By Lawrence Zupan
“A, my name is Alice, and I come from Arlington, Vermont, and we sell… abortions.”
The above variation on the children’s innocent alphabetical song game might well become reality if a bill currently under consideration by the State House Human Services Committee is actually passed into law. This ghoulish, grisly, and garish proposed law would codify abortion –at any stage, right through the day before birth – as a fundamental human right. The good news is that perhaps the abortion tourism industry this bill may spark could revitalize membership in some flagging Chambers of Commerce statewide.
All sarcasm aside, I am not writing this letter to persuade all of the pro-choice Vermonters to suddenly switch sides and become pro-life. This letter is to respectfully ask the reader, whatever side of the abortion debate you might find yourself on, to soberly and carefully consider the following facts of the proposed law, H.57:
Abortion is made legal for any reason for any age, with no restrictions or parental consent required up to and including the day before due date;
There is no requirement that a doctor take steps to save or comfort a baby born alive from a botched abortion, staring back at them from the birth table;
The fetus has NO rights, meaning that there would be no legal restriction on the dismemberment and sale of baby body parts or baby corpses being sold for research;
There is no provision for anesthetizing an almost fully developed baby, or restrictions on the cruelest abortion methods;
Since the proposed bill calls abortion a “fundamental right”, all taxpayers will likely be obliged to subsidize all abortions through their taxes;
6. There is no requirement to be licensed in any way – say, as a Medical Doctor – to perform abortions.
Now, at a time when our Legislature is, ironically, considering bills to protect animals from similar treatment, a civilized person – even if basically pro-choice – might stop and ask if this bill goes too far down the road to dehumanization and institutionalized cruelty. For those who object that this bill is necessary since Roe vs. Wade could conceivably be overturned, Vermont still has court decisions as precedents which protect the actions of those who choose abortion.
In a politically polarized world where people are frequently found on one extreme side or the other, I ask you, the thoughtful reader, to imagine the horror of a baby, who is moments away from seeing daylight and breathing its first breath, fully formed in the mother’s womb, being destroyed with less mercy than that shown a rabid animal. Can you let this be done in your name as a voting citizen of Vermont?
You don’t need to abandon your pro-choice position to oppose this bill.
If you wish to oppose House Bill H57, I urge you to call your representative who can be directly contacted through the State House Sergeant at Arms at 802 828-2228.
Let them know that you wish to prevent the Legislative Chamber from becoming known as the Execution Chamber. Write letters, tell your friends, show up at rallies. Thank you for your careful consideration of this urgent matter.
Lawrence Zupan, from Manchester, was a Republican Party candidate for U.S. Senate.
