this is gonna be the next shiavo. pro abortion vs pro lifers battling out. this little girls life in the line of fire no less. can we say Supreme Court? another evangelical right vs satan loving hippie left.

this is just fucked up. :(

A pregnant 13-year-old girl in Florida has been told she cannot have an abortion because she lacks the maturity to make such a decision. A state court granted an injunction which prevents the girl from terminating her pregnancy.

She is three months pregnant and had planned to have an abortion on Tuesday of this week.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it will launch an urgent appeal against the ruling.

'Too young to choose'

Florida's department of children and families intervened and took the matter to court, arguing the teenager, who is under the care of the state, is too young and immature to make an informed medical decision. Judge Ronald Alvarez in Palm Beach accepted that argument and has granted a temporary injunction and psychological evaluation, which effectively blocks her from terminating the pregnancy.

It is a case which, once again, plays into the heated and divisive debate about abortion in America.

The judge's ruling comes in spite of Florida state law which specifically does not require a minor to seek parental consent before an abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union 's executive director in Florida, Howard Simon, said forcing a 13-year-old to carry on an unwanted pregnancy to term, against her wishes, is not only illegal and unconstitutional, it is cruel.

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Why the fuck is it [b]always[/b] Florida? Something in the water down there or somethin'?

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wow.

wether you're pro life or pro choice...i think we can all agree a 13yr old girl doesn't need to have child.

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jenks, congrats, you used common sense.

[img]http://www.crispie.com/wsaa/images/Big%20Buck%20Trophy.jpg[/img]

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[quote=Jenks]wow.

wether you're pro life or pro choice...i think we can all agree a 13yr old girl doesn't need to have child.[/quote]

yep. especially a 13 yr old girl that doesn't want one.

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whats really intruiging to me, in the legal sense, is what happens if she does something to terminate the pregnancy like not eating or something along the lines of physical damage to herself. does having an abortion after court saying no lead to manslaughter/murder in the legal eyes? then where does that turn when looking at RvsW. abortion isnt murder if your 18+? but murder if you are under that? deffo planning on following the legal eagle commentary and future lawmaker debates.

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Yep. You've also got some interplay in the law, too -- in Florida, a child does not need to give parental consent or notification to get an abortion. Evidently, however, if you don't have parents, you do have to get the state's permission. Crazy.

Given that apparent inconsistency, I'm not sure the state is on particularly sound legal footing -- if it gets dragged out long enough, though, and the fetus becomes viable, it won't matter.

Stepping back from it all for a moment, I'm glad to see that the nut jobs that currently have a stranglehold on the normally rational republican party haven't learned their lesson from the Terri Schiavo fiasco and are once again attempting to use their power to stick the government's nose where it doesn't belong. Perhaps if this keeps up, the country will wise up and vote some of these jokers out of office -- or at least the republicans who actually believe in limited government will reclaim their party.

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Unbelieveable...I go with Jenks on this one: a13-year old shouldn't have a child. I think that if it comes, she should just lay on the porch with one of those pro-lifers. [b]Here's life, cherish it: I can't support it.[/b]

What do they expext of a 13-year old girl? Dammit.

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NYTimes today...circuit judge rules that the abortion can proceed...

[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/national/03pregnant.html[/url]

this girl needs some help though...she got pregnant after running away from a state home.

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[quote=Jenks]wow.

wether you're pro life or pro choice...i think we can all agree a 13yr old girl doesn't need to have child.[/quote]

Agree. But leave it to liberal american to screw things up.

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actually, i think the conservatives lead to this coming to the head it came to. they were the ones who banned the procedure in the first place. i would think the left would have given her the consent.

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I can guarantee you that...lol

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It's not a "liberal" or "conservative" problem- it's people placing their restrictions on others. I could see how both liberals and conservatives would agree to let her have the abortion: conservatives are for limited government intervention, whereas liberals would want the teen to be free to make her own choice. But now "liberal" has become the scapegoat term for the defense of any unpopular opinion, and "conservative" has begun to take on the notion of religious fanatic. Most people are way in between; in these situations the problem is intrusion into judical affairs by powerful lobbies in attempts to gain political power and support, all at the expense of whoever is at stake.

Whether the woman is 13 or 31, the justification of her abortion should be based not on her age but on whether the fetus's life is considered expendable or not. On this people will never agree. It is therefore the obligation of the state not to interfere in a situation grounded solely on belief, and the girl should be able to have the abortion if she chooses.

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The good news is that in a few years Justice Luttig or Thomas will write the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe, so we won't have to trouble ourselves with debates like this any longer. :roll:

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[quote=thesightless]whats really intruiging to me, in the legal sense, is what happens if she does something to terminate the pregnancy like not eating or something along the lines of physical damage to herself. [/quote]

I think the right wingers might know where they can get a spare feeding tube! :twisted:

All jokes aside I think you're first comment is spot on, the senseless fighting between the two groups of extremists is dragging this country down. The dollar is in the shitter and our contry is falling desperately behind in enginerring and education, but all we are focusing on is some vegatable and a knocked up 12 year old.

We really need a kick-in-the-ass of a wake up call before it's too late.

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[quote=Kobe]

We really need a kick-in-the-ass of a wake up call before it's too late.[/quote]

YUP! i.e. filerbustering, the reason for filurbustering, the democrats really not putting any major agenda forward, like we really need them to do, but rather just wanting to stop Bush, even on more balanced issues. its become one way or the other, and that is plain dumb. they just cant seem to work together like they tried to do in the 80's through the mid 90's. i think clinton became such a disgrace toward the end after being such a solid leader in ways, it lead the uber conserv's starting to go after him and the democrats going to the wall for him. now here we are. gov't working for its own agenda and personal reputations. not us. :?

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[quote=thesightless][quote=Kobe]

We really need a kick-in-the-ass of a wake up call before it's too late.[/quote]

YUP! i.e. filerbustering, the reason for filurbustering, the democrats really not putting any major agenda forward, like we really need them to do, but rather just wanting to stop Bush, even on more balanced issues. its become one way or the other, and that is plain dumb. they just cant seem to work together like they tried to do in the 80's through the mid 90's. i think clinton became such a disgrace toward the end after being such a solid leader in ways, it lead the uber conserv's starting to go after him and the democrats going to the wall for him. now here we are. gov't working for its own agenda and personal reputations. not us. :?[/quote]

I think the increase in filibustering is due to the fact that the America public has not-so-wisely elected a Republican House and President removing the natural checks and balances our government typically had. Instead of being able to implement some of their own ideas, the Dems are basically side lined while the Repubs just run their agenda, much of which is one-sided. The only voice the other side of these issues has is the filibuster.

But your comment and my response tie in more with the problem than the solution I eluded to in my first post. I hate to point to Sept 11 but that was the last time everyone in this country was on the same page. Sometime you need a common goal go unify everyone. Right now the only commonality is "I'm right, everyone else is wrong," and the beloved finger pointing game. (It was Clinton! No it's Bush!)

A good start would be for all of us to admit that we don?t have the answers, and to take a step back to look the questions themselves.

The Romans were debating the aqua ducts when they got invaded. Pretty comparable to the trivia that has deadlocked our country today.