Well, at least South Dakota isn't the only place people are crazy...

Folks following the news are probably aware of recent developments in South Carolina. For those who don't know, I refer to a new measure that state is poised to adopt in the hopes of reducing abortion rates. What is this measure, you ask? Well, you've really got to read it to believe it:

...a measure requiring women seeking abortions to first review ultrasound images of their fetuses advanced Wednesday in the South Carolina Legislature.

The legislation, supported by Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, passed 91-23 after lawmakers defeated amendments exempting rape or incest. The House must approve the bill again in a routine vote before it goes to the Senate, where its sponsor expects it to pass with those exemptions.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's right: just in case the decision to have an abortion wasn't nerve wracking enough, just in case all those huge, publicly displayed propaganda photos of aborted fetuses weren't sufficient, just in case Operation Rescue and their ilk weren't intimidating enough, we now have this new measure further indicating that the state of South Carolina thinks all women are stupid. What's next? A law requiring that a woman seeking an abortion name her fetus and spend twenty minutes telling it stories? When you add in the fact that this measure, so far, doesn't even make exceptions for rape or incest, we have a recipe for utter insanity.

Still, despite the absurdity of this, perhaps we should look at this as a gift in disguise. I mean, hell, based on this logic, what sort of legislation might we try to enact?

-Require that before purchasing an SUV consumers must watch An Inconvenient Truth, and then spend four hours with someone dying of advanced stage pollution-derived cancer.

-Before purchasing a handgun consumers must watch three hours of crime scene photography involving children who accidentally shot themselves with a parent's firearm.

-Before purchasing or consuming veal consumers must spend three days locked in a cage so small they cannot turn around or move appreciably.

-Before purchasing or consuming meat of any kind, consumers must take a tour of a slaughterhouse.


Sounds like some great ideas to me!

Then again, maybe we should just acknowledge that there's a difference between the state ensuring that its citizens are properly informed and engaging in outright emotional blackmail.