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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTexas Congressman: Masturbating Fetuses Prove Need for Abortion Ban
As the House of Representatives gears up for Tuesdays debate on HR 1797, a bill that would outlaw virtually all abortions 20 weeks post fertilization, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) argued in favor of banning abortions even earlier in pregnancy because, he said, male fetuses that age were already, shall we say, spanking the monkey.
Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful, said Burgess, a former OB/GYN. They stroke their face. If theyre a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?
That observation led Burgess to say he had argued for the abortion ban to start at a much earlier stage of gestation, 15 or 16 weeks. (This is less than halfway through a pregnancy.) He appeared to liken Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, to the 1893 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that formally legalized racial segregation, and was not fully reversed until Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The rationale for the Republican bill, which advanced through the House Judiciary last week on a near-total party-line vote, is one scientifically disputed study, touted by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) in his opening remarks at todays Rules Committee hearing, that asserts fetuses can feel pain as early as 20 weeks after sperm meets egg.
- See more at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/17/texas-congressman-masturbating-fetuses-prove-need-for-abortion-ban/#sthash.gDrST4lL.dpuf
These people are screwy.
Warpy
(112,838 posts)aren't there until the last month of gestation and even then, they're pretty blunted so the fetus can survive the trip down the birth canal without going into shock from the pressure.
What he's seeing is a spinal reflex loop, what will be a hand already with the grabbing reflex and any knob it comes into contact with will be grabbed. Withdrawal from noxious stimuli is another spinal cord loop reflex that we retain through life, our hands flying back from a hot iron before our brain registers the pain. Withdrawal in a fetus without pain centers in the brain is just that, a reflex action and not purposeful.
Of course, he's a dumb shit and rabid about controlling women, so even if a neonatologist has a long talk with him, none of it will register.
All we can do about these idiots is GOTV and try to throw them out of power forever.
boston bean
(36,410 posts)Warpy
(112,838 posts)is the likeliest explanation. Many fundie women are just as ignorant about their bodies and what goes on during pregnancy as the men are.
LeftinOH
(5,398 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,732 posts)Besides that, why would he assume that only a male fetus would have their hand between their legs?
boston bean
(36,410 posts)ruffburr
(1,190 posts)I see we posted this a couple minutes apart you beat me to it but we agree ,This is sick
boston bean
(36,410 posts)CrispyQ
(37,649 posts)Who votes for stupid like this?
boston bean
(36,410 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)But he's counting on his constituents being stupid enough to believe him.
DURHAM D
(32,796 posts)Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)Sweet Mother of God redeem us.
boston bean
(36,410 posts)Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,605 posts)reflection
(6,286 posts)All kidding aside though, I remember being a fetus and thinking I was going to be the most well-endowed baby EVER. Then I realized I had been gripping the umbilical cord. I was devastated.
Ilsa
(62,110 posts)davidn3600
(6,342 posts)Think of how terrible it must be to have this clown represent you.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And this guy used to be an OB/GYN? These people will say ANYTHING to get elected on wedge issues. He's not this stupid, but he's counting on his constituents to be that stupid.
TrogL
(32,825 posts)You really can't!
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)it's not. But it's a Texas Republican, so what the hell are you gonna do?
boston bean
(36,410 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)Wacky!
sorefeet
(1,241 posts)PERVERTS. They have a sick obsession with sex. Are their wives just as sick?
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)It's hard to believe these people find their way out of bed in the morning.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)...but this is one of those times.
How can this person get out of the shower until the shampoo bottle is empty?
sinkingfeeling
(52,701 posts)of neurological feeling?
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Even if Mom listens to "She Bop" or "I Touch Myself"?