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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
October 30, 2005
Indiana legislature
looks like Mayberry
by regulating parenting |
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"Nip it in the bud, Andy. I tell ya, nip it in the bud before it
gets out of hand." Fans of The Andy Griffith Show may recall
hearing that sage advice given to Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor by his Deputy, Barney Fife.
It seems someone must have given that advice to an Indiana
legislative committee, and thankfully they heeded it. A very detrimental,
discriminatory bill had been submitted that would have denied
specific groups of Indiana residents the right to medical science
benefits. It has since been rescinded.
Some ideas are dumb. Some are cruel. Then there is the idea
that was being pushed through the Indiana state legislature that is
just plain stupid.
Believe it or not, an Indiana legislative committee was
considering a bill that would prohibit gays, lesbians, and single adults from using medical science to aid them in having a
child.
The bill defined science-assisted reproduction as any method
causing a pregnancy by any means other than sexual intercourse.
Furthermore, the bill would require intended parents to be married
to each other and unmarried parents may not be intended parents.
Silly me. I always thought that anytime two people engage in
unprotected intercourse, they intended to be parents.
Obviously this group of lawmakers must consist of married,
heterosexual, self-righteous zealots. Who else but those who deem
themselves perfect before God would come up with such an idea? Who
elected these people? How can a person come up with such a nutty
notion?
Imagine the far-reaching repercussions if this bill had
passed. Once you set a precedent that denies a selective group of
people certain benefits of science, it would soon follow that the
same group will be denied religious benefits. Oh, wait, we already
do that. Homosexuals and unmarried couples are already denied
certain sacraments. I guess if God can discriminate,
scorn, and ostracize people, lawmakers who think and act as if they are God can too.
One of the sponsors of this bill, Sen. Patricia Miller of
Indianapolis, issued a statement saying the bill had become more
complex than anticipated. Miller, a married mother and grandmother,
had said a similar discriminatory requirement should also apply to
adoption in her state.
Yep, single people are head of nearly 50 percent of American households,
but other singles and homosexuals who could provide decent, loving, stable homes for
many unwanted children would be further denied the right to adopt children in Indiana.
It is totally absurd to put a bigoted blanket over a whole
group of individuals and deny them any rights afforded to others.
During a time when countless numbers of women and innocent
children are being physically and sexually abused or murdered, the
best our legal guardians can come up with is a useless order of
protection.
This country has laws that limit individuals based on age,
residency, and criminal background. We also have laws that prevent
discrimination based on race, sex, and religion.
This idea has to be one of the most ridiculous things to be
made public.
What if the scientific reproduction benefits were discovered by
a single person or a homosexual? Under this proposal, they would be
denied the use of their own discovery. That's tantamount to saying
farmers can grow the best crops, but they cannot consume them
because they are rural dwellers.
It's a good thing this bill was nipped in the bud. Had it
passed into law, it could have gotten out of hand. The next thing
you know, someone would propose a bill that would make it legal to
abort all pregnancies of a particular group to decrease crime. |
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