RE: Hines, Alito, and abortion
by Owen Courrèges · 11/01/2005 1:05 pmOne thing that really bugged me about Cragg Hines’s awful column today was his comment that the spousal notification provision at issue in Planned Parenthood v. Casey would result in women being “ordered about like the kids.”
Really. Compelling a woman to simply notify her husband that she’s having an abortion (and the law of most states presumes that the child is his — the marital presumption of paternity) is the equivalent of treating women like children. Please. You can’t even claim that the statute was overbroad, as it included exemptions for cases where there was potential for spousal abuse. All it held is that the guy has the right to know — not that he even had a say in the matter.
Alito’s opinion was simply that the notification requirement was not an “undue burden” on a woman having an abortion. Is that really an unreasonable view?
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Further, isn’t not notifying a father of an impending abortion of his child sort of treating him like a child? The implication is that he’s not mature enough to handle the notification without becoming violent. Apparently Hines is not much of a believer in parental rights when it comes to fathers. This kind of tripe is why I do not read the Chronicle… they don’t deserve my money or time.
Hines is an idiot, anything that stands in the way of the death of an unborn child is too much for him. The sad part is that so many people who disagree with him support him as they get the only paper in Houston.
JDH
Lemme throw this out there…
If a woman should notify her husband before having an abortion (with which I agree)…
…should she also be required to notify him before having her tubes tied?
…or should a husband be required to notify his wife before being ’snipped’?
…or is the abortion case separate because it involves their offspring?
My urologist, as a matter of policy, not only does a “notification” but gets a consent.
#3 MM+I,
Required? That’s a hard one for me to answer. Although I would hesitate to say it should be a legal requirement, informing your spouse before such a decision (vasectomy, tubes tied) would certainly be the right thing to do. Although it doesn’t directly involve an existing child as in abortion, the debate is not really that different.
Why would anyone make such a decision without consulting their spouse? The only reason I could see would be that the spouse is too unreasonable to handle a rational discussion of the subject. If that is the case, then that’s probably not a person you would want as a parent to your child anyway.
Before I had my tubal ligation my ob/gyn talked with my husband to make sure he understood and accepted the procedure.
#5 Mike
I guess the same argument should then hold true for the spousal notification of abortion as well?!
#6 Spark
Why then should it be any different with an abortion?
Clearly the woman/slut shouldn’t have to notify her husband if the baby isn’t his. Of course, I think adultery as well as abortion should be against the law.
#7 MM+I,
Certainly, before the life of a child is ended, both parents should be aware of what’s about to happen. There is no logical way to refute that, without first assuming that an unborn child is not really a child at all (which I don’t accept).
#9 Sherri
Please explain your response…
A woman cheats on her husband, gets pregnant and doesn’t have to notify her husband that she’s getting an abortion…just because the baby isn’t his? That’s nuts!!
That only justifies and encourages her illicit behavior…just do whatever you want because you won’t get caught. R - I - G - H - T !!
If that’s the case, then no man that cheats on his wife should be liable/responsible for any child born through his illlicit affair…
I mean, we wouldn’t want the wife to know, now, would we?!
#11…I was being sarcastic. I didn’t think I needed a tag.
There’s quite a difference between a vasectomy/tubal ligation and an abortion. The former is potential procreation (and not the government’s business-that should be between husband and wife) and the latter the killing of an actual, existing human being.
Apples and oranges.
#13 I think the point is that if doctors routinely require husbands and wives to be aware of and/or even approve of their spouse’s sterilization, then notification of abortions would be all the more important.
Me_Myself_n_I,
I would say so. A legal requirement that a person notify their spouse that they intend to be sterilized would be good public policy.
However, I would think notification (even consent, in my view) would be all the more necessary before an abortion, because even the courts recognize value in preserving the life of a fetus — they just set the bar earlier in favor of the mother over the state’s authority to protect fetal life.
I hope the libs are unsuccessful at making this about abortion. Abortion was and should have stayed a states rights issue!
Its about the CONSTITUTION! States Rights, Property Rights, and the Second Amendment.
If Alito is going to protect the Constitution then I am all for Alito!