Tuesday, October 04, 2005

If you want to live in a theocracy...

I came across this lovely bit of reporting on Daily Kos today. Seems that some members of the Indiana state legislature have decided to criminalize artificial insemination by unwed women. That's right, if this law passes and you're, say, a single, professional woman in Indianapolis who wishes to bear a child, you better find yourself a man. The ol' turkey baster method is going to get you 3 to 5 in the slammer.

Query why exaclty the enlightened Republicans of Indiana decided to sponsor this bill. The sponsor claims that she is trying to get the law passed because she believes that marriage should be a requirement for motherhood. Obviously that is a lie. The bill doesn't bar unwed women from having babies through sexual intercourse, only through artificial insemination. If she really wanted marriage to be a requirement for motherhood, the sponsor should try to ban single-motherhood entirely (ignoring Constitutional questions for the time being). But that's not what she did. She targetted only women who get pregnant through artificial insemination. Again, I ask, why is that.

Here's what I think. I think that what this law is really trying to do is prevent gay couples from having children through artificial insemination. I doubt there's many single women in Indiana seeking artificial insemination (though there's probably a few). I bet, though, that if you went to Indianapolis or South Bend you'd find plenty of solid, middle-class gay couples who'd like to join us heteros in the joys of child-rearing and family life. Basically, this bill is just another salvo from the bible-thumping neanderthal proto-fascists; another assault on liberty from the people who brought you the Inquisition (except they're probably Protestant).
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