; 3/27/13, 10:28 PM
Nathan Alexander said...: Palladian,
Interesting that you mention the inalienable rights.

I could just ask you and see if you responded, but I'll go ahead and list them:

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

So pro-life is covered.

But I don't see marriage covered there at all.

Any right not inalienable must come from one of two sources:

1) Enumerated rights. If it isn't listed in the US Constitution or its Amendments, it isn't a guaranteed right, and should be left up to the states to decide.

2) Common Law inherited from England (pretty much the Magna Carta and equivalent accepted traditional rights).

If SSM were being enacted via popular votes or legislatures, without demonizing opponents as bigots or violating the rights of opponents in an attempt to bully and terrorize people into acquiescing, you wouldn't hear a peep of opposition about SSM from me.

But that isn't the world we live in.

I don't trust the "Ends Justify the Means" crowd for anything. They have fully embraced dishonesty and brutality to get what they want. Their successes are poison fruit.

Traditions aren't always right. But they are always there for a reason. Prudence in change is always the best option.; 3/27/13, 10:34 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Broomhandle, good point. We do have a weird dynamic in which on one hand the gov't needs to encourage healthy families (or at least be seen as doing so) and on the other has to have a steady supply of unhealthy families so as to justify employing armies of bureaucrats to administer the various responsive programs.; 3/27/13, 10:40 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/27/13, 10:47 PM
Anonymous said...: Basta, organ donors are on life support as they are wheeled into the OR to "harvest" organs. Some people erroneously believe there is a "pulling of the plug" and cessation of life beforehand. Although there IS brain death.; 3/27/13, 10:48 PM
Anonymous said...: I should say cessation of breathing and heartbeat, not life.; 3/27/13, 10:50 PM
Saint Croix said...: Stopping all medical care, as now happens with those declared dead, to save resources.

I think that's one of the goals of abortion, too, actually.

To a socialist, a baby is a welfare recepient. She needs food. She needs shelter. It's all outgo. There's no income from a baby. A baby's not going to work, or pay taxes.

From the point of view of the socialist, a baby is a drain on resources.

Indeed, a baby keeps a lot of women out of the workplace. Mom stays at home to take care of baby. So baby won't be paying taxes, and now mom won't be paying taxes, either.

Socialists define a baby as a bundle of costs. Babies impoverish people. Babies make you poor. This is how they think!

No doubt you think I'm exaggerating. Am I? Take a peek at Justice Blackmun's dissent in Beal v. Doe.

He describes poverty as a "cancer." It's as if Blackmun is thinking of our society as one giant body. (And the state is the brain who's in charge of the body!) And our body is being attacked by a cancer.

Poor people are the cancer.

And of course his solution for the cancer is to cut them out. Abort the children of the poor and make the cancer disappear.

the cost of a nontherapeutic abortion is far less than the cost of maternity care and delivery

Abortion cheap! Baby expensive!

and holds no comparison whatsoever with the welfare costs that will burden the State for the new indigents and their support in the long, long years ahead.

Why do socialists insist on free birth control? Of all the things to run on! Why free birth control?

They want to keep us from reproducing. Or, more specifically, they want to keep us from reproducing inferior babies. A baby from a 16-year-old is an inferior baby. An unwanted baby is an inferior baby. All these babies are going to be costs to our society. And these costs need to be reduced.

Harry Blackmun is arguing for free abortions. And he is telling us why. You people are a cancer! You must be removed!

This is why socialism always seems to end up with large piles of dead bodies.; 3/27/13, 10:53 PM
Lydia said...: Fascinating this, coming as it does from Peter Singer:

“In his book Rethinking Life and Death (1995) Singer notes that following the Harvard Brain Death Committee report published in 1968, most countries have adopted brain death as an acceptable criterion for declaring a person legally dead. He also notes that this event transpired with virtually no opposition despite its ground-breaking nature. What is less widely known, Singer points out, is that this ‘redefinition’ coincided historically with the advent of organ transplantation.

Singer … points out that it is simply not true that all brain function necessarily ceases with brain death – for instance, pituitary function often continues for some time after formal criteria for brain death are met.”

Of course, being Singer, he “takes the position that brain dead individuals are still alive, but that organ harvesting from these individuals is none the less acceptable. His position is that rather than employ artificial, contrived, or bogus definitions of death, we should recognize that the only intellectually honest course is to admit that all lives are not equally valuable and that some lives are indeed in such a degraded and hopeless state that even though they are technically ‘alive,’ it is still ethically acceptable to utilize their organs for transplantation.”

Well, I guess you've got to give him points for cutting through the bullshit.; 3/27/13, 11:19 PM
JAL said...: Sorun said...
How long after conception does the heart start beating?

18 days; 3/27/13, 11:44 PM
bgates said...: The danger in a definition other than simple brain activity (I believe that the article said 5 weeks) is that there is a danger of deciding who, among those alive, doesn't have brain activity that counts

And I'd think any measurement of brain activity would be so subjective that you could get one case where it could be killed just because of how a doctor interpreted some kind of scan, and another case with roughly the same level of brain activity where it gets Secret Service protection just because Obama chose him to be Vice President.; 3/28/13, 1:36 AM
Dante said...: Basta, organ donors are on life support as they are wheeled into the OR to "harvest" organs. Some people erroneously believe there is a "pulling of the plug" and cessation of life beforehand. Although there IS brain death.

Given your level of integrity, I think I'll pass on your advice.; 3/28/13, 1:38 AM
Palladian said...: Enumerated rights. If it isn't listed in the US Constitution or its Amendments, it isn't a guaranteed right, and should be left up to the states to decide.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."; 3/28/13, 2:13 AM
Palladian said...: If I say I have a complaint about SSM activists with ulterior motives, I would hope you know I am not talking about you or even gay people in particular.

Understood!; 3/28/13, 2:14 AM
Palladian said...: That may be the biggest group in here, including me.

It is really comforting to know that I'm not alone!

Palladian, If gay was able to be proven by genetic testing, and you turned out to be straight, I'd really enjoy being your wing man.

You could still be my wing man. Gay men and straight men make great partners at helping each other pick up dudes and broads, respectively.; 3/28/13, 2:17 AM
Saint Croix said...: I should say cessation of breathing and heartbeat, not life.

The problem with heartbeat, as I see it, is that it's just a pump. We already have artificial hearts. The heart is machine-like, and can be replaced by a machine. And you can take one out and put in a replacement.

You can't do a brain transplant. What makes us human, what makes us alive, what makes us an individual, is our brain. And for people who believe in souls, clearly our soul resides in our brain. In fact it seems to me that brain activity/brain death coincides with Thomas Aquinas and his ensoulment theory.

Conception is when your body comes into being. But brain activity is when your life, your soul, first makes its appearance. And when brain activity stops, we accept this as death, even though your body is still there. Your soul has passed on. Your life has gone.; 3/28/13, 5:34 AM
Saint Croix said...: I happen to like brain activity, although of course there is always the possibility that doctors make a mistake about when you die. But if a state wants to go back to heartbeat, that's fine, too. The point I would like to stress is that we should apply our laws to everybody. Defining the baby as sub-human property, as outside our law, that's what drives me up the wall.; 3/28/13, 6:31 AM
Saint Croix said...: Too many people assume the Supreme Court made a good faith attempt to define and protect the baby's life.(See New York Times article that Inga linked to at 8:28). How can you do that while simultaneously defining the baby as property?

"We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins." You can't get more clear than that! The baby's life is irrelevant. Thus viability is meaningless. The critical point has always been birth. That's when the Supreme Court is prepared to recognize your humanity, and your right to life.; 3/28/13, 6:37 AM
Saint Croix said...: "...the Supreme Court has ruled that the fetus becomes protected from abortion."

Just how wrong is the paper of record? How many viable babies have been aborted? No one knows for sure. I'll throw out the number 600,000, which is an educated guess.

Where did I get that number?

The Guttmacher Institute (which is affiliated with Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in our country) says that 1.5% of abortions take place after 21 weeks. Or roughly 900,000.

How many of that number are viable?

The youngest baby to survive in a neonatal care unit was at 21 weeks and 6 days. Note the mother had to lie to the doctors to get her baby into a NICU. Doctors routinely allow very premature babies to die and make no attempt to keep them alive, even against the wishes of the parents.

And note also that abortion increases your risk of future premature births. So on top of the 900,000 abortions done after 21 weeks, we might add a good number of preemies who are left gasping for air.

So we don't actually know how many viable babies have died from Roe v. Wade. My 600,000 number might be too high or too low. And there's no way of getting an accurate count, when doctors assume non-viability and make no attempt to keep babies alive.

Indeed, there's profit to be had in aborting viable babies. Doctors can charge more money (see Dr. Gosnell's practice), and then turn around and sell the baby parts to medical researchers.; 3/28/13, 6:44 AM
Rusty said...: Six; 3/28/13, 7:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Dante, it's not advice. It's what happens, what is wrong with you?; 3/28/13, 7:10 AM
Anonymous said...: "I should say cessation of breathing and heartbeat, not life."
--------------------------

"The problem with heartbeat, as I see it, is that it's just a pump. We already have artificial hearts. The heart is machine-like, and can be replaced by a machine. And you can take one out and put in a replacement.

You can't do a brain transplant. What makes us human, what makes us alive, what makes us an individual, is our brain. And for people who believe in souls, clearly our soul resides in our brain. In fact it seems to me that brain activity/brain death coincides with Thomas Aquinas and his ensoulment theory.

Conception is when your body comes into being. But brain activity is when your life, your soul, first makes its appearance. And when brain activity stops, we accept this as death, even though your body is still there. Your soul has passed on. Your life has gone."

3/28/13, 5:34 AM

Yes, this.; 3/28/13, 7:13 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/28/13, 7:35 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Seven.; 3/28/13, 7:37 AM
Anonymous said...: cardiac Death and organ procurement

I've never been in a situation in which the family is present when the vent is turned off, they are taken to a private room or leave altogether when their loved one is taken to the OR.

It's not MY protocol Dante, it's the organ procurement team's and the hospital's.; 3/28/13, 7:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Cardiac Death and Organ Procurement; 3/28/13, 7:56 AM
damikesc said...: I bet you'd be in favor of abortion if you could prenatally determine that your child was going to be a faggot.

I doubt it.

But most pro-SSM advocates would have few qualms with it.

A lot of pro-lifers don't like SSM. A lot of people who "support" SSM also have no problems with slaughtering gay babies en masse.; 3/28/13, 8:35 AM
Aridog said...: Palladian, Wyo sis, Freeman Hunt

... in favor of removing the government from the definition and regulation of marriage."

Interesting. Easy to say, now lets qualify it. Are you all also in favor of giving up the fiscal benefits government accords those married, including potentially those same sex unions if "marriage" definition is expanded to include them? Then expanded further in the name of "equality" before the law?

Or would you prefer that government remain in THATaspect of "marriage" and continue the discrimination it entails?

Don't misunderstand me...I am not saying the discriminatory benefits are not justifiable. I AM saying that if you expand a protected group enough eventually no one is protected, so to speak. The minuscule number of gays and lesbians who will actually commit to "marriage" may not tip the balance...yet. Other "committed" couples, groups, etc. will next apply for the same dispensation.

Soon enough, the protection will vanish. And government will treat everyone as individuals, period.; 3/28/13, 8:57 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "Government will treat everyone as individuals" Absolutely equal before the law? No protected groups? No affirmative action"? No this for me but not for thee?

I'm waiting for the day to come.; 3/28/13, 9:22 AM
Aridog said...: Broomhandle said ...

No protected groups? ... No this for me but not for thee?

Oh, no, one protected group will remain...the institutionalized government bureaucracy ... aka "the party" ... it is only the general public masses that will be purely individuals.

I was speaking of how "they" might/will treat "you" and "me" ... e.g., as equally responsible for sponsorship of teh partay.

There'd be no basis for "affirmative action" when all individuals are classified as "the same" ...no individual worthy of consideration above the others, except for the collective leadership people.

You see, such things as affirmative action, tax deductions, exemptions, and so forth are government responses, aimed to serve government interest and perpetuation, to political actions by groups of interested parties. When the group approaches everyone, there will be no political response to mitigate...and we'll all be the same ...NIRVANA!!

Marx, Engles, and Orwell wrote extensively on the subject.; 3/28/13, 9:48 AM
Anthony said...: However, the track record of both liberals and the history of the SSM in particular should be a very clear lesson that you can't take the SSM advocacy at face value.

Should be repeated a thousand times. SSM isn't about "equal rights", it's about sticking it to social/religious conservatives and generating more government.; 3/28/13, 10:54 AM
Unknown said...: I'm anxious for the day when the government gets out of the fiscal benefits business entirely. Bring it on.; 3/28/13, 11:53 AM
Baron Zemo said...: Synova said...
The problem with brain activity for a starting point (that was an interesting article) is that it can be *brain activity* or someone can try to say it's *conscious thought*.

You can't use that as the benchmark because then we would have to abort Garage Mahal. Just sayn'; 3/28/13, 12:06 PM
SGT Ted said...: Eight.

And instead of jacking up married peoples taxes to match that of singles, we reduce the singles rate to match that of married couples once we get govt out of marriage. The only side that should have to take the tax hit is the government side.; 3/28/13, 12:58 PM